The Malaysian Armed Forces sets up an Anti-Bullying Task Force to strengthen professionalism and tackle misconduct within the defence institution.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) has formed an Anti-Bullying Task Force as part of a firm and proactive effort to combat bullying within the national defence institution.
ATM’s Defence Intelligence and Strategic Communications Division, in a statement today, said the move was part of ongoing efforts to strengthen professionalism, discipline and governance within the organisation.
It said the initiative was inspired by Chief of Defence Forces (PAT) General Malek Razak Sulaiman and aligns with his Second Pillar of Supreme Command, which emphasises strengthening organisational management systems, integrity and the overall well-being of ATM personnel.
“PAT emphasises that bullying culture cannot be compromised, as it not only affects the discipline and morale of personnel, but also has implications for operational readiness, governance effectiveness and the image of the national defence institution,” the statement said.
It said the task force was established to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the current situation and trends involving bullying cases within the armed forces, including evaluating the effectiveness of existing policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), reporting mechanisms and enforcement measures in order to identify systemic weaknesses and areas requiring improvement.
“To ensure effective monitoring, the ATM Anti-Bullying Task Force comprises representatives from all three military branches, namely the Malaysian Army (TDM), Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).
“This integrated approach is essential to ensure that preventive measures, monitoring and case handling can be implemented in a more coordinated, systematic and effective manner at every level of the organisation,” according to the statement.
As an initial step, the task force is carrying out a comprehensive analysis of bullying case data and statistics from 2022 until April 2026 to identify trends, contributing factors and management challenges at unit and formation levels.
The statement added that these efforts are also being reinforced through targeted field visits to units identified as high-risk to ensure that intervention and monitoring measures can be implemented in a more holistic and focused manner.
ATM is also developing an Anti-Bullying Strategic Action Plan, which will serve as a comprehensive guideline to strengthen reporting structures, monitoring systems, enforcement measures and preventive actions on a continuous basis.
