TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT- 1

THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES

ABSTRACT

Resettlement as understood by a servicemen refers to a period of time before a

servicemen retires when is allowed to attend a course or training to upgrade his skills in
order to enhance his chances of getting a job after retirement. This resettlement process
begins at unit level and is reliant upon efficient unit administration and responsiveness. It
is the responsibility of the unit commander to give pre-retirement counseling to his men.
Overall, the resettlement programs were divided in to three components or stages i.e. pre-
resettlement (awareness component), resettlement (vocational component) and post-
resettlement (‘after sales’ component).
The organization dealing with ex-servicemen affairs has indeed come a long way
since its formation 33 years in 1970 as a government agency within the Ministry of
Defense and its recent reorganization as a corporation agency known as PERHEBAT.
PERHEBAT was entrusted with the responsibility of administering the resettlement
training policy for the ex-servicemen. His mission is to provide integrated quality support
and assistance to members the Armed Forces who are retired or retiring so that the
transition from military to civilian life will be smooth.
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management is defined as the people who staff and manage
organization. It comprises of the functions and principles that are applied to retaining,
training, developing, and compensating the employees in organization. It is also
applicable to non-business organizations, such as education, healthcare etc. Human
Resource Management is defined as the set of activities, programs, and functions that are
designed to maximize both organizational as well as employee effectiveness.

Scope of HRM without a doubt is vast. All the activities of employee, from the
time of his entry into an organization until he leaves, come under the horizon of HRM.
The divisions included in HRM are Recruitment, Payroll, Performance Management,
Training and Development, Retention, Industrial Relation, etc. Out of all these divisions,
one such important division is training and development.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Training and development is the field concerned with organizational activity

aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups in organizational settings. It
has been known by several names, including employee development, human resource
development, and learning and development.
Training and development encompasses three main activities: training, education,
and development. Garavan, Costine, and Heraty, of the Irish Institute of Training and
Development, note that these ideas are often considered to be synonymous. However, to
practitioners, they encompass three separate, although interrelated, activities:

Training

This activity is both focused upon, and evaluated against, the job that an
individual currently holds.
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
Education

This activity focuses upon the jobs that an individual may potentially hold
in the future, and is evaluated against those jobs.

Development

This activity focuses upon the activities that the organization employing
the individual, or that the individual is part of, may partake in the future, and is
almost impossible to evaluate.

BENEFITS OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Training involves some kind of change for employees. Changes in how they do
their jobs, how they relate to others, the conditions under which they perform, or changes
in their job responsibilities. Organizations can benefit from training, beyond bottom-line
and general efficiency and profitability measures, when they create more flexible workers
who can assume varied responsibilities and have a more holistic understanding of what
the organization does and the role they play in the organization’s success. Besides the
organization, strategically targeted training in critical skills and knowledge bases adds to
employee marketability and employability security that is critical in the current
environment of rapidly developing technology and changing jobs and work processes.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

The principal objective of training and development division is to make sure the
availability of a skilled and willing workforce to an organization. In addition to that, there
are four other objectives: Individual, Organizational, Functional, and Societal.
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES

Individual Objectives – help employees in achieving their personal goals, which

in turn, enhances the individual contribution to an organization.

Organizational Objectives – assist the organization with its primary objective by

bringing individual effectiveness.

Functional Objectives – maintain the department’s contribution at a level

suitable to the organization’s needs.

Societal Objectives – ensure that an organization is ethically and socially

responsible to the needs and challenges of the society.

THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES

In order to fulfill the societal objective, the Malaysian Government had provided
training for retiring Army personnel called ‘The Resettlement Course. The resettlement
course is an important program that provides members of the Armed Forces who are
retiring and also retired with the necessary skills and knowledge for their second career.
The Malaysian Government is very concerned about proper supervision of the
resettlement course. The Ex-Servicemen Affairs’ Corporation (PERHEBAT) was then
formed on 30th August 1994 under Section 23 of the Armed Forces Fund Act to provide
training for retiring Army personnel. Its mission is to provide integrated quality support
to members of the Armed Forces who are retired or retiring in line with the objectives of
equipping each individual with requisite work, commercial and/or entrepreneurial skills,
and job placement assistance and to help them in their preparation for new business start-
ups.

