TDM Considers relaxing Conditions For Intake Of Young Recruits

PORT DICKSON, Feb 1 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Army (TDM) is looking into providing flexibility in the recruitment of young soldiers who are well-versed in the fields of science, technology and technical skills to join the service.

Army Chief Gen Tan Sri Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan said they are now facing a challenge to recruit quality and qualified candidates.

He said that to overcome the problem, the Army cannot afford to be too strict in its selection of young soldiers to join the service.

bootstrap slideshow

"We are having difficulties in getting good and quality recruits and I feel this problem is also faced by other countries. To tackle this problem we have discussed several possibilities. Perhaps, after this, we may not be so critical of the physical aspect but give more focus on skills or qualifications, particularly based on science and technology.

"For example, in terms of physicality, we need to consider candidates who are one or two centimetres shorter in height, especially candidates who have the edge in the fields of technology, technical skills and science,” he told reporters here today.

Earlier, he witnessed the Passing Out Parade for Young Male Soldiers Series 201/2024 and Young Female Soldiers Series 49/2024 involving 1,339 recruits at the Army Basic Training Centre (Pusasda) here.

bootstrap slideshow

Muhammad Hafizuddeain also said that candidates with expertise in certain fields can optimise their abilities to be turned into assets for the service.

"We can groom them to become specialists. If they can become computer experts, for example, why not? Because we are striving to form a cyber force squad in the Army,” he said.

He said although the Army will be more lenient in choosing young recruits, it will not compromise in terms of health.

Muhammad Hafizuddeain added that the TDM receives 10,000 applications online for every intake session and, of that total, 4,000 are chosen to attend the final interview.

"The intake of young soldiers is also a challenge because in online applications, we receive 10,000 applications but, after screening them in terms of academic qualification and basic requirements, only 4,000 are eligible for the final interview.

"Of the 4,000, we have to reduce by about 60 per cent after considering issues related to health, psychology… this challenge is not critical but it is worrying,” he said.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Hafizuddeain said the TDM will issue the latest Body Mass Index (BMI) policy that is more relevant to the age of certain members and takes into account their length of service.

"We exercise a lot of arbitration or discretion when considering career advancement for a member,” he said.

The BMI set for TDM personnel is 26.9 or below.

-- BERNAMA