IPOH, Oct 9 — Misinformation has been cited as one of the reasons why Chinese shy away from signing up with the territorial army.

Perak Territorial Army Club chairman Major David Choi said in the past, advertisements calling for people to join the territorial army were only placed in Malay-language newspapers.

"So the issue of Chinese being unpatriotic is not true. How can Chinese sign up if they do not have information to do it?” he asked.

Speaking to reporters during an exercise to enlist people for the territorial army this morning, Choi said all this changed after an advertisement was placed in vernacular dailies in July.

"We received calls from all over the country expressing their interest in joining the territorial army,” he said.

During yesterday’s exercise, a total of 33 people attended. Choi said of the 33, 29 are Chinese.

"We have a good mix of people consisting of lawyers, teachers and businessmen,” he added, noting that the next intake will be held in February.

Choi said aside from being paid hourly allowances, they are also paid a petrol allowance.

Lawyer Chong Kok Yew said he jumped at the first opportunity to join territorial army when he saw an advertisement in a vernacular daily. — Picture by Farhan Najib

One of the enlisted territorial army members, lawyer Chong Kok Yew, 37, said he had been wanting to join the territorial army since graduating from the University of Malaya.

"I did not have the information on where to join. I jumped at the first opportunity to join when I read the advertisement,” he said.

He said joining the territorial army would be a good opportunity for people to contribute to the country.