M'sia to relaunch national service from Jan. 2025 for citizens aged 16 to 35

Malaysia is set to roll out its National Service programme again from January 2025.

According to New Straits Times (NST), Malaysia's Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari said on Oct. 26 that the National Service Training Programme 3.0 (NS 3.0) will involve Malaysians aged between 16 and 35.

The first phase will start off on a small scale with 500 participants before more people will be included in the June 2025 phase.

500 participants selected for first batch

Participants selected for NS 3.0 include students in Form Four, Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) leavers and those from institutions of higher learning.

They will be trained in multiple learning modules during the programme.

500 participants have been chosen for the first batch while more will be selected for the June 2025 batch.

Speaking at the launch of the Jiwa Murni Project (PJM) in Hutan Percha, Melaka, Adly said that the government has utilised RM50 million (S$15.2 million) to relaunch the programme.

He added that "there is a need to implement the programme earlier" despite previous plans to launch it only in mid-2025, reported Bernama.

Introduced in December 2003, the programme was replaced by the "Malaysia Future Leaders School" programme in December 2018, replicating the summer camp concept.

Between 2015 and 2018, it was temporarily halted due to cost-cutting measures and then removed due to concerns over racial indoctrination.

To be carried out in KL and Pahang, rolled out nationwide by 2026

Several camps across Malaysia have been set up and identified for NS 3.0 training purposes.

According to Bernama, two military camps in Kuala Lumpur and Pahang will execute the programme from January 2025.

13 other camps nationwide have also been identified for training purposes.

The Malaysia government expects to fully roll out the programme on a bigger scale by 2026.

Top photo via Kem PLKN Bagai Budi Sandakan/Facebook