Hard-fought journey to today's peace, prosperity - Defence Force Chief

He said that both did not come easy as they required great sacrifices to gain the country’s independence.

“The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) personnel sacrifice lives to ensure the sovereignty of the country always be safeguarded.

“We, the MAF, have an indomitable fighting spirit when faced with the communist threats that created chaos the country in the past,” he said, recalling the MAF’s past struggles to Bernama recently at his office at Wisma Pertahanan, here.

Affendi said that the security forces worked hard to defend the country and never questioned the sacrifices they made to gain the country’s independence.

He said although the country had achieved independence 63 years ago, the threats are still there but in different forms compared with the past.

“We are stepping into the new era of terrorist threats and it is a challenge for the MAF in safeguarding the country’s land and maritime borders.

“With vast land and maritime borders, we cannot be complacent even for a moment because this external threat (can occur) at any time,” he said.

Affendi said the armed forces were constantly tightening controls at the country's land and maritime borders to ensure that was no foreign elements encroached into the country.

“Merdeka (independence) has a very deep meaning and we can’t take the peace in the country for granted. We always need to be prepared,” he said.

In a related development, MAF Veterans Affairs Department (JHEV) director-general Maj Gen Datuk Dzulkarnain Ahmad said certain quarters need to play a role in commercialising the stories of struggles and sacrifices of MAF veterans during the war era.

“It can also be done by making it a core subject in education as it is believed to be able to instil the spirit of love for the country.

“If you look at the MAF veterans, they are always ready to defend the dignity and sovereignty of the country from all kinds of threats if needed by the government,” he said.

Dzulkarnain said there is no issue of patriotism among the veterans as they are very patriotic and loyal to the country despite the fact that they no longer wear the uniforms.