KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — The purpose of the irresponsible disclosure of the Malaysian Army’s self-propelled howitzer (SPH) artillery system procurement process is merely to cause the people to doubt the government, according to Senior Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

He explained that this was because the discussion on the procurement of the asset was still ongoing between the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and the Finance Ministry and no company has been awarded the project yet.

"I have explained before, let the end user (among the three branches of the Malaysian Armed Forces) decide what they need and it is my job to make sure that they get the equipment they need,” he told reporters after watching the preparedness demonstration by the Defence Special Forces Operations Division (BOPKP) at the Sungai Besi Camp Shooting Range here today.

Hishammuddin said the procurement process involved various agencies and not only under Mindef and they will always hold discussions with the Ministry of Finance first.

"Letters between ministries and others used to be deemed as government secrets, that’s why we have the Official Secrets Act, but now, nothing is a secret,” he said.

"This is something that needs to be looked into at Mindef. If it’s only about giving a project letter, I’m not really worried, but if it involves confidential information about assets and equipment that can affect the preparedness of the Armed Forces, let alone leaking it to our enemies, that will be more worrying,” he added.

Earlier, Hishammuddin witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a strategic partnership between Mindef, Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) and Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UniRazak).

The MoU will see Unirazak providing 250 places a year for a period of five years for the military children and Mindef civil servants to pursue the Foundation in Arts course for free, which involved a sponsorship totalling RM15.626 million.

Hishammuddin also visited the Armed Forces Tahfiz School and Orphan Hostel and presented tithe and educational aid from LTAT Foundation to 74 students totalling RM80,000. — Bernama