Weak supervision could allow unethical activities in military camps, former Kagat director warns

SHAH ALAM – Allegations of unethical activities and the entry of unauthorised outsiders into military camps are possible if internal supervision mechanisms are not enforced effectively.

Former Kor Agama Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (Kagat) director brigadier-general Datuk Najmi Ahmad said during his years of service a central committee on the inculcation of Islamic values within the Armed Forces had been established to oversee activities and safeguard spiritual strength and discipline.

“Negative matters like this require intervention from the top leadership.

“We previously formed a committee on Islamic values to monitor activities of this nature,” he said when contacted by Sinar on Tuesday.

Earlier the Defence Ministry (Mindef) directed the Armed Forces to conduct an immediate internal investigation following viral claims about unethical acts and the presence of unrelated individuals inside a military facility.

Mindef Strategic Communications Unit in a statement on Monday stated the probe aimed to determine the truth of the accusations in a comprehensive manner.

Najmi said failures in monitoring combined with today’s open and highly exposed environment created opportunities for unwanted behaviour in military institutions if control systems did not function properly.

He stressed the committee should be strengthened continuously as its founding purpose was to raise moral standards and reinforce spiritual resilience among personnel.

“Spiritual values are extremely important in a military organisation because soldiers face demanding operations and challenging duties, so inner strength must always be present,” he added.

Najmi said the committee had been formally gazetted under Armed Forces Council Order with the highest management chaired by the Armed Forces chief of staff and supported by representatives from the army navy and air force commanders.

He stated the structure was already in place and the remaining question concerned whether implementation had truly taken place.

Najmi advised Armed Forces leaders and staff to treat existing regulations seriously especially in the social media era where any issue could spread rapidly.

He referred to Armed Forces Council Order 9.91 which required every unit to allocate not less than 857 hours a year for Islamic values programmes and spiritual development.

“Time allocation has been clearly written in the order. My advice is to reactivate and strengthen all the existing rules,” he said.

Najmi said reinforcing appreciation of values and discipline across the three branches, land, sea and air, was vital to preserve the dignity, credibility and public trust in the nation’s defence institution.

He stated this commitment was necessary to ensure the reputation of Malaysia’s military and the confidence of the people remained protected in the long term.