Survey: Most Malaysians agree with new National Service scheme, think it will be positive

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — Over two in three respondents of a survey said they agreed with reviving the National Service Training Programme (PLKN 3.0).

According to an Architects of Diversity’s (AOD) poll titled “PLKN 3.0: Public Opinion Survey”, 67 per cent of the 2,633 respondents aged 18 and above were supportive of the reintroduction.

Of the respondents, 74 per cent agreed that programme would have a positive or very positive effect on society.

The survey said millennials the generation that experienced national service or those aged between 25 and 39 years’ old, had the highest positive opinion of National Service with 78 per cent rating it having a very positive or positive effect on society.

When respondents were asked to compare different potential priorities of the PLKN 3.0, 58 per cent chose national unity as their preference.

That was followed by youth development and patriotism with 56 per cent each, and military preparedness with 41 per cent.

However, 52 per cent of respondents said they were most concerned with sexual harassment towards participants.

This was followed by bullying towards participants (49 per cent) and politically-biased content (41 per cent).

The group made several recommendations including greater diversity among trainers and trainees, transparency over programme spending, conducting a pilot before a full relaunch, and the formation of an independent panel to handle complaints from trainers and trainees.

Commenting on the programme revival, Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said patriotism among the current youth was at a concerning level, which could be addressed through the scheme.

“Based on surveys, they have interest but in terms of capacity, ability to raise or increase the their love for that country, I think there is still less,” he said during the Architects Of Diversity press conference on the PLKN 3.0 study, here.

Syed Ibrahim, who is on the parliamentary special select committee for security, also said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul was supportive of the PLKN but wanted its modules to be effective.

“We have been conducting engagement sessions with the Defence Ministry and stakeholders to ensure the programme will be effective. This report by AOD, I can say it is 99 per cent the same with our survey. I believe if we can follow the recommendations, it will be successful.

“Johari told me to highlight this because this is not a small matter. He told me it can be revived but with better modules from the past two,” he added.

On October 9, the defence minister at the time, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, announced that a cost-effective PLKN 3.0 will be implemented in three phases.

A total of 13 training centres have been identified for the programme, including the Malaysian Police Training Centre at Jalan Padang Tembak which can accommodate over 4,000 trainees.

He said that trainees in the proposed new programme will be selected based on their birth year — only those born in 2007 will be selected — but they are allowed to defer it.

PLKN was initially introduced by the Barisan Nasional government in December 2003, where 18-year-old school leavers were selectively drafted to participate in the three-month programme.

On 2018, former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman announced the abolition of the PLKN and National Civics Bureau programmes, citing concerns about their potential for promoting racial indoctrination.