KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — Deputy Defence Minister Senator Liew Chin Tong today said that the Territorial Army Regiment unit needs to broaden its scope and focus on quality, not quantity.

Liew said the regiment, a volunteer reserve unit, currently focuses on volunteers based on geographic location and district, which limits its scope.

"We need to find a way to include young people from the city areas, as right now, most of the volunteers are from Klang Valley.

"Since these are our target audience, we must find a way to incorporate their working lives into the army schedule so as to encourage more people to sign up to the corps,” said Liew in a statement.

Liew also said the army unit needs to focus on quality training, so volunteer soldiers are prepared when called into action.  

 "The volunteer unit must be able to stand alongside the regular units hence they need quality training and not just make up the numbers.

"Together with the experts we need to prepare them for cyber attacks, train a medical team and prepare them for urban warfare.

"Apart from monetary gains, these soldiers must have pride in their work. They are defending the country and must be proud to do so.

"Lastly we need to be a nation that is security conscious. We must think of the nation’s security not as an afterthought but as a priority,” added Liew.

Liew was on a three-day visit to Malacca to meet captains of the industry to discuss matters pertaining to national security.