At present the retiring personnel have two alternatives to choose for resettlement
program. They can choose any of the courses run by agencies, which are approved by
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
Biro Bakal Pesara, MINDEF, or they could attend courses run by PERHEBAT. Both
programs are designed to prepare retiring personnel with necessary skills and knowledge.
Training outside PERHEBAT allows retiring personnel to have direct experience in the
business world but training in PERHEBAT prepares retiring personnel with formal
education required for doing business.

AN OVERVIEW OF RESETTLEMENT TRAINING

There are various institutions, which are directly and indirectly involved with
training retiring and retired personnel. These institutions are Ministry of Defense
(MINDEF), Jabatan Hal Ehwal Veteran (JHEV), Persatuan Bekas Perajurit (PBTM) and
PERHEBAT. The institutions’ relationship can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The Relationship between MINDEF, JHEV, PBTM and PERHEBAT

MINDEF

JHEV PERHEBAT
Cooperation that
regards to training

PBTM

NGOs that have ex-

servicemen’s interest

The MINDEF outlined the policy of resettlement programs which includes giving
guidelines regarding eligibility, type of resettlement courses, roles played by
PERHEBAT, VETERAN, unit commanders and related matters. Through these policies,
the Army, Navy and Air Force service chiefs are responsible for the administration and of
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
resettlement programs and determine which military personnel are eligible to attend the
programs.

The JHEV is a government department under the MINDEF and its function to
upgrade the ex-servicemen and families’ socio-economic level. Its activities include
entrepreneurship development, employment registration and welfare assistance. To fulfill
these functions, the JHEV cooperates with PERHEBAT with regards to resettlement
programs and establish network with government agencies, PBTM, NGOs and private
sectors which provides employment benefit to ex-servicemen.

The PERHEBAT is a government agency under the MINDEF. Previously, it was

a wholly owned corporation of the Armed Forces Board Fund. In line with the formation
of JHEV, PERHEBAT was turned to statutory body under the MINDEF. Its main role is
to provide training for retiring personnel as well ex-serviceman.

The PBTM is an association, which was established under Akta Pertubuhan 1966.
It is a voluntary body that is formed to look into the members’ welfare. Its members are
made up of ex-servicemen, children and wives. Currently, there are about 100,000 to
200,000 of ex-servicemen who are members of this association.

The resettlement program for retiring personnel begins 2 years before retirement
and it can prolong until retirement. In a broad context, the development of this program
can be divided into three phases: phase 1 (preparatory), phase 2 (training) and phase 3
(employment). The program’s development is shown in Figure 2.
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES

Figure 2: Program for Development of Ex-Servicemen

INDUSTRY APPERENTICESHIP
SCHEME (6 -18 MONTH)

SALARIED JOB

WOULD-BE DIGNOSIS OF
RETIRES INTEREST ON-THE-JOB TRAINING SCHEME
(3-6 MONTH)
ENTREPPRENEUR
ENTREPRENE
UR TRAINING
SCHEME
BASIC
BUSINESS TRAINING (1 MONTH)
PREPARATORY
COURSES SCHEME (3-6 MONTH)
SUCECCFUL
ENTREPPRENEUR

ADVANCE
ENTREPRENEUR-SHIP
SCHEME (1-2 WEEKS)

PHASE 1: PHASE 3:
PREPARATORY PHASE 2: TRAINING EMPLOYMENT

Basically in Phase 1, the would-be retirees will be informed about the

resettlement courses two years before retirement. Within this period, they will be given
basic preparatory courses to gain an insight into retirement programs such as motivation
courses, ‘kursus sampingan’ and career opportunity talks. They will then be given an
option to choose which institution that is most suitable for their resettlement training.
Besides PERHEBAT as a training centre that provides and offers various fields of
resettlement courses, the retiring personnel are allowed to undergo courses at other places
such as private sector and government bodies. In other words, the would-be retirees are
not obliged to attend courses in PERHEBAT. Instead, they are free to apply to other
places that are approved by MINDEF.

