Model Of Malaysias Total Defence Concept Politics Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

In the international realm, the theory of Total Defence Concept had been discussed and practised by the Western countries since the post World War II era. Due to the war consequences, the European countries especially hold that in order to restrain the enemy with limited budgets, it requires both a small professional military and a force that can expand the small army rapidly upon mobilization. To make this concept successful, a well-organized reserve and guard system is essential. The reserve and guard system is an integral part of the "total or territorial defence" which is a Scandinavian Model, sometimes called the Finnish-Swedish Way. The concept is to have the whole country involved in its defence, not just the military. In Total Defence, business, industry, local government and others are all involved in integral plans on how to defend the country. Local armed and non-violent actions are employed to help the security of the country. It is not just a military issue, but also a national issue. [1] 

With regard to the Nordic states' idea of civil defence, it is related to the concept of 'total' defence used by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden that emerged before the end of the Cold War. In the tradition of Total Defence, civil defence as a concept encompassed all activities needed to safeguard the population that were not of a military character. [2] 

If we refer specifically to the Swedish Total Defence Concept, it includes military defence and civil defence. It primarily relates to wartime, with the idea that modern warfare is total, which requires a Total Defence. The civil defence part of the Total Defence includes all non-military functions in society that are needed in warfare. However, civil defence also relates to peacetime when it includes activities that enhance the ability to resist an armed attack. In peacetime, the concept of Protection and Preparedness against Major Emergencies during Peacetime is important for the work to avoid, and prepare for, major emergencies in peacetime. [3] 

Apart, the Swiss use a modified version of this concept which is referred to a well-developed Total Defence system, standby reserves of the military allow both active and reserve units to have the ability to grow when necessary in a rapid and organized fashion. For example, platoons become companies and companies become battalions and others. This can be done by a conscript system that trains most of the adult male population to be ready to serve when needed. The conscript system of most countries, using the Total Defence concept, has the troops on active duty for approximately one year. At the end of that time a few of the conscripts volunteer to stay on active duty or to join the home guard. But the majority become members of the reserves with some becoming part of organized units and others just ready for call up upon mobilization. [4] 

In the case of Norway, organizationally Norwegian security preparedness had established since the end of the World War II and been built on a horizontal action plan where decisions are to be taken at low-levels in both civilian and military administration. This concept is based on the notion of 'preparedness where the accident happens' and means that action shall be initiated as close to the event as possible and without awaiting orders from higher levels of authority. This concept also lies at the heart of the Norwegian Total Defence Concept. It ensures a high level of involvement for the civilian sphere in its national security organization. At the same time, it is no secret that a certain awareness of the country's limited military resources has resulted in the idea of incorporating military defence in this framework of a Total Defence. Civil and military administrations are expected to cooperate within their own areas of responsibility in the event of an incident. While it is the sitting government that is at any given time in charge of Total Defence, each department has the same responsibility during wartime as it has during peacetime. This is a main principle of the Total Defence Concept. [5] 

In addition, another model does exist from the total concept and this is the model of "collective defence" which has been the main concept of NATO. Collective defence is normally institutionalised by a treaty and an organization among participant countries that commit support in defence of a member country if it is attacked by another country outside the organization. Before the end of the Cold War, Sweden and Finland mainly employed territory defence, while the other Nordic countries as members of NATO, employed a combination of territory and collective defence. [6] 

Regionally, the ASEAN best model of Total Defence Concept can be attributed to Singapore model. This concept was introduced in 1984 that was adapted from experiences of countries like Switzerland and Sweden. As a young nation with a small population and conscript armed forces, Singapore needed to draw on the different strengths and abilities of its community to augment the defence capability. Conflicts between countries are no longer just military in nature where potential aggressors and threats can appear in less obvious and non-conventional ways such as destroying social cohesion by exploiting differences in race, language, religion, culture, social or economic class; weakening national resilience by using psychological warfare to play on the people's fears and apprehensions; or waging economic warfare through economic boycotts, trade sanctions or acts of sabotage to bring down the economy. Thus, the Total Defence provides the framework for a comprehensive and integrated response to deal with all kinds of threats and challenges. When Singaporeans take personal responsibility for and get involved in the defence of Singapore, they are playing their part to increase Singapore safe and secure. Singapore Total Defence has five pillars which are; Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence and Psychological Defence. These five pillars represent the key sectors of society that help Singaporeans understand how they can be involved. When Singapore takes National Service seriously, volunteer in civil defence exercises, help build a strong economy, strengthen community ties with one another regardless of race and religion and stay committed to defend the country, hence Singapore are doing something in every sector of its society to strengthen Singapore's resilience as a nation. [7] 

In particular, Malaysia's Total Defence Concept which is known as HANRUH (the Malay acronym of Pertahanan Menyeluruh) was introduced in 1986. Malaysia's HANRUH consists of five components which are national vigilance, solidarity and unity of the community, public vigilance, economic fortitude and psychological resilience. [8] Although this concept has existed for more than two decades, it is still not familiar among Malaysians because the concept has never been directly put into practice. However, the government always put the efforts to familiarise this strategy as for example the concept is indirectly found in courses organised by the National Civics Bureau (BTN). BTN which has an organisational structure and experience (having been set up in 1974) is seen as the best approach to instil the concept of Total Defence not only among civil servants and university students but also Malaysians in general. Apart from this effort by government, there are still lacking in the implementation of this concept throughout the country, hence the question arises of how far does its implementation achieves the desired objectives. Although Malaysia is not confronted with critical security or defence problems after the surrender of Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), the concept is actually more effective if implemented during peaceful time than during emergency. It is about time that the country has to implement HANRUH among the citizens, if not it will be a loss to the country. Thus, this research is worthily conducted to provide the answers of how far does Malaysia successful in implementing the Total Defence Concept through her experiences.

