[ Index ]
 

A further statement by Dr Tan Seng Giaw, DAP National Vice-Chairman and MP for Kepong on the Malaysian Defence Minister's intention to have a new defence policy. He announced this in Lumut, Perak, four days ago. 12.10.2000

A sovereign country like Malaysia has to defend herself. But, it is expensive to keep reliable armed forces. It means effective training and modern equipment. Normally, we get our advanced weapons from USA and Russia. How much can we afford?

In the world of globalisation and regionalisation, Malaysia has to adapt
itself. One form of adaption is having a credible defence. For this, the
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Najib says that he would present a new defence policy next year. He mentions various types of warfare including low intensity conflicts. However, he has not outlined what he intends to do with the purchase of military hardware especially from the United States of America and the Russian Federation.

The Defence Minister prattles about equipment acquisitions, infrastructure and the amount of defence allocation. But he has not touched on a more open or transparent policy.

Purchase of military hardware means billions of dollars. This is open to
irregularities such as kickbacks and wastage. Can the new defence policy prevent these?

For 30 years, Malaysian Armed Forces buys military equipment from the
American Government through Foreign Military Sales, FMS, programme.
Apparently, this is a way of saving money - cost-effectiveness from the
economy of scale. The United States agency dealing with arms sales is
Defence Security Cooperation Agency, DSCA, that is a "non-profit
organization. The agency takes service charge of 3 to 5% from the total
sales. Various countries in the world buy through FMS.

In 1974, Malaysia bought the F-5E fighter aircrafts through FMS. Then, in 1982, she purchased 88 Skyhawk warplanes that had been used by United States Navy, USN. Both USN and United States Air Force, USAF, provided technical assistance. Nevertheless, there were Skyhawk crashes and other problems. Malaysia suffered losses.

Arms purchase through FMS shows weaknesses such as bureaucracy, limitation on the choice of suppliers and equipment as well as hefty initial deposit. We know that Malaysian Defence Ministry has talks with the American Defence Department on Financial Management Review. We hope that these talks can smooth out the difficulties arising from FMS.

We need a credible defence, getting value for money. We spend RM5 billion to RM6 billion and probably more a year. Whether it is 2.5% or more of our Gross Domestic Product, GDP, let us not misuse it. Let us ensure that there are no irregularities.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw