Tag: Malaysia Coast Guard

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A Brilliant Jigsaw Puzzle

Coast Guard Malaysia: Ops Helang will begin its screening on 2 February 2023

“Not another military movie!”

That was a comment made by a critique when the first trailer of Coast Guard Malaysia: Ops Helang (CGMOH) was released in December 2022. CGMOH is the third local action movie to be released in recent times, after PASKAL The Movie (PTM, 2018) and Air Force The Movie: Selagi Bernyawa (AFTMSB, 2022).

But the comment made above, isn’t far off. CGMOH is not about the military, as the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) otherwise known as the Malaysia Coast Guard is not a military force. In Malaysia, the Coast Guard is a para-military, multi-mission, maritime force that offers a unique blend of military, law enforcement, humanitarian, regulatory, and diplomatic capabilities.

However, being a former military officer, I had to keep an open mind watching CGMOH as I did with PTM and AFTMSB. Had it been in the real world, CGMOH would have been a short movie. But it is a movie, and therefore it required me to look at it solely from an entertainment perspective. But if you’re looking for a movie that gives you the bang for your bucks, then CGMOH wins hands-down. The fight scenes were good, the villains were truly in character. The whole movie was action-packed and fast-paced from the opening sequence.

The movie allows you a glimpse into what the MMEA does best – to guard, to protect, and to save.

The late Pitt Hanif directed the movie, assisted by Sham Mokhtar as the Director of Photography, while Producer Arie Zaharie did a brilliant job putting all the shots and pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together into a movie, without the presence of the movie’s director.

Coast Guard Malaysia: Ops Helang will be available at a cinema near you from 2nd February 2023.

Is it better than PASKAL The Movie? Yes!

Is it better than Air Force the Movie: Selagi Bernyawa? Far better!

I enjoyed it. So, go watch it!

5/5

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Dear NGO, 619km equals to 340 nautical miles

The article published by The Vibes that did not bother to question logic.

“A fool is made more of a fool, when their mouth is more open than their mind.

Anthony Liccione – American writer

Thus goes the saying.

The Vibes published the above article where an NGO has accused the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) of not taking any action to assist a boat filled with Rohingya undocumented migrants 619km from Langkawi, 388km from Ranong, Thailand, and 352km from Port Blair, India.

Yes, 619km from Langkawi.

Converting those figures to nautical miles, the boat is 340 nautical miles from Langkawi. Now, that is 140 nautical miles beyond Malaysia’s Maritime Zone which is a 200 nautical mile limit, which also means that the boat is 140 nautical miles beyond the MMEA’s jurisdiction.

It is also 12 nautical miles beyond Thailand’s maritime zone. But it is only 193 nautical miles from Port Blair.

So, which government should Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network’s Rohingya Working Group chairman Lilianne Fan be barking at? Would she like to hazard a guess?

Even if, for example, a passenger liner is in distress at that given location and the Captain of the liner activates the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), the signal would be picked up by one or more INMARSAT’s satellites, and based on the geographical location of the liner, the signal would be relayed to the nearest country’s maritime rescue coordination centre for response.

In other words, even though Malaysia is included inside the Maritime Search and Rescue Region (MSRR) where the boat with Rohingya undocumented migrants is, the signal would have been relayed to the rescue coordination centre of the Indian Coast Guard, located at the Coast Guard Regional Headquarters (Andaman and Nicobar) in Port Blair. NOT MALAYSIA.

If that logic has not sunken in, when your car breaks down on the North-South Highway near Sungkai, please call for a tow truck from Kota Bharu.

As for the comments by Médecins Sans Frontières, please know that the only ASEAN countries that have become States Parties to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol are the Philippines and Timor Leste. Malaysia is not a signatory. The last time Malaysia allowed refugees to land, Malaysians had to bear the socio-economic cost of housing 252,390 South Vietnamese refugees from 1977 through 1991. And during that period, 4,535 babies were born to these refugees.

Had there not been a rioting that razed the refugee camp in Sungai Besi, signatory nations would probably still drag their feet over the issue today.

It is sad that between 160 to 180 Rohingya undocumented migrants may be at risk of dying at sea after fleeing the refugee camp in Bangladesh where they had escaped persecution by Myanmar authorities. This may sound harsh, but they have escaped the atrocities in Myanmar when they fled to Bangladesh where they had protection in the refugee camps. Why is there a need to flee to Malaysia or Indonesia?

Had the NGOs concerned spent a little bit of time reading facts than barking up the wrong tree, the boat would probably still be closer to help from Port Blair, and not flounder about helplessly facing the perils at sea.

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Pasukan Cermin Kepimpinan

Pengarah Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Narkotik PDRM Komisioner Polis Datuk Razarudin Husain melawat anggota sebuah Sekatan Jalan Raya pada hari pertama Aidil Fitri (Bernama)

Kata orang, untuk melihat mutu sesebuah pasukan kita lihat kepada kepimpinannya. Baik buruk sesebuah pasukan itu mencerminkan mutu kepimpinannya. Utuhnya semangat sesebuah pasukan itu bergantung kepada bagaimana barisan kepimpinannya memimpin dan berkhidmat, bukan sahaja untuk masyarakat yang memerlukan perkhidmatan pasukan tersebut tetapi juga kepada anak-anak buahnya yang akan menjalankn tugas tersebut.

