A senior official from the Defence Ministry has dismissed the claim that the armed forces was reserved only for the Malays.

"Who says the armed forces is only for the Malays? Only the Royal Malay Regiment is reserved for the Malays. The rest of the armed forces is open (to all),” Defence Ministry assistant chief of staff (personnel services) Maj Gen Abdul Aziz Ibrahim said today.

malaysia army 160806 battalion “We have other wings too, the navy and air force. These are open to all races, and we do not give special treatment to any one race."

Abdul Aziz said statistics on the recruitment of soldiers for last year showed that Malays made up 91.55 percent of the intake, Chinese 0.1 percent, Indians 1.01 percent and others 7.35 percent.

Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has got himself into a controversy last week when he suggested that the reason for the low intake among the non-Malays was due to their lack of patriotism .

Abdul Aziz said the armed forces only recruited 4,000 officers and men every year and that number was adequate in terms of current needs.

'We seek those who want to serve '

According to Abdul Aziz, the armed forces is seeking as personnel young people with an interest and the spirit of volunteerism rather than those who join because they are forced to or have no other option.

He said the peaceful situation in the country had made many people take lightly the safeguarding of the country's sovereignty.

"It must be remembered that safeguarding national security does not rest solely on the shoulders of the armed forces personnel but on all the people.

"As such, the armed forces wants young people with an interest and the spirit of voluntarism to join the armed forces, and not because they are forced to or have no other option," he told reporters at the MyCareer Fair 2010 at the Putra World Trade Centre.

He said salary was also a factor why young people were less interested in joining the armed forces.

"We do not dismiss the possibility that the salary offered is not as high as that for other careers, and this turns them off," he said.

The armed forces has five booths at the MyCareer Fair which will be on until tomorrow.

- Bernama