KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 – Building of additional blocks and some renovation works at the prestigious Royal Military College (RMC) here, which will be equipped with a logistics and maintenance complex, vehicle fleet, armoury and a business site, are expected to be completed by the middle of next year.

Chief of Defence Force Gen Tan Sri Affendi Buang said the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) had approved an allocation of almost RM11 million for the construction of the additional blocks and renovation works.

He said work on the upgrading project started on Dec 15 and was expected to be completed by June 14 next year.

According to him, with the allocation, the military college will also be equipped with a new obstacle course, abseiling tower and Flying Fox facility.

""The construction of the obstacle course and tower has been approved and is currently in the design process by the Defence Engineering Services Division (of Mindef),” he told a press conference after officiating RMC’s Annual Parade at Kem Perdana Sungai Besi, here, today.

On the admission quota for RMC students to Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Affendi said so far it remained at 40 per cent, to open space for RMC students to further their studies, and then join the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF).

He said admission to RMC also remained open only for Form Four and Five students and there was no proposal to recruit trainees from Forms 1 to 3.

"We have undergone some evolution in student recruitment and before this there had been recruitment of Form 1 to Form 3 students, but we found that it was more suitable if the students are older,” he explained.

Today, a total of 223 Form 5 students known as ‘Putera’ successfully graduated from the college with student Mohd Jasim Abdul Aziz emerging as the best ‘Putera’ and winning the Minister of Defence’s Award. — Bernama