Malaysia's Covid-19 Outbreak Spells The Failure of HANRUH Adam Leong Kok Wey

HANRUH? What’s that, some of the readers may ask.  It is the acronym for Pertahanan Menyeluruh (HANRUH) or Total Defence.  HANRUH is a Malaysian government policy formulated in 1986 to gel the people with the nation’s defence where everyone in the society has a role to play in defending the country.  HANRUH has 5 pillars which are national vigilance, solidarity and unity of the community, public vigilance, economic fortitude and psychological resilience. HANRUH is envisioned to include all members of society, government ministries and agencies, private sector, security and enforcement units, and the Malaysian Armed Forces to defend Malaysia against all security risks which include both military and non-military threats. HANRUH, however, has not been implemented properly since its inception.  Malaysia’s first Defence White Paper (DWP) published in late 2019 has also stated the need to revitalize HANRUH in Chapter 5 – People in Defence.

Why has HANRUH failed in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia?

The first Covid -19 cases in Malaysia were reported on 25 January 2020 in which three Chinese nationals, already carrying the virus, visited Malaysia. The Covid-19 cases continued to rise albeit slowly in the month of February but the Malaysian government, then did not see the urgency to contain the rise of Covid-19 in Malaysia. The then Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said on 21 February 2020 that there was no need to ban Chinese travellers to Malaysia.[i] When research evidence was reported by badly hit countries such as China and South Korea on the contagious effect of Coivd-19 by people in close contact and mass gatherings, the Prime Minister of Malaysia then, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, stated that it was not government policy to close mosques and tourist sites, and would be irresponsible to do so.[ii]  Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases increased exponentially to more than 2,600 cases with 37 deaths at the point of writing. The sudden rise in cases was attributed to the contagious cluster of a Tabligh event that took place at a Seri Petaling Mosque from 27 February to 1 March 2020 with an estimated 15,000 people attending, including foreigners. Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Tan Sri Dato' Muhyiddin Yassin (assumed office on 1 March 2020) has since announced drastic measures which included a Movement Control Order (MCO) and a RM250 billion economic stimulus package to contain the detrimental effects of Covid-19 on Malaysia.

If HANRUH was properly practiced, the Tabligh gathering will not have gone on - the organizers would realize that such events of mass gathering of people will easily spread Covid-19.  Malaysians encultured with HANRUH will also not attend this event because they would have understood the risks of them being infected and spreading the Covid-19 virus, and behaved responsibly by not attending the gathering.  Even if, they had attended, the attendees will surrender themselves to health authorities for medical checks and self-quarantined for 14 days, if they practice HANRUH. HANRUH is a good concept if it had been implemented properly.  It could had prevented the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia.

So, more importantly, how do we move forward with HANRUH? There are a myriad of proposals on how to make HANRUH successful including those in the Defence White Paper. I propose an important improvement in its implementation.  HANRUH must be indoctrinated to school children from pre-school to university levels.  There must be compulsory HANRUH courses in which students will have to take and pass all the way from pre-school to tertiary level.  All local and international schools and universities must run the HANRUH courses. The government can design the appropriate content for the HANRUH syllabus but must reflect on what HANRUH is, why HANRUH is important to the nation, and how HANRUH is operationalized. This will take perhaps 10 to 20 years to prepare a new generation that has been embedded with HANRUH, with theoretical and practical perspectives.  To make it even better, for employment in government service, a credit in HANRUH subject at SPM level is required along with Bahasa Melayu.  For private companies, a HANRUH certification can also be made compulsory for their business registration.  Examples of what a HANRUH certification will entail are that the companies’ practices are HANRUH ready and all its employees (including foreigners) must attend and pass a HANRUH course. To coordinate, administer and manage HANRUH, a national committee on HANRUH should be setup to ensure HANRUH activities are run smoothly and effectively. 

However, only the government with strong political will can ensure HANRUH works.  There are many ways on how HANRUH can be made to work effectively, as just the few mentioned briefly above can testify. Or perhaps, if there is no more importance or use for HANRUH, then it should be buried (for good) with the Covid-19 victims.

[i] https://www.thestartv.com/v/covid-19-no-need-for-blanket-ban-on-chinese-visitors-says-dpm

[ii] https://www.thestartv.com/v/dr-m-closing-mosques-and-tourist-sites-is-not-government-policy

Dr Adam Leong Kok Wey is associate professor in strategic studies, and the Deputy Director of Research in the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies (CDiSS) at the National Defence University of Malaysia. He is the author of two books on military strategy and history including Killing the Enemy! Assassination operations during World War II published by Bloomsbury in 2020.