1.2 Problem Statement

Despites government efforts to instil the understanding of Total Defence Concept or HANRUH among the Malaysian, this concept is still not familiar among the citizens because it has never been directly put into practice. Many perspectives that majority of Malaysian citizens are not aware and have very shallow understanding of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept. As the worst part, the understanding of this concept is simply associated with the responsibility of Malaysian Armed Forces as it related to the defence concept. Therefore, a study is needed to determine to what extent this concept successfully been implemented in Malaysia as part of National Defence Policy.

.

1.3 Research Questions

Research questions that need to be answered for this study are as follows:

1.3.1 What is the most general view about the existence of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept?

1.3.2 How far do the citizens generally understand about the Malaysia's Total Defence Concept as part of National Defence Policy?

1.3.3 What are the limitations in implementing this concept among the Malaysian citizens?

1.3.4 What are the potential action plans that will assist to enhance the implementation of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept as part of National Defence Policy?

1.3.5 How far does Malaysia successful in implementing the Total Defence Concept?

1.4 Research Objectives

The objectives of this study will cover the desired aspects as follows:

1.4.1 To view citizens' general knowledge about the existence of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept.

1.4.2 To highlight citizens' general understanding of the Malaysia's Total Defence Concept as part of National Defence Policy.

1.4.3 To determine the possible causes of limitation in implementing this concept among the Malaysian citizens.

1.4.4 To bring forward the potential action plans that will assist in enhancing the effectiveness of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept implementation.

1.4.5 To analyze to what extent does Malaysia successful in implementing the Total Defence Concept.

1.5 Scope

In conducting this study, there are certain limitations that should be considered. For data and information collection (for documents analysis), there are very limited papers related to this study to be referred to since the Total Defence Concept is not widely been discussed throughout the country. Therefore, certain aspects of validity and reliability of the data and ethical consideration will be seriously taken into consideration. The study will be a cross-sectional study for the period of thirteen weeks (three months and one week) from 8th May to 31st August 2012. This period will cover all of the activities as follows:

TABLE 1: Research Timelines.

Ser

Activities

Time

1.

Selecting a subject

Four days

2.

Narrowing the subject into a topic

Three days

3.

Planning and literature review

One week

4.

Writing research proposal

Two weeks

5.

Finding documented source materials

One weeks

6.

Analyzing the data

Two weeks

7.

Writing the first draft

One week

8.

Getting supervisor's approval

One week

9.

Writing full research report

Two weeks

10.

Revising, editing and proofreading

One weeks

11.

Getting supervisor's final approval

Six days

12.

Submission of the research

One day

Source: Author own timelines planning.

1.6 Significance of Research

Malaysia's Total Defence Concept was introduced since 1986 which covers the components of national vigilance, solidarity and unity of the community, public vigilance, economic fortitude and psychological resilience. However, this concept is still not familiar among Malaysians. In peace time, the threat of war is not clearly seen. Therefore, the importance of this concept remains less priority to the citizens as they either negligence of its existence or simply do not bother about it taking for granted it is the responsibility of security forces. Hence, it is a need to conduct the study to determine to what extent does Malaysia successful in implementing the Total Defence Concept throughout the country as part of National Defence Policy. This will provide the answers of whether or not this strategy is beneficial to enhance citizens' awareness and their responsibility in the defence of Malaysia.

1.7 Research Method

This is a qualitative research which is designed to use documents analysis as tools of data collecting methods. [9] It is important to measure the past records and experiences of Malaysia in putting the Total Defence Concept into practice. The papers regarding this concept and related documents will be examined to analyze the successful of its implementation. Data will be collected from either primary or secondary sources particularly from the National Defence University Malaysia and Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College libraries.

1.8 Research Framework

In this study, there is a need to construct a conceptual framework in order to ease the understanding of logical sense of the relationships among the several aspects that have been identified as important in understanding the issue and analysing the successful of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept. The concept flows logically integrating most logical beliefs recently of the aspects influencing and need to be emphasized for the successful of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept. Hence, in this research, after considering the research topic and its problem statement, the conceptual framework that guides the whole writing of the research is derived from the National Defence Policy where the Total Defence is a part of its Basic Defence Principles. [10] In other words, the research will focus on the Model of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept as part of National Defence Policy that will cover the Malaysia's HANRUH five components which are national vigilance, solidarity and unity of the community, public vigilance, economic fortitude and psychological resilience. [11] It is necessary to refer to the National Defence Policy as the main reference and subsequently emphasizing this model in analysing the successful implementation of the Total Defence Concept in Malaysia perspective. The figure for conceptual framework to this study of the Malaysia's Total Defence Concept as follow:

Problem Statement

To What Extent This Concept Successfully Been Implemented in Malaysia as Part of Malaysia Defence Policy

Topic

Malaysia: Implementing Total Defence Concept,

Issues and Challenges

- citizens' general knowledge

- citizens' general understanding

- possible causes of limitation

- potential action plans

National Defence Policy

(Basic Principles of Defence)

- Self-reliance

- Total Defence (HANRUH)

- Commitment towards FPDA

- Support on UN's Charter

- Anti Terrorist

- Defence Diplomacy

Model of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept

- National Vigilance

- Solidarity and Unity of the Community

- Public Vigilance

- Economic Fortitude

- Psychological Resilience

FIGURE 1: Conceptual Framework for Studying the Successful of

Malaysia's Total Defence Concept.

