NEW
RELA..... Riot (left) and Mustafa jointly unveil the new name for Rela. Rebranding
vital to attract more volunteers as previous name gives impression of communism.
By : LIM HOW PIM
KUCHING: Rela, a
community-based volunteer squad is now rebranded as Pasukan Sukarelawan
Malaysia to allow it to play a more progressive role in helping to maintain the
country’s law and order.
Formerly named Ikatan
Relawan Rakyat Malaysia, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Richard Riot said the
rebranding was aimed at attracting more Malaysians, especially the youths, to
be part of the volunteer corps.
He told reporters after
unveiling the new name at the state’s Rela headquarters here yesterday that the
previous name gave the impression of communism which might deter people from
joining as members.
Riot asserted that the
rebranding exercise was also meant to further strengthen the squad to make it a
force to be reckoned with.
“The rebranding is carried
out in the hope that more volunteers will come forward to uphold social peace
and harmony.
“Malaysia is one of the most
peaceful countries that I know of. With the rebranding, we want to increase the
membership from now over three million to four million in 2013.”
He expressed confidence that
if current members reached out to their families and friends, the target of
having four million volunteers serving the corps would be achieved, saying in
the past, not many Malaysians wanted to volunteer to maintain social order.
The Serian MP, however, was
glad to note that the number of Rela personnel in his constituency had gone up
to 12,000 against 8,000 a decade ago.
In his speech earlier, Riot
said of the over three million Rela members in the country, 2.1 million or so
were aged 40 and below.
Describing it as “something
very, very good”, he said it was essential to keep the squad young while
striving to inculcate the spirit of volunteerism among Malaysians.
“Of the over three million
Rela members, 229,930 are from Sarawak, which is a very good number. But I
still want to urge more Sarawakians to join the force.
“Another good sign is that
of the total Rela (members) in Sarawak, 121,702 are aged 40 and below,” he
said, adding that gone were the days when only the retired group showed keen
interest.
He also advised Rela
personnel not to go beyond the duties assigned to them.
“Do not overdo it. That
said, I mean we are out there to assist the enforcement teams such as police
and immigration, and also be the eyes and ears of the government.”
Meanwhile, Rela
director-general Datuk Mustafa Ibrahim said at least 8,000 of his men were on
duty nationwide on a daily basis.
He pointed out that the role
of the corps had expanded over the years, with the volunteers serving many
segments of the community.
“Following this rebranding,
I call on all members to think anew, uphold new spirit and more importantly
adapt to all sorts of changes across the country.”
Mustafa also highlighted
that Budget 2013 had allocated RM400 million, the biggest figure so far, for
the development of the volunteer corps.
“Before this, we got about
RM60 million every year. The big budget allocation indicates that our sacrifice
and contributions do not go unnoticed.” (BP)
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