Although PERHEBAT is an important training institution that provides formal

training and certificates, it is unable to accommodate all retiring personnel that totals at
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
an average of 5000 a year from the three services. According to Zainal (1999),
PERHEBAT would able to accommodate at about 25% of training requirement for
retiring personnel. For this reason, the retiring personnel are allowed to choose courses
outside PERHEBAT.

In phase 2, the retiring personnel will undergo resettlement training according to

the chosen courses. These courses include vocational and technical courses, training in
the agricultural sector, on job training, training for managerial jobs, courses at
PERHEBAT and own resettlement scheme. However, courses that take 12 to 18 month
period will only be conducted in PERHEBAT.

In Phase 3, the retiring personnel have completed the resettlement training and are
expected to find jobs according to skills and knowledge that they had acquired. This is
the period in which the servicemen have already retired. The JHEV will play their role to
help the ex-servicemen in term of loans, entrepreneur development and welfare. In
addition, they still can apply for courses conducted PERHEBAT beside the one that they
have just completed.

RESETTLEMENT COURSE:
POLICY, STRUCTURE AND PROGRAM

Background of Resettlement Course

For the past fifteen years (1985-1999), a total of 72,000 personnel have retired
from the Armed Forces, at an average of 4,800 personnel a year. The retirement figures
appear to follow the trend in economic growth. During the 1987 recession, the figures
were at the lowest of 2251 and it shot up to a peak of 7813 in 1994 during the buoyant
stage of the economy. Beginning from 1996 onwards, the number of retirees has
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
stabilized at around 5000. The majority of the retired personnel are from the Army
(82%), with 12% Navy and 6 % Air Force.

It is difficult for a serviceman to change to civilian life after being in uniform for
a long time. The transition periods is more difficult when they have to engage with
economic activities which are alien to them but yet very important to increase their living
standard or at least equal with the level that they had before retiring. Some may face
culture shock to adjust with society because for the most part of their life has they have
spent it in military which has a different culture, value and methods of doing things. The
government is aware of, and concerned with the employment and welfare of ex-
servicemen since the early seventies. Our former Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdul
Razak voiced his concern in a speech to the Ex-Servicemen Association of Malaysia on
the occasion of its Golden Jubilee in 1962 when he said that: “…we cannot allow the ex-
servicemen to go back to their villages without gaining skill and employment…” Tun
Abdul Razak was also quoted as saying in Parliament that the main problem of the
majority of ex-servicemen stemmed from the difficulty in getting jobs because they
lacked acceptable or recognized qualification or adequate skill to fit them into
commercial and industrial sectors.

Policy and Structure

To overcome such problems of adjustment and unemployment faced by the ex-

servicemen, the Cabinet on 1st May 1968 decided that a Division dealing with ex-
servicemen was established in the Ministry of Defense. Thus the Veteran Affairs’
Division (VAD) or HEBAT manned by civilian officers in the Ministry of Defense in
1970 was entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the resettlement training
policy for ex-servicemen. The primary goal of the VAD is to provide assistance to the
retiring military personnel in getting jobs with comparable income. VAD carried out its
responsibilities until it became the Ex-Servicemen Affairs’ Corporation (PERHEBAT), a
wholly owned corporation of the Armed Forces’ fund Board.
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES

On 1st Jan 2001 the Department of Veteran Affairs was formed to take over 3
programs of PERHEBAT, they are entrepreneurship development, employment
registration and welfare assistance. On 8th Jan 2003, the Cabinet decided to turn
PERHEBAT into a statutory body under the Ministry of Defense instead of being a
subsidiary of LTAT. The new organization will be called Institute Latihan PERHEBAT
(ILP).In line with this new development an Act with regards to its functions is being
drafted by the Attorney General Deport.

