On November 11, 2009, the retired Armed Forces Officers held its inaugural reunion dinner that was attended by no less than 700 retired officers and their spouses. The guest of honour was their Royal Highnesses the Raja of Perlis and his consort. His Highness the Raja of Perlis was himself a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, United Kingdom and upon his return in 1965, served the Recce Regiment (now known as the Armoured Regiment).
One notable invitee needs mentioning is Gen Tun Ibrahim Ismail, the only surviving army officer to have served the Second World War, the first Malayan Emergency, Malaysian-Indonesian Confrontation and the Malaysian Insurgency. I am told that upon being informed of the dinner, he despite his failing health felt no qualms about attending the function, and came bound to his wheel chair. This is the man that every member of the Armed Forces and the nation should remember for his outstanding military leadership during the darkest period of our nation’s history i.e. the May 13, 1969 racial riots. He, true to his sworn allegiance to serve King and country, withstood the temptation of taking over the reigns of government from his civilian counterpart, during that horrendous period.
Present too were the Defence Minister, Dato Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Deputy Defence Minister, Dato Dr. Latif, former Chief of Defence Forces and Service Chiefs. The presence of the Defence Minister had made the organizers richer, when it was announced that the minister had kindly contributed RM50,000 to the dinner.
In an impromptu speech delivered by HH Raja of Perlis that evening, there were two things he mentioned that caught my attention. Firstly, he would like that the proposed establishment of the Retired Armed Forces Officers Club (RAFOC) to play some meaningful role in looking after the well being of retired armed forces officers. I believe, such a role is to further augment the role played by the Veteran Affairs Department. I, however do not believe that the Ex Servicemen Association is capable of looking after the well being of retired officers, as the association have never been known to have done so in the past.
Secondly, HH Raja of Perlis expressed ‘dissatisfaction’ at the change in the design of the epaulette adorn by retired senior armed forces officers on the official ceremonial jacket. I am told that it was during his tenure as King that he gave his consent to the design of the epaulette. I was told that the change was made by the previous CDF, and it is quite obvious that HH Raja of Perlis was not consulted of the change. I do not know too if the change was properly administered for it to be recognized as the official design to be worn on the official ceremonial jacket.
The dinner was a success in many ways. It has not merely brought together friends and long lost colleagues, but more importantly, it reignites the espirit de corps that had once bounded the officers together in their service to the nation.
Most who were at the dinner have aged, but the spirit that evening was one of joy; doing away with protocol, status and position.
CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION
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6 comments:
Hi Dato',
Thank you so much for sharing the the retired Armed Forces Officers reunion dinner in this wonderful blog.
I agree with your opinion on Jabatan Veteran failures in handling the welfare of the ex-officers, inclusive Sarawak Branch.
Second point, do we have any special uniform/epaulette to attend gov. official dinner. And the third and last point, I agree with his Highness Raja Perlis on the formation of Retired Armed Forces Officers Club (RAFOC), but the question is, how to avoid it from being "infected" by politicians?
Mupok aku
Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban
Remaung6Renjer
Already infected with RM50k mah!!
Nampaknya tidak lama lagi kita akan mempunyai Kelab Bekas Pegawai Angkatan Tentera bukan Persatuan tapi Kelab, macam Kelab Golf aja nampaknya? Atau macam Raintree Club atau Kelab Lumba Kuda? Tapi kalau jadi Kelab Malam pun bagus juga lagi boleh untung banyak tu?
Tak tau lah saya kalau dah nama Kelab boleh kah ia berfungsi sebagai Persatuan? Yang pasti antara Kelab dan Persatuan pasti ada beza untuk dipanggil dengan sebutan itu terutama tentang pemilihan pucuk pimpinan pasti berbeza antara Kelab dengan Persatuan.
Tapi kalau nak sangat ada satu pertubuhan khas untuk bekas pegawai tentera, mengapa mesti Kelab, mengapa tak tubuh Persatuan Bekas Pegawai Tentera? Kalau Persatuan Bekas Tentera sudah jadi persatuan untk bekas anggota LLP sahaja, maka apa salahnya kita ada Persatuan Bekas Pegawai Tentera yang akan menjaga kepentingan bekas pegawai tentera saja?
Saya tau ada masalah untuk namakan ia dengan perkataan Persatuan kerana manifesto Persatuan Bekas Tentera juga meliputi bekas pegawai tentera, cuma pentadbirannya dimonopoli oleh bekas LLP melalui pemilihan ala demokrasi. Untuk mengelak fungsi yang nanti bertindih dan bagi mendapat kelulusan SPM, maka ditukar kepada Kelab, begitu?
Bagaimana pula suara Kelab akan menjadi sekuat suara persatuan kerana dengan bilangan ahli Kelab yang jauh lebih kecil dari Persatuan apakah ianya akan jadi lebih berkesan atas apa saja "appeal" yang akan dilancarkan hanya untuk kepentingan bekas pegawai tentera yang akan menjadikan Kelab itu satu golongan elit dikalangan semua bekas tentera?
Dan kalau fungsi Kelab itu ialah menjaga 'the well being of retired armed forces officers' maka lebih baik dinamakan Kelab Kebajikan sahaja, itu lebih tepat untuk dijadikan "appeal" dalam memohon bantuan dan pertolongan sebab kalau tak ada perkataan 'kebajikan', macam mana nak dapat simpati dari orang ramai yang persepsi rakyat ialah Kelab adalah untuk golongan orang2 kaya, mengapa mesti dibantu? Itulah dilemmanya bila diguna perkataan Kelab.
Dan takut pula bila nanti Kelab ini akan jadi tempat untuk bekas2 pegawai tentera yang kaya raya yang akan menggunakannya untuk menambah kekayaan mereka macam mana mereka lakukan sewaktu menjadi jeneral2 dalam waktu perkhidmatan dahulu.
Atau akan jadi tempat untuk semua jeneral2 rasuah akan dimalukan kerana perbuatan rasuah mereka?
Lantak lah!
Congratulations to Tan Sri Rahman Hamid, Dato Ahmad Ibrahim and Dato Nawawi Desa and the various Organizing Committees for their efforts and sacrifices in organizing the reunion and the formation of RAFOR.Thank you Sirs, we had a good time meeting our friends.It is a high time we have our own organization to look after our interest and welfare of our families.
RAFOR should be able to look after its members without competing with the Ex-Services Association.With RAFOR vast resources in leadership and management, it should be able to generate opportunities for its members.
Rather than depending on government's hand-outs, RAFOR should work closely with LTAT to tap its vast financial resources in RAFOR future endeavours.This should not be a problem at all as LTAT is a military entity and therefore should support RAFOR in all respect.
Salam Dato'
Kalau dinamakan Persatuan, boleh memohon kontrek di Kementerian Pertahanan atas nama Persatuan Bekas-bekas Pegawai Angkatan Tentera untuk kepentingan ahli-ahli, tentu POWER!
salam1malaysia! aku rasa sama je sama ada persatuan atau kelab. kepentingan adalah untuk ajk saja. pbtm pun sama. mana ada orang nak jaga kebajikan untuk orang lain. jabatan kebajikan masyarakat pun tunggu orang lapor baru nak ambil tindakan. Kebajikan bermula dari rumah iaitu masa dalam service pun kita boleh tau. silap sikit nak marah. dah pencen baru nak tubuh itu dan ini. semua itu untuk kepentingan diri sendiri je. sebagai contohlah PBTM: dah berapa lama tubuh? tapi masih ada kes LLP yang melarat keluar surat khabar. dah keluar paper barulah terhegehx buat lawatan. ape kehe yop?
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