Source: Author own research framework.

1.9 Literature Review

Malaysia's Total Defence Concept or HANRUH is a doctrine on the mobilization of all assets and national resources to increase national capability in facing the internal or external threats. The clearest aspect of the Total Defence Concept is the activation of reserved security and defence teams in every associated organization. [12] 

HANRUH is a Total Defence Concept created by Malaysia which was introduced by the National Security Committee in May 1986 in order to plan out a defence strategy which was concrete and holistic. It consists of the use of human resources which was efficient, economical strength, unified actions from all government agencies as well as good international and regional relationship as a strategy to ensure the strength and sovereignty of the nation remains intact. The concept of Total Defence which is practised by Malaysia is a concept that moulds together the material elements and non material including patriotism and nationalism of the people in defending their nation. Thus with the Total Defence Concept that is holistic and involves all branches of security and defence service, be it government based or the people (Voluntary Defence Teams) as a strategic asset of Malaysia's defence. As a matter of fact with the introduction and the application of the HANRUH which not only involves military but also general defence forces, it allows for the defence of the nation to be directly strengthened as well as acting as a deterrent towards Malaysia in order to avoid enemy threats. [13] 

Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is also the Minister of Defence (now Prime Minister) said that several inter-agency discussions held since the 1990s to study the implementation of Malaysia's Total Defence components had produced no concrete action. He added perhaps the absence of threats, and the comfort and peace the people have enjoyed resulted in a lack of commitment towards Total Defence. He said that after launching the Workshop on Total Defence Concept and Implementation, co-organised by the Defence Ministry and National Security Division of the Prime Minister's Department. The objective of Total Defence Concept, as implemented in countries such as Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Singapore, is to prevent war and defend the country, through a concerted effort by the private and public sector. He also said the concept should not be limited to dealing with security threats (war and conflicts) but must also cover national crises such as natural disasters or an energy crisis for example the previous floods in Johor, Malacca and Pahang needed the collaboration of government agencies, the private sector and volunteer bodies. Here, Total Defence Concept from his view can play an effective role. [14] 

Ruhanie Ahmad in the Cyberprince responded to the above report by saying that the Malaysian government has to make up her mind to have or not to have a Total Defence Concept. The geopolitical development in the 21st century, since the launching of the War on Terror (WOT), which was later being characterized by the ever increasing incidents of black operations or false-flag operations in several regions of South East Asia, warrants such a policy to be implemented in Malaysia without any further delay. Such cases of terrorism in the present day are the reality and a Total Defence Concept is of paramount importance to benchmark our nation's readiness to face this reality. [15] 

On other occasion, Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that the national effort in the evacuation of the 10,000 odd Malaysians out of Egypt to Jeddah and then back home is under the principle of Total Defence. He was referring to the role played by various agencies of government, the private sector and NGOs in that case because Malaysia was able to deploy its national assets from both the private and public sector under the coordination and supervision of the Government to get the students out of Egypt. [16] The same case can also be applied to Malaysia experience in combating piracy at the Gulf of Aden where it involved the cooperation between the civilians with the Royal Malaysian Navy.

In Malaysia, the concept of Total Defence refers to the total and integrated efforts taken by the government, non-governmental agencies, private sectors and the citizens to defend the nation. Safeguarding Malaysia's sovereignty and territorial integrity necessitates the commitment of all citizens and not just the Armed Forces. While the defence of the country is the physical responsibility of the security forces, the burden of ensuring that such forces are able to meet the challenges confronting them is a national responsibility. Even though it recognises the importance of regional cooperation and external assistance, Malaysia believes that self-reliance should continue to be the cornerstone of its defence. In this regard Malaysia will strive towards enhancing and developing its Armed Forces capabilities as well as promoting defence consciousness and patriotism among its citizens. [17] 

From other perspective, Malaysia, like other Southeast Asian nations, therefore does not privilege military defence in its attempts to secure the state. Nevertheless, little effort was made by the Malaysian ruling elite in the past to involve citizens in securing the state. In Malaysia, the concept of comprehensive security and Total Defence remain the domain of the elites and are hardly articulated publicly let alone operationalized at the level of society. The discourse remains within the Ministry of Defence, security officials and other public officials. Of late, the Malaysian government has attempted to introduce a limited form of national service, a policy it rejected in the past. One reason for this shift is that like other governments in the region, the Malaysian authorities realise that non-state actors are posing serious threats to regimes. The threat posed by Muslim militants is especially real for Malaysia, with a majority Muslim population. The defence of the realm can no longer be the sole domain and responsibility of the elites and the armed forces. It has to involve the masses if it is to be effective against non-state actors seeking grass-root support. However, he argued the notion of Total Defence being taken seriously amongst policy-making elites but the government is facing serious difficulties in persuading the masses that the regime's battle is also their own battle, while there are considerable hurdles to operationalizing the concept. There are three interrelated reasons for this situation which are inherent contradictions within the concept of Total Defence, ethnic divisions in Malaysian society and the growing fragility of elite-mass relations, particularly within the Muslim population. [18] 

1.10 Chapterization

The writing of this research will be divided into five chapters. Each chapter will clearly discuss the relevant points and findings to attain the objectives of the research as a whole. The suggested chapters are as follows:

1.10.1 Chapter 1: Introduction. This chapter consists of a basic understanding of the research topic, problem statement, research questions, the objectives, the scope and its significance. It also discusses about the research methods, conceptual framework, the related literature review and the research chapterization as well.