The Ex-Servicemen Affairs’ Corporation (PERHEBAT) was formed on 30th

August 1994 under Section 23 of the Armed Forces Fund Act. PERHEBAT is
responsible for implementing socio-economic and welfare programs for retiring and
retired personnel of the Malaysian Armed Forces. PERHEBAT is located on a 30-acre
site in the Sungai Buloh Army Camp and has a technical and entrepreneurship Institute
(IKK). A Chairman who is the former Chief of Armed Forces heads the Board of
PERHEBAT with 5 Directors appointed by the Minister of Defense. Day to day
management is the responsibility of the General Manager and his team of 8 managers
from the following departments as follows:

a. Resettlement Training.
b. Technical and Entrepreneurship Institute.
c. Welfare and Other Facilities.
d. Employment and Manpower Development.
e. Entrepreneur Development.
f. Investment and Loan.
g. Administration.
h. Finance.

The mission statement of PERHEBAT is “to provide integrated quality support to

members of the Armed Forces who are retired or retiring in line with objectives of
equipping each individual with requisite work, commercial and/or entrepreneurial skills,
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
and job placement assistance and ensure their success as businessmen.” The long-term
objectives of PERHEBAT are as follows:

a. To provide retirees with advisory services and counseling on development

and create change after retirement.
b. To provide quality training and guidance in order to equip retirees with the
necessary work, commercial and entrepreneurial skills according to individual
needs.
c. To establish links between the corporate sector and government agencies
in order to carry our job placement of retirees in selected organizations.
d. To establish PERHEBAT wholly-owned business to assist retirees and
their efforts through franchise system.
e. To provide financial support to retirees who become entrepreneurs by
giving out loans and venture capital as a means of developing or strengthening
their businesses.

An Approach to Resettlement Programs

The Ministry of Defense views resettlement training as a very important function

because:
a. Effective resettlement reflects credit on the Armed Forces and can
enhance recruitment of new personnel;
b. It prepares retiring personnel to be gainfully employed or
economically active in their second career; and
c. It contributes to human resource development of the nation.

Resettlement as understood by a serviceman refers to a period of time before a

serviceman retires when he is allowed to attend a course or training to upgrade his skills
in order to enhance his chances of getting a job after retirement. During this period he is
still a member of the Armed Forces and receives his full salary. The period of
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
resettlement approved varies. For an enlisted man it is 6 months but if he attends a
technical course the period of resettlement can be extended to 18 months. Overall the
resettlement programs can be divided into 3 components or stages as follows:

a. Pre-resettlement (awareness component).

b. Resettlement (vocational component).
c. Post-resettlement.

Pre-Resettlement

The pre-resettlement component begins two years before the personnel

retire. It is also called the awareness period and the theme of this component is to
prepare the personnel to face the life as a civilian. The activities during pre-
resettlement include:

a. Resettlement Interview Panels.

b. Motivation courses.
c. Short introductory Courses in various fields.
d. Career and Business Opportunity talks.

Resettlement Training (Vocational Component)

The vocational training component is the core component of the

resettlement training program taking up almost the total term allocated by the
Armed Forces Council Instruction 4 of 1976 (AFCI) on Resettlement Training.
The vocational training is divided into 4 categories as follows:

a. Technical training.
b. Managerial and Supervisory Training.
c. On the Job-Training.
d. Land resettlement and Agricultural training.
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES

Under the Armed Forces Council Instruction 6 of 2000 (AFCI) 6/2000)

implemented with effect from September 2000, there are 6 categories of
resettlement programs as follows:

a. Vocational and Technical Courses other than at IKK sponsored by

PERHEBAT. This training covers a wide variety of courses in these basic
branches of engineering at level from tradesmen to technician. The
training is conducted in training institutes of other government agencies
such as MARA, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Institut Latihan Jabatan
Tenaga Rakyat, Ministry of Human Resource, Department of Welfare, and
a number of privately run training institutes accredited by AFCI 4/76. This
course includes training to enhance the skill level or certificate for
personnel who had acquired ‘Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia’ (SKM) certified
by Majlis Latihan Vokasional Kebangsaan (MLVK).

