Facilities

CAMPUS LIFE

National Centre of Defence Studies or in Malay, Pusat Pengajian Pertahanan Nasional (PUSPAHANAS) is home to three premier Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) colleges providing MAF officers as well as their international counterparts world-class, higher-level education at various stages of their careers. Among the three colleges, the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College (MAFSC) is the most junior college followed by the Malaysian Armed Forces Defence College (MAFDC) and the National Resilience College (NRC). The MAFSC, through PUSPAHANAS, has made a continuous effort to ensure that all facilities are built and maintained to enable effective and efficient academic delivery. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the college makes an effort to utilise all available facilities including PUSPAHANAS’s shared facilities to provide the Course Participants (CP) a conducive learning environment that will create well-rounded officers, motivate CP to realise their full potential and enable critical and creative thinking and social skills among them.

FACILITIES

The two primary components of PUSPAHANAS are the PUSPAHANAS Complex and the Student Accommodation/Residential Complex at Paragon 3. There is no on-campus accommodation for the CP. All of them have to commute from Paragon 3 to the PUSPAHANAS Complex daily. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has to adhere to the rules and regulations stipulated in the Safety Guidance SOP for PUSPAHANAS.

PUSPAHANAS COMPLEX

The PUSPAHANAS Complex is situated in Presint 1, on 41 acres of land in Putrajaya. The biggest infrastructure in the complex is the Main Building, where the three colleges located while the rest of the buildings provide shared facilities to ensure the seamless run of PUSPAHANAS. Some of the other important buildings and facilities are Multi-Purpose Hall (MPH), Surau (Islamic Prayer Building) and Officer’s Mess. Other buildings and facilities like Other Ranks’ Accommodation, Quartermaster Complex, Weapon Storage, Guard Rooms and POL and Transport are vital for the day to day run of PUSPAHANAS Complex but will not have a direct effect on the CP.

MAIN BUILDING

The crescent-like shape PUSPAHANAS Main Building, a bird’s eye view, has two major areas designated as North Wing and South Wing. The MAFSC and the NRC are located in the South Wing while the North Wing is occupied by the MAFDC and a dining hall. The PUSPAHANAS Headquarters that includes the President of PUSPAHANAS’s office and PUSPAHANAS administrative offices are situated in the middle of the Main Building. The PUSPAHANAS Main Auditorium, where most of the lectures will be conducted, and the PUSPAHANAS library are also located in the same area.

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PUSPAHANAS Main Auditorium

The PUSPAHANAS Main Auditorium is a shared facility located in the middle of the Main Building. It is a well-equipped hall with the latest multimedia system providing a high quality visual and audio experience, a conducive learning environment for the CP, and suitable for official activities such as graduation ceremonies. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the hall is now the alternative location for the MAFSC main lectures that involve all CP.

PUSPAHANAS Library

Relevant books are made available to both CP and staff at the college library to facilitate the course as a whole. The four general sections that can be found in the library are Reference, General, Periodical and Commandant’s Paper. There are four discussion rooms on the first floor for everyone’s convenience, either for group studies or other smaller group activities.

Kancil