1.10.2 Chapter 2: Background Malaysia's Total Defence Concept. This chapter will highlight the details parts and clarify the definitions of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept as part of National Defence Policy. It will further specify the meaning and understanding of the concept from Malaysian perspective as a continuation of what has been touched in Chapter 1.

1.10.3 Chapter 3: Citizens' General View and Understanding of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept. This chapter will present the data collected that will be arranged accordingly and discussed thoroughly to view citizens' general knowledge and understanding of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept as part of National Defence Policy.

1.10.4 Chapter 4: Possible Causes of Limitation and Potential Action Plans. In this chapter, the writer will come out with his own analysis based on the discussion in the previous chapter in order to determine possible causes of limitation and bring forward potential action plans that will assist in enhancing the effectiveness of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept.

1.10.5 Chapter 5: Conclusion. The final chapter of this research is the concluding remarks of the writer to analyze to what extent does Malaysia successful in the implementation of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept as part of National Defence Policy.

1.11 Conclusion

This qualitative research is carried out to analyze to what extent does Malaysia successful in implementing the Total Defence Concept as part of National Defence Policy, its issues and challenges. By considering the topic and its problem statement, the whole writing in this study will be based on the conceptual framework that is derived from the National Defence Policy. In this policy, the Total Defence as main focus of the research is part of National Defence Policy (a part of its Basic Defence Principles). Therefore, the whole research will not be deviated and always in line with the Model of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept that covers the five components of HANRUH.

CHAPTER 2

BACKGROUND OF MALAYSIA'S TOTAL DEFENCE CONCEPT

2.1 Introduction

Since independence in 1957, Malaysia continues to develop as a recognized nation state throughout the world. Starting with agricultural based nation, Malaysia under the six premierships evolved towards an industrializing state to date. Historically, Malaysia maintains its strong political system under good leadership who managed to uphold national security as the essence of successful development until the present time. Basically, the issue of national security becomes an important element throughout the leadership of those Prime Ministers where the focus at the beginning more towards internal stability due to accommodating the multi ethnics relations and managing the threat of communist insurgency that ended in 1989.

Then, Malaysia started to extend it national security focus on external threats where the defence of its territory and safeguarding of its sovereignty are predominantly emphasized. To ensure this defence policy is achieved, Malaysia's interpretation of national security evolves based on the concept of Total Defence as one of the Basic Principles of Defence in its National Defence Policy. [19] With the reference to the Japan's Comprehensive Security and the Singaporean Total Defence framework, Malaysia views security as extending beyond defence, encompassing also the creation of strong and stable government and the promotion of social and ethnic among the citizens. [20] Hence, the involvement of parties from government, security forces as well as the whole citizens is paramount in implementing Malaysia Total Defence Concept. To support the understanding and analysing further of this involvement, we shall discuss further the understanding of National Defence Policy where the Malaysia Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) is a part of its Basic Principles of Defence, followed by the definition and understanding of the Malaysia Total Defence Concept thoroughly.

2.2 National Defence Policy

Malaysia National Defence Policy put its primary concern to the defence of its national interests as a core element in defending its sovereignty and independence. Therefore, the main objective of National Defence Policy is to safeguard and defend its territory from any external or internal threats. [21] In implementing the manifestation of National Defence Policy, thus, a comprehensive approach has been formed up consists of Basic Principles of Defence as illustrated in the Figure 2 below: [22] 

FIGURE 2: Basic Principles of Defence in National Defence Policy.

Source: Malaysia National Defence Policy, Ministry of Defence, 2010.

2.2.1 Self-reliance

Malaysia has to depend on its own resources and abilities to safeguard sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Therefore, Malaysian Armed Forces has to have the abilities to counter any military threats from the enemy. The abilities involve logistics support, human resources and defence industry. Thus, the development of strong defence industry and the existence of defence research and science institution are paramount for his reason.

2.2.2 Total Defence (HANRUH)

The Total Defence (HANRUH) involves every government agencies, private sectors, NGOs and the citizen to defence national sovereignty, integrity and interests in whatever circumstances. In fact, the defence of the nation does not merely the responsibility of Malaysian Armed Forces itself, but same goes to all of the citizens. Every contributing party should know their roles and contributions during the disaster or conflict faced by nation. It should be based on own national strength without any dependencies on external forces. In this context, the spirit of patriotism and nationalism should be continuously nurtured among the citizens. National interests are above all individual interests or political ideologies.

2.2.3 Commitment towards Five Powers Defence Arrangement (FPDA)

Malaysia views FPDA as a main network to rescue any unaffordable hostile conditions by the Malaysian Armed Forces. Besides Malaysia, the members of FPDA are Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and United Kingdom. It is the only multi lateral defence cooperation involved by Malaysia since 1971. Although it is still not been tested by any war or conflict situations, FPDA is a preventive element which highly contributed towards the professionalism in Malaysian Armed Forces.

