KUCHING: More than 6, 000 visitors attended the 85th anniversary celebration of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) yesterday at Pending Port where two training vessels, KD Teguh Samudera and KD Gagah Samudera were displayed.
The one-day event saw visitors boarding the vessels to get some insight into the basic functions of the navy.
A 61-year-old army veteran, Majani Sulai, said he found out about the open day from his friends.
“Being on board the vessels brought back some good memories for me as an ex-soldier,” he said.
He observed that the modern military personnel are different from those of his time as they have better training and are more educated.
“Just look at the facilities and equipment onboard the vessels … they are more sophisticated and better than anything that we had before,” he said.
Another visitor who is a civilian, Galileo, 26, said he felt proud as a Malaysian to see the RMN assets with his own eyes.
“To see these training vessels … we gain better appreciation of how the RMN trained their personnel,” he said.
Mahani Ali, a mother of five, said she received information about the event on WhatsApp.
“Actually, my husband is a veteran and I come here because my eldest son is interested in the navy,” she said.
“So, I brought my family along to expose them to the RMN.”
Acting navy sub-lieutenant, Thulasitasah Nadarajah, 24, said the vessels are mainly for in-training of commissioned officers who come along a voyage and be trained for up a month at a time.
According to him, each voyage is a great exposure for trainees to experience the real world where they undergo hands-on learning.
“During training, the officers are divided into three groups – seamen, technical branch and supply branch,” he said.
“After a month at sea, the trainees then attend another year of training and if they meet the required qualifications they graduate and will be stationed on their own ships.”
