Donations to Heroes Fund signify honour for servicemen — Mat Sabu
KOTA SAMARAHAN: Any contribution to the Heroes Fund by those in the business community can be regarded as honouring and appreciating the legacy of those who sacrificed so much in protecting the nation’s sovereignty.
In stating this, Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu says those in business are able to run their operations in a peaceful and harmonious environment – thanks to members of the security forces who discharged their duties well.
“Our army, the security forces and the veterans defended our country (and) protected our people to ensure the safety of all.
“I urge the business sector to be thankful to our army and security forces, and help channel funds to Tabung Pahlawan ( Heroes Fund),” he told reporters during his first working visit to the Muara Tuang Army Camp near here yesterday.
Mohamad Sabu said his remarks referred particularly to the Sabah business community, where the sector had begun to pick up – thanks to the commitment of the security forces there in making the region safe.
In this respect, the minister said he was pleased that the business sector in Sabah had contributed RM500,000 to the Heroes Fund during a gathering that he attended in Tawau on Sunday night.
“They are making profits — if the country is not peaceful, they would not have been able to do business.
“The peace and harmony that we enjoy now are being preserved by our army and security forces,” he added.
Earlier, Mohamad Sabu said he was supposed to visit Sarawak one and a half months ago but was unable to do so due to some kind of delay, which was attributed to a technical issue at the airport.
“I was supposed to visit Kota Kinabalu and then Sarawak, but this was delayed because a Manila aircraft could not take off then,” he stated.
The minister also pledged to look after the welfare of army personnel and upgrade their facilities, if the government had the allocation for this purpose.
“We will fight for it. Once our economy picks up and we become the ‘economic tiger in Asia’ in the future, we should be able to provide better welfare and facilities to our Armed Forces,” he added.
Mohamad Sabu was accompanied by Eastern Field Command Commander Lt- Gen Datuk Wira Zamrose Mohd Zain during the visit.