2.2.4 Support United Nation's Charter towards International Peace

Malaysia gives full support on United Nations and international citizen's efforts towards international peace and security. It is in line with Malaysian Foreign Policy of proactive approach to solve international issues. The involvement of Malaysia under United Nations' mandate started in 1960 in Congo. At present, Malaysia has actively participated in many United Nations Peacekeeping Operations involving Military Observer, Battalion Group, Headquarters Staff and Technical Group of United Nations. The involvement of Malaysia is not only on peacekeeping operations but also towards enforcement of peace and human aids.

2.2.5 Anti Terrorist

Terrorist is still one of Malaysia main security issues. Nowadays, terrorist group activities take place across the borders involving various ethnic groups and citizenships. Therefore, any countries are possible to become their centre of activities. Malaysia believes that comprehensive actions at all level are important to deal with the terrorist activities even from its early stage.

2.2.6 Defence Diplomacy

Malaysia aware that defence diplomacy is one of the important efforts that contribute toward prevention of conflict which may affect national peace and stability. Among the actions taken toward this effort is the development of confidence building measure, transparency, positives norms and communication channels. It has been done through joint exercise, sharing of information, commander visit, exchange of officer and facilitating of military knowledge and training. Malaysia practices the defence diplomacy through bilateral and multi lateral defence cooperation.

2.3 Definition of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH)

The concept of Malaysia's Total Defence was initiated by Malaysia first Defence Minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein right after the independence. During that time, Malaysia was fighting the communist terrorists. Tun Abdul Razak realised that the fighting will only be won if every citizens get involved. The involvement of the whole government, ministries, the various departments and their agencies with all the supports from the public was needed to fight all influences of the communist party. In whatever way they can, the citizens must contribute to the fighting even by saying no to requests from terrorists for food during that era. [23] 

Since then, the new Malaysia's Total Defence Concept has been introduced and developed in May 1986 which was known as Overall Defence or HANRUH. It is a doctrine that outlines the use of all assets and the national resources to increase the national capability to face any form of internal and external threats. Among the most significant characters of the Total Defence Concept is the activation of reserved security and defence teams in every associated organization. In other words, Malaysia's Total Defence (HANRUH) may be defined as what stated by Mohd Zackry Mokhtar which is "HANRUH is a Total Defence Concept created by Malaysia which was introduced by the National Security Committee in May 1986 in order to plan out a defence strategy which was concrete and holistic. HANRUH emphasizes on the use of human resources which was efficient, economical strength, unified actions from all government agencies as well as good international and regional relationship as a strategy to ensure the strength and sovereignty of the nation remains intact." [24] 

The Malaysia's Total Defence Concept consists of five components as an effort to establish the citizens with full spirit of patriotism and nationalism as follows: [25] 

2.3.1 National Vigilance

The component of National Vigilance has two main elements which are the safety (policing) and the defence (military). The main objective of the safety (policing) is to protect public safety, to help government agencies, to protect life and property and to help the war efforts. While the role of armed forces to defend the national sovereignty and interests. They must be able and equipped with sophisticated weapons in order to assist the authorities in the enforcement of law, maintaining public order and help the country during any disaster experiences.

Solidarity and Unity of the Community

The component of Solidarity and Unity of the Community is to inculcate a united Malaysian nation and harmony regardless of status, race, religion, culture and place of birth. The articulation of national integration regardless of religious differences will drive Malaysia into a harmonious country. To create this situation, certain characteristics should be inculcated among all levels of society which are to adopt an attitude of compassion, tolerance, collaboration, sharing the same goals and vision, practice good values ​​and respect for religious differences.

Implementation of this component should be consistent with other Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) components. Therefore, it should be adopted at the very beginning to express understanding and tolerant of other diversity and cultural values. This component plays an important role in maintaining national unity and integration to remain intact and not threatened. Each community should be aware and understand that what has been mentioned above is for the interest of national integrity without referring to any interests of individual, particular groups, socio-cultural and ideological differences.

2.3.3 Public Vigilance

Public Vigilance is focused on two areas which are providing protection of life and property and ensuring security and continuous supply of basic amenities, whether in war, emergency or disaster. To achieve these objectives, the implementation strategy is to establish the Rescue and First Aid Group, Fire Extinguisher Group and the Food Distribution and Supply Group. Main agencies to coordinate all activities and implementation of public readiness are Malaysia Civil Defence Department, assisted by Fire and Rescue Department, Malaysia Volunteer Corps (Ikatan Relawan Malaysia) and voluntary associations such as the Red Crescent Society and St John's Ambulance.

To enhance public readiness, participation of voluntary organizations is important. By this, every citizen can understand their respective roles in the event of an emergency, conflict, disaster and even during the war. Therefore, to create the high self-esteem society that willing to lend their hand to those in need is through direct participation in voluntary organizations. It is important to promote this awareness start from the school and extend it into the working environment. Active involvement of communities in uniformed organizations such as the Reserve Force will increase their sense of self-esteem towards national interests.

2.3.4 Economic Fortitude

The component of Economic Fortitude is to ensure a continuous strong and competitive economic prosperity. Three main factors for this reason are the storage of stock of needed materials, ensuring the supply of basic food as a strategic asset and ensuring the transportation, power and water resources are not affected or threatened.