Semasa saya menjalani latihan sebagai seorang pegawai kadet Tentera Udara DiRaja Malaysia lebih tiga dekad lalu, saya masih ingat pelajaran dan pengajaran yang saya perolehi mengenai mutu-mutu seorang pemimpin. Di antaranya ialah seorang pemimpin itu wujud untuk menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi pasukannya.

Tidak wajar bagi seorang pemimpin itu memburuk-burukkan pasukannya dengan menceritakan masalah pasukannya kepada umum. Pernah saya terima aduan dalam mesyuarat mingguan pangkalan mengenai tatacara anggota saya menjalankan tugas. Saya akan mempertahankan tindakan anggota tersebut di hadapan pegawai dan anggota lain sejauh mungkin; namun teguran yang saya berikan kepada anggota tersebut adalah secara terus kepada beliau seorang, dan disaksikan oleh Sarjan Mejar Skuadron saya untuk tindakan pembetulan kepada SOP.

“As a leader, bring solutions, not add more problems to the situation,” kata jurulatih saya. “Inspire your men’s morale, not degrade it.”

Semalam merupakan hari pertama kita menyambut Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. Ada di antara anggota-anggota serta pegawai barisan hadapan kita yang terpaksa tinggalkan keluarga, berpakaian seragam untuk menjalankan tugas.

Namun Ketua Polis Negara Inspektor-Jeneral Polis Dato’ Seri Panglima Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani boleh berbangga kerana beberapa orang pegawai kanannya juga turut turun ke padang untuk memberikan semangat kepada para petugas SJR. Di antaranya ialah Ketua Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Narkotik Komisioner Polis Datuk Razarudin Husain, Pengarah Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Komisioner Polis Datuk Huzir Mohamed, Timbalan Pengarah KDN/KA (Pasukan Gerakan Khas) Deputi Komisioner Polis Datuk Mastor Md Ariff, dan Timbalan Pengarah (Penyiasatan) Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Komersial Senior Asisten Komisioner Polis Datuk Sasikala Devi Subramaniam.

Tindakan para pegawai kanan polis tersebut melawat lokasi-lokasi SJR sudah tentu menaikkan semangat para petugas di SJR-SJR tersebut, dan merupakan tiupan semangat baharu sejak berlakunya perubahan pucuk pimpinan PDRM.

Ketua Pengarah Maritim Malaysia Laksamana Maritim Dato’ Zubil bin Mat Som yang sering kelihatan di barisan hadapan Maritim Malaysia juga telah memberi inspirasi kepada para pengarah maritim negeri serta zon di bawah kepimpinan beliau, terutamanya dalam bulan Ramadan dan Syawal.

Pengarah Zon Maritim Batu Pahat Komander Maritim Mohammed bin Othman sering menyertai operasi-operasi dalam bulan Ramadan untuk memberi suntikan semangat kepada anak-anak buahnya.

Di Zon Maritim Batu Pahat, pengarahnya Komander Maritim Mohammed bin Othman sering turut serta dalam operasi-operasi yang dijalankan oleh para anggota yang dipimpinnya. Perkara ini tidak langsung berubah semasa bulan Ramadan yang lalu. Bukanlah suatu perkara yang senang untuk menghadapi keadaan panas di laut setiap hari, apatah lagi apabila menjalani kewajipan berpuasa semasa melakukan operasi.

Pengarah Maritim Negeri Pulau Pinang Kepten Maritim Abd Razak bin Mohamed (kanan sekali) membeli ayam goreng KFC untuk dikongsikan bersama para petugas Maritim Malaysia pada hari pertama bulan Syawal

Begitu juga keadaannya di Pulau Pinang di mana pada pagi Hari Raya Aidil Fitri kelihatan Pengarah Maritim Negeri Pulau Pinang Kepten Maritim Abd Razak bin Mohamed mengorbankan sambutan Hari Rayanya dengan membeli beberapa kotak ayam goreng KFC untuk dikongsikan bersama para pegawai dan anggota yang bertugas sebagai menghargai pengorbanan mereka menyarung pakaian seragam sebagai pakaian Hari Raya. Sikap kepemimpinan seperti inilah yang perlu diterapkan ke dalam sanubari kepimpinan sesebuah pasukan.

Semangat juang sesebuah pasukan itu bergantung kepada keberkesanan sikap kepimpinannya. Berapa pantasnya masalah yang dihadapi pasukan dapat diselesaikan oleh pucuk pimpinannya, serta kesanggupan mereka untuk sama-sama selami masalah untuk memahami cabaran para pegawai dan anggotanya adalah amat penting dalam pembentukan sebuah pasukan yang berkesan dan tinggi mutu penugasannya.

Bak kata, burung helang selesaikan masalah rasa laparnya dengan bekerja keras dalam diam. Burung kakak tua pula hanya membuat bising.