PADAWAN: In recognition of their service to the country, 347 retired and in-service personnel and officers of the Sarawak Police Contingent were awarded the Pingat Jasa Pahlawan Negara (PJPN).
The recipients served the country during the Emergency era that lasted from July 1948 to July 1960, the Communist insurgency from June 1968 to December 1989 in Peninsular Malaysia and in Sabah and Sarawak from 1962 to 1990 (Emergency Service era).
The awards were handed out by Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Department director Datuk Seri Hazani Ghazali during a ceremony at the Police Training Centre at Borneo Heights, Jalan Penrissen here.
Also present were Sarawak police commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri and his deputy Datuk Mancha Ata.
The recipients comprised 333 rank-and-file personnel and 14 officers.
The ceremony was held for the first time this year and the second series is expected to be in May.
Previously, a total of six award ceremonies were held between 2014 and 2019 before it was postponed due to the pandemic and the movement restrictions that followed.
It was understood that a total of 965 retirees and former Sarawak Police Contingent personnel who served as Special Constable, Home Guard, Auxiliary Police, Extra Police Constable, Border Scout, Jungle Squad, PFF Reservist and Sarawak Constable had received the PJPN since.
