National service programme should make a comeback - Former JLKN DG

The National Service Training Programme (PLKN) should make a comeback as it was successful in teaching youth to love the country.

Former director-general of the National Service Department (JLKN) Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil said national unity is more fragile without any structured programmes which he feels would be able to curb the matter from escalating.

"PLKN was established as a result of the Youth Patriotism Convention held following the Kampung Medan riots. Let's not wait for another Kampung Medan incident to happen before the government begins to think of a solution," he said in a statement to Bernama here today.

The statement was issued in response to Pontian MP Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan's remarks in Dewan Rakyat yesterday which called for the revival of several programmes, including the PLKN, which were stopped during the Pakatan Harapan government for being too costly.

Abdul Hadi said that a 2010 study undertaken by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) researchers, involving 60,000 respondents including former trainers, parents, community leaders and others, revealed that each objective of PLKN had achieved more than 80 per cent success rate.

Abdul Hadi said that in 2013, another study was conducted by Universiti Malaysia Perlis research experts. It involved 4,000 respondents in eight universities in the country to see the effectiveness of former PLKN trainees. The findings showed that from a maximum score of 10, the PLKN's objective of Identity Development achieved a minimum score of 8.89, while Patriotism had a score of 8.68. This shows that PLKN is not a failure and not a waste.

"There is no denying that PLKN involves high expenses but the scope of training and the number of trainees can be restructured to suit the current capabilities of the government.

"However, stopping the PLKN directly for the purpose of saving government expenses can be considered a waste of logistics and infrastructure expenses that have been spent so far either by the government or the private sector," he added.

-- BERNAMA