It is impossible to disband the RMR: Veterans group

PETALING JAYA: It is "virtually impossible" for any party to disband the Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) due to constitutional safeguards that are in place, said the National Patriots Association (Patriot).
Its president Brig-Gen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamad Arshad Raji said he and other retired RMR officers were left "puzzled, confused and apprehensive" over remarks allegedly made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak about the oldest unit of the army's infantry regiments.
Najib had on Friday told the audience at a dinner for the armed forces and police that a "Malaysian Malaysia" might spell the end of the Royal Malay Regiment if the wrong leadership takes control of the country.
(The concept of "Malaysian Malaysia" is a slogan mooted by DAP in the last general election.)
"One has to understand the history of the establishment of the Malay Regiment to realise that it is virtually impossible to 'spell the end' or to declare the Royal Malay Regiment redundant.
"I say this with a very clear conscience, that no government or any succeeding Malaysian government would want to make such a declaration, not only for historical reasons but more importantly the special attachment the Royal Malay Regiment has with the Malay Rulers," Arshad said in a statement today.
The Royal Malay Regiment, established in 1933 by the British Colonial Office, is the oldest and topmost infantry regiment in the army, with its 1st battalion acting as a ceremonial guard for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Arshad said Najib's remarks were also clearly targeted at opposition parties and would not augur well for overall national unity.
Meanwhile, in GEORGE TOWN, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he is willing to not contest in the coming general election if Najib can prove that DAP wants to dissolve the Royal Malay Regiment.
He said that neither he nor DAP have ever expressed a desire to get rid of the regiment, and Najib had allegedly uttered something seditious about the matter.
Lim was referring to an online news report which quoted Najib as saying that the RAMD may be dissolved as it was not in sync with the concept of "Malaysian Malaysia".
In another development, Lim also announced that the present set of Pakatan Harapan elected representatives plan to declare their assets on either Wednesday or Thursday to illustrate their devotion to transparency.
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang said his party will defend the Royal Malay Regiment instead of calling for it to be disbanded.
"DAP would defend the existence of the Royal Malay Regiment in the way DAP will defend Chinese and Tamil schools in Malaysia and the country as a multi-racial, multi-lingual, and multi-religious and multi-cultural 'Instant Asia'," he said in his speech at a kopitiam ceramah in Ayer Hitam today.