To implement the program and activities those are in line with this objective, implementation strategies involve the implementation of National Agricultural Policy to reduce dependence on external sources and diversify the national outputs. A benchmark for determining the level of food supply should be established to ensure the country always has enough basic food supply during conflict or emergency. The cooperation among government agencies and private sectors is important to minimize disruption, and to prevent chaos situation during the emergency period.

2.3.5 Psychological Resilience

The main goal of the Psychological Resilience is to shape the citizens mindset to be prepared and committed for the defence of national sovereignty and integrity. It is to produce citizens with the spirit of patriotism and nationalism, love the country, proud to be Malaysian, willingness to sacrifice for the country, goodwill, unity and national integration, and informative.

2.4 Understanding of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH)

Referring to the definition of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) as discussed above, we should further understand the implementation of this concept. In fact, all citizens should have good understanding of HANRUH based on its components. In fact, the implementation of HANRUH components is related to each other. Although some aspects of HANRUH concept are already exist and has been implemented in this country, it needs to be streamlined and strengthened in an integrated manner. The implementation of this concept requires acceptance and commitment of all parties. With the implementation of this concept, national defense becomes the responsibility of all parties. Thus, the defense will become more integrated, strengthened and secured. [26] 

Apart, HANRUH concept is not confined to issues of defense or military elements, but also as an element to apply the concept of national security more widely. One way to apply this HANRUH in citizens' life is by practicing the taking care character.

In other words, the Malaysia Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) may be understood as the total and integrated efforts by the government, non-governmental agencies, private sectors and the citizens to defend the nation. The commitment of all parties is needed to safeguard Malaysia sovereignty and territorial integrity. Currently, we may say that Malaysia has no real external threat. However, we are facing enemies from inside which such as the disunity or even the reluctance to be part of mainstream Malaysian life. This threat will affect our multi racial, multi religious and multi cultural society.

2.5 Conclusion

To understand the background of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH), it requires the understanding of National Defence Policy. The defence policy is a manifestation of its goal for the protection of its national strategic interests and the preservation of national security. This policy outlines three basic fundamentals namely national strategic interests, principles of defence and the concept of defence. It emphasises on the need for the maintenance of a stable and peaceful environment of the immediate areas of its strategic interests. As part of the Basic Principles of National Defence Policy, Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) requires total patriotism among the citizens, collaboration between military, police and uniformed personnel in agencies as well as NGOs which are indirectly involved in defence and security of the country.

CHAPTER 3

CITIZENS' GENERAL VIEW AND UNDERSTANDING

OF MALAYSIA'S TOTAL DEFENCE CONCEPT

3.1 Introduction

Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) as defined earlier is as a form of defence that involves a comprehensive and integrated government agencies, private sectors, non-governmental organizations and citizens to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity. By looking to this definition, we may say that most general view of the citizens would be in order to defend the country, all people will be involved. If the country were attacked, the enemy is not only confronted with a number of military personnel, but it will face the 27 million Malaysians. Accordingly, countries need to build capacity for bringing together the 27 million Malaysians to face any threat as well as the environment and natural disasters. In this chapter, we shall look the general view of citizens towards this concept as well as their understanding on HANRUH in order to further analyse to what extent Malaysia has successfully implemented the Total Defence Concept throughout the nation.

3.2 Citizens' General View

Minister of Defence, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that concept of HANRUH was implemented with the current establishment of National Service (NS) program. Even though this program had been criticized by the opposition before with negative perspectives, it proved to be able to produce young generations that can display images and changing of behaviours toward citizens of good character and spirit of patriotism. The study on perception of National Service trainees each year also showed that this program is very well recognized among the trainees. For example the marks obtained for benefits of attending this program are 87.05% for patriotism, 85.56% for aspects of volunteerism and 91.19% for other benefits. Apart, the trainees' awareness to enrol in the volunteer organizations also showed an increase. Up to May 2011, there are about 43,987 registrations have been made ​​to the volunteer forces, such as Malaysian Armed Forces, Royal Malaysian Police, Malaysian Civil Defence Department and Malaysia Volunteer Corps (Ikatan Relawan Malaysia). [27] 

Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi added that another form of HANRUH implementation was the establishment Territorial Army. To complement and develop the concept, the Ministry of Defence has launched the strategy to establish Territorial Army in all parliaments throughout Malaysia. Until October 2011, all of 222 parliaments had been equipped with a complete unit of Territorial Army. On top of that, Ministry of Defence intent to further establishes units of Territorial Army in 317 Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) across the country. [28] 

According to Kolonel Dato' Professor Doctor Ariffin Suhaimi, Commander of 502 Territorial Army Regiment, one of the significant implementation of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept today is the role played by the Reserve Force. It is not merely serves to augment and reinforcement forces during the emergency to fight the communists. The situation has changed, where the peaceful and prosperous country with no real threats may reduce the strength of the Regular Forces. At the same time, this reduction should be balanced with an additional strength to secure the country with its defence credibility. This balance is through the strength of the Reserve Force in the Territorial Army that always ready for combat (combat ready in reserve). The force should play new roles for example the Key Role for combat ready in reserve, Special Role to be ready for territorial defence and Additional Role to assist civil authorities contribute towards national stability. These roles are in line with Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH). [29] 

In discussing the citizens' general view of HANRUH, we may also refer to what was written by Azmi Hassan in Utusan Malaysia dated 5 Disember 2009. [30] According to him, even though Malaysia also has the concept of Total Defence or better known with HANRUH, the majority of Malaysians are still not familiar with this concept as the strategy has never been practiced. However, the strategy although has not been explicitly expressed to the entire citizens, but implicitly the concept is found in courses organized by the Biro Tata Negara (BTN). It is saddening that in recent years there have been claims that the BTN courses can be to divide the unity of the people of Malaysia. Therefore, it is better if the reshuffle of the course's curriculum in the future will include the five components of HANRUH because there will be no further claims that the BTN course is a merely political tool. BTN that has an organizational structure and experience since 1974 seen as the best approach to the concept of total defence, not only to civil servants and university students but to all Malaysians.

