Parents to have say on NS plan

Saturday June 7, 2008
Parents to have say on NS plan


MIRI: Parents can have a say on how the National Service training programme is to be run, following plans to overhaul the scheme.

NS Training Council chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said they would be invited to take part in brainstorming sessions scheduled to be held between September and December.

He said the sessions would discuss measures to overcome current weaknesses.

Besides parents, the council would also invite non-governmental organisations and former trainees. “Their ideas and views will be incorporated in the improvements,'' he said after closing the national-level second batch of the NS training at the Miri NS camp yesterday.

He said the Government, through the Defence Ministry, also had plans to improve facilities and conditions in the camps, enhance security and health provisions, improve the training modules and overcome past shortcomings.


Happy moments: Trainees tossing their hats while cheering aloud after the ceremony closed in Warisan Camp, Masjid Tanah.

Lee said there was also growing interest from among those eligible for the programme to volunteer for it when they were not chosen.

He said the department had received about 1,783 applications from potential volunteer trainees.

Those from poor families would be allowed to defer their training if they were working to support their families, he said.

In Alor Gajah, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop said 31,000 trainees had completed their stint for the second batch of the training yesterday, and their departure would involve 859 buses and 47 flights.

He said this to reporters after closing the NS training programme at Warisan Camp, Masjid Tanah.

The closing ceremony saw 237 trainees and another 363 trainees from the Putera Puteri Camp in Alor Gajah successfully completing their three-month training stint.

There will be 35,000 trainees for the third batch of training and they will start reporting for the programme on June 14 and 15. Inquiries can be made to the National Training Service Department hotline at 03-2687 3446.