b. Training in the agricultural sector. This training is to expose trainees to

agricultural sector or livestock at training institutions organized by
PERHEBAT.

c. On job training. This training covers almost any training not included in
the other categories for any job in public service departments or private
companies recognized by the AFC Circular 6/2000, by way of attachment
to the workplace and training given on the job. Some jobs are excluded
due to their similarities to military jobs such as guards and drivers, or the
mechanical nature of the work involved (e.g. Meter readers).

d. Training for managerial jobs. These types of training are for the purpose
of employment as managers and supervisors in the private sector. The
training is usually conducted in larger private companies with formal in
house staff development and training programs. The scope of this category
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
of training has been extended to include other white collar employment
such as office assistants, marketing and sales persons and other related
management jobs.

e. Courses at IKK PERHEBAT. IKK PERHEBAT covers technical training,

managerial and supervisory training. The technical training is conducted in
its Principle Training Scheme which includes apprenticeship in the
industry, skills upgrading courses, attachment to the industry and business
courses. Upon completion on these courses they will be given certificate
awarded by MLVK. The managerial training is conducted in its
Entrepreneurship Development Scheme.

f. Own resettlement scheme. This training is managed individually for those

who do not want to be bounded with employers or any parties and to face
the future base on his own interest and inclination.

Post-Resettlement

Post resettlement refers to the period when the servicemen have retired.
The servicemen are advised to register for job at PERHEBAT‘s Employment
Exchange if still unemployed so that suitable positions could be found for them.
During the post resettlement period the retired personnel can still apply to attend
whatever courses that are organized for they i.e. advanced entrepreneurship
courses for selected ex-servicemen based on request.

CONCLUSION
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES

Over the years resettlement course has been an important course for Army
personnel. The program has indeed helped thousand of soldiers in preparing them for a
better life after leaving the services. The government is committed to up-grade ex-
servicemen’s standard of living and contributes to the nation’s skilled labor.

Training programs under the resettlement course have undergone many changes
since it was introduced 35 years ago. At the initial stage, all courses were conducted by
HEBAT in Sungai Buloh. Several years later, it was decided that flexibility should be
given so that courses can be conducted at any place in the country. This is designed to
give easy access for retired personnel. Furthermore, PERHEBAT is unable to cope up
with large numbers of retiring personnel each year.

The essence of resettlement course is the ‘Perintah Majlis Angkatan Tentera

(PMAT) BIL 6 Tahun 2000’ in which Armed Forces resettlement training is formalized.
Through PMAT, retiring personnel can attend courses conducted either at PERHEBAT,
other institutions for agricultural training, on the job training and managerial training or
they can even enter own resettlement scheme. Perhaps, the flexibility has given more
varieties in term of scope of skills and knowledge offered by other places such as
government sector and the private sector.

Given the guideline of the resettlement course, all training is intended to equip
retirees with the necessary work, commercial and entrepreneurial skills according to
individual needs. In line with the guidelines, resettlement course is focused on technical
training, managerial training and supervisory training, on the job training, land
resettlement and agricultural training. This formal training is certified by MLVK. In fact,
this is an added value for retired personnel to gain access for proper jobs. However, it is
found that, retiring personnel are not very keen to take this opportunity. The majority of
them felt comfortable to participate in ‘on the job training scheme’ and ‘’own
resettlement scheme’. Whilst recognizing the advantage of flexibility, own resettlement
scheme has its disadvantages. First, this type of training is subjected to the individual
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THE RESETTLEMENT COURSE IN MALAYSIAN ARMED FORCES
accountability, i.e. the Army Headquarters and the Directorate has no control over the
conduct or choice of the resettlement course. Secondly, the quality and scope of training
cannot be adequately monitored. Presently, what the course attendees have to do is to
report the progress of the course to the unit or formation that they are attached to some
kind of resettlement course. Since the number of retiring personnel is large, this control
mechanism may not be effective.