The time has come for the implementation of HANRUH through BTN, otherwise it will be a great loss to the citizens and the whole country.

The Johor Civil Defence Department in its view on HANRUH holds that the responsibility to defend the country lies not in Malaysian Armed Forces only. Defence is closely related to the involvement of citizens. They need to be exposed to the sense of defending the country in any circumstances. It engages in comprehensive and integrated government agencies, private sectors, NGOs and the citizens. HANRUH will also contribute continuously to national security where public readiness is the responsibility of every citizen to ensure peace and harmony are fully guaranteed. [31] 

By implementing HANRUH, it will contribute to the benefits of nation. In defence, it serves for the use of national assets and resources available to the needs of logistics and supply, the achievement of self-reliant Defence Policy, the support to strengthen national defence during peace or war and disciplining the citizens to support the stability and harmony of the country. For economic and development benefits, it will reduce the maintenance cost of regular security forces, establish expertise volunteers with the ability as regular forces and establish awareness on development planning that consider the aspects of defence. While in social, the involvement of all citizens to implement HANRUH will nurture the spirit of patriotism, solidarity and resilience and develop a group of experts in a field that can be used during the war. [32] 

3.3 Citizens' Understanding

The citizens' general understanding of the HANRUH concept may vary to what had been understood, expressed and stated by all citizens in any circumstances and events throughout the country.

Prime Minister, Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abd Razak expressed that in the context of defence in Malaysia, the concept of HANRUH cannot be discussed in isolation because it is a third strategy of the National Defence Policy, apart from Deterrence and Forward Defence Strategy. The National Defence Policy is based on the development of the capacity or capability driven and not based on any form of threats. As the country is not expected to have conventional threat in the future, thus, the implementation strategy of Forward Defence and Deterrence is based on capacity building to safeguard the sovereignty and national interests. Although HANRUH is a third strategy of National Defence Policy, however until now it is still in the concept and strategy. [33] 

Prime Minister understood that some inter-agency level discussions have been held since the 90s in order to understand and examine the implementation of the five components of HANRUH concept, but these efforts did not bear any clear and concrete action since there is no consensus in dealing with this strategy. Perhaps the absence of any threats to the country, the comfort and well being of people causing the lack of commitment or the need for HANRUH. In fact, it can be said that HANRUH concept is only known by certain public officials, especially those who are directly involved in security and defence.

Mohd Arshad Raji, a retired Army General in his writing Total Defence - What It Means to Malaysians argued that the concept of Malaysia's Total Defence (HANRUH) is not well understood by the general public. He even had used the term 'Total Defence' in his casual conversation with purely civilians to test their understanding and awareness of the term, but one is not surprise that most have a very shallow understanding of the term and concept. The general understanding by most is that when the word defence is used, they would understand it to mean the roles and tasks of the security forces and in particular the military, in the defence of the country. This is because this subject or concept is only taught at the senior levels agencies involved. He further argued that what he understood of Total Defence is all about galvanizing every sector of our society to strengthen the nation's resilience to defend the homeland. In other words, Total Defence provides a comprehensive and integrated response to deal with all kinds of threats and challenges. In addition, he stated that the Total Defence is not just military defence, but it includes the other elements of psychological, social, civil and economic defence, and this requires an in depth understanding with regards to how all these elements are galvanized to meet a common purpose. [34] 

On July 4, 2008, there was a total of 27 NGOs voiced their protest against government plans to deploy troops to help police in maintaining public order during a mass public gathering. In a joint statement, they expressed the proposal would give wrong impression to the citizens of Malaysia as well as the world that the country is facing crisis or disunity. According to them, the fact pointed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently that the security situation in the country is under controlled was not very convincing. For them, the use of military force to control the peaceful rally will only create fear among the citizens. They even will submit the protest for the proposal to deploy armed forces in maintaining public order. [35] 

Apart, the Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stressed that HANRUH had been translated via collaboration of the Malaysian Armed Forces, Royal Malaysian Police and other enforcement agencies. He added that the HANRUH concept has been translated by the people thus led the Malaysia's position as one of the safest countries in Southeast Asia. It proves that the Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) implemented by the government has been effective in maintaining security. The Global Peace Index (GPI) Report 2011 found Malaysia to be one of the safest countries in Southeast Asia and ranked 19th of 153 countries worldwide. The Defence Minister said the study would have considered the low defence budget although the level of defence preparedness was highest. [36] 

