Hisham: We have never forgotten our veterans
KUALA LUMPUR: The well-being and services of Armed Forces veterans have never been forgotten, says Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
He said this in response to a planned protest by a group of veterans due to be held in June.
“We have never forgotten our veterans and we have had an open policy. Any party with views can come to us,” said Hishammuddin during the ministry’s soft launch of its Housing Blueprint 3.0 at a Satu Anggota Satu Rumah (SASAR) housing project site in Sungai Besi yesterday.
The minister added that the well-being of veterans has always been addressed.
He said 900 out of the 3,500 units at the site here have already been reserved for Armed Forces veterans, citing this as an example of the ministry’s commitment to their welfare.
The blueprint’s full launch is scheduled for July and will be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Earlier, it was reported that 5,000 Armed Forces veterans would protest on June 6 in Kuala Lumpur over claims that their pensions were allegedly halted and of the government’s indifference to their welfare.
In an unrelated matter, the minister said he was confident that the country’s relevant intelligence agencies were prepared for any eventuality arising from the recent alleged data leak.
“I think that we are equipped to the best of our abilities so that these sorts of threats do not jeopardise our national security,” he said.
This week, Bukit Aman said it had opened a probe into allegations of a database being sold online that purportedly contains the personal data of millions of Malaysians.
Local tech portal Amanz reported that the database, 160GB in size, was being sold for US$10,000 (RM43,950) on the dark web.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin denied claims that the alleged data leak containing information of 22.5 million Malaysians born between 1940 and 2004 was from the National Registration Department.