Ministry in defence mode after Mat Sabu’s ‘lowest-ranked assets’ talk
KUALA LUMPUR: The Defence Ministry was forced to scramble into damage control following a claim by its minister, Mohamad Sabu, that Malaysia’s defence assets were the “lowest ranked” in Southeast Asia.
He told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that this was in stark contrast to the 1970s, when Malaysia was the top-ranked country military-wise in the region.
“In terms of our navy, air force and others in Southeast Asia, we are at the bottom.
“Vietnam is far ahead, Indonesia is on top while Malaysia is the lowest.
“It is embarrassing for us (on the international stage), but I will work to make Malaysia great again, No. 1 again,” said Mohamad in the Dewan Rakyat here yesterday.
The ministry, however, issued a clarification yesterday.
Mohamad’s press secretary, Amin Iskandar, said the former did not mean that the country’s military was weaker than those of other countries in the region.
“The armed forces are prepared to defend the country’s sovereignty from any threat and invasion.
“However, there is a need for it to strengthen its military assets and keep abreast of technology and current needs,” Amin said.
Mohamad had, in the Dewan Rakyat, earlier said disruptions to defence allocations had made it difficult for the ministry to carry out projects and maintenance.
He said the armed forces had requested an allocation of RM1.8 billion for the maintenance of Sukhoi jets, but only RM1.1 billion was allocated.
“These assets are old, and need a big allocation for them to be restored.
“I can blame the previous government, but that won’t solve any problems.
“We will fix all (of the) weaknesses and we will not repeat past mistakes,” Mohamad had told the Dewan Rakyat.
Last month, Mohamad came under criticism after he revealed that only four out of the 28 Russian-made jet fighters owned by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) were able to fly.
He said from the eight Sukhoi Su-30MKM and 10 MiG-29 jets, only four Sukhoi were able to fly well, with the rest under repair.
Several bloggers and Netizens took issue with the claim, and criticised him for airing the country’s alleged defence frailties, and urged him to think first before speaking.
Mohamad, meanwhile, posted a message on his Twitter account yesterday.
He uploaded an image of him with the quote “Saya tak pernah honeymoon. Saya kerja sejak hari pertama masuk pejabat.” (I’ve never taken a honeymoon. I’ve been working since the day I took office).
He also wrote: “Since the first day, we have been working day and night to ensure that the people’s mandate given during GE14 is not wasted.”