In elaborating the impact of HANRUH, the writers of The Impact of Singapore's Military Development on Malaysia's Security (journal writing), stated that the concept of Total Defence involves all forces of security and defence and official public (volunteers force). This concept has given a great impact to other countries that Malaysia is strategically stronger. With the introduction and practice of joint warfare in Malaysia and the involvement of civil authorities, this can send a message that Malaysia's military powers are relatively strong. Indirectly, this is another form of prevention to avoid any threats from outsiders. The fact is that the military development (based on Total Defence Concept) in Malaysia has the purpose to establish a deterrence system for the enemy. [37] 

Based on the research writing by Mej Wazirudin bin Mahfot, he argued that Total Defense is a need in defense strategy. It is part of efforts to mobilize military and national resources to defend the country. The concept is to give priority to public entities on the responsibility to defend the country. Based on the concept of Forward Defense allows the defending country at outside the region or area to avoid the damage and loss of life within the country. The concept is the direction of National Defence Policy which needs a modernization of Malaysian Armed Forces towards the flexible structure to the latest defence technology. [38] 

3.4 Conclusion

In conclusion, we may say that the citizens' general view and understanding of the Malaysia's Total defence Concept (HANRUH) varies among one another. Some view that the defence of the country is the responsibility of all parties not only the security forces but some understand it differently. From political perspective especially the Ministry of Defence, the Total Defence concept has been successfully implemented and the government had sent the message and galvanized the efforts to encourage the citizens to be part of the national defence entities. However, there are still the claims that most of Malaysians recently have a very shallow understanding of the term and concept of Malaysia's Total Defence. It perhaps if we refer to the understanding of this concept from the economic, social and psychological perspectives.

CHAPTER 4

POSSIBLE CAUSES OF LIMITATION AND POTENTIAL ACTION PLANS

4.1 Introduction

In the previous chapters, we have elaborated the definition and understanding of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) as well as the citizens' general view and understanding of this concept based on what has been implemented throughout the country. In dealing with the implementation of HANRUH, like other national policies, government faces several challenges to instil this concept among Malaysian citizens as part of National Defence Policy. Therefore, in this chapter, we shall identify several possible causes of limitation in implementing Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) and potential action plans to enhance the effectiveness of this concept for the whole nation.

4.2 Possible Causes of Limitation

Since 1986 when it was first launched, the Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) dealing with various limitations that can directly affect its implementation and acceptance among the citizens. Among the limitations are as follows:

4.2.1 Changing of Threat

The communist insurgency in Malaysia ended on 2 December 1989 following a peace agreement signed between the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), the Malaysian Government and Thai military commanders at Haadyai in Southern Thailand. [39] Since then, there is no real threat faced by the country. The peaceful environment in Malaysia because of no real threats affected the citizens' commitment toward defending of the country or the need for Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH).

4.2.2 Different Levels of Public Awareness on National Defence

The concept of HANRUH has never been put into direct practice since its launching, therefore the levels of public awareness among Malaysian citizens are various among themselves. National defence is understood and viewed differently. For most of government officials, particularly the top level management, they have a correct understanding of national defence and highly aware about its importance towards national interests. It is the same with those who are directly involved in the implementation of Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) such as the military, police, civil authorities, reserve forces, volunteers and others. However, for common citizens (the mass) and those who do not have direct involvement in the implementation of this concept, the level of awareness on national defence issues is low. In worse case, they simply regard that it is the responsibility of Malaysian Armed Forces to defend the nation.

4.2.3 Lack of National Campaign

In implementing such policy strategy (Malaysia's Total Defence Concept), there is a need for comprehensive national campaign. This is to ensure the concept is well understood and familiarized among the public. However, in Malaysian case, there is still lack of national campaign for this concept. If the concept of HANRUH is comprehensively campaigned throughout the country like what has been done currently to the concept of 1Malaysia, this concept might have clearer understanding among the Malaysian citizens.

4.2.4 Lack of Educational Approach

In fact, in our educational system, there is lack of emphasis to instil the awareness on national defence among the students. In the early stages of education, the pupils were less exposed to the concept of HANRUH either during their primary or secondary school. The exposure only occurs at youth level after they finished the school if they were selected to join National Service program, or if they joined the government, or became reservists or volunteers.

4.2.5 Patriotism and Nationalism

The spirits of patriotism and nationalism among the Malaysian citizens are fundamental in ensuring successful implementation of HANRUH. These spirits must be nurtured to all level of society then the awareness on the importance of national defence may increase. It will help to public acceptance and participation of HANRUH and therefore enhance the effectiveness of its implementation. Furthermore, when the citizens involve in HANRUH, definitely it will increase their spirits of patriotism and nationalism towards the country. If these spirits are low among the citizens, Malaysia will face difficulty in implementing HANRUH as a whole.

4.2.6 Political Differences

In politics, the role of opposition is to check and balance the government of the ruling party. However, they should portray their professionalism in supporting the present government especially in the national policies that promote the unity in the country. Although politically is different, the opposition cannot simply condemn Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) because its objectives are towards achievement of national interests. By condemning the role of Biro Tatanegara (BTN) in spreading the HANRUH among the government officials as only a tool of ruling party (Barisan Nasional) [40] , it will limit the implementation of this concept among the citizens as they may see it from different or even negative perspectives.

4.3 Potential Action Plans

Not only the government, but all parties have to support Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) as it promotes national unity. Therefore, several potential action plans should be taken into consideration in addressing the limitations in the implementation of this concept. Among the potential action plans are as follows:

4.3.1 Core Subject in Education System

Malaysia's Total Defence Concept (HANRUH) should be made compulsory as national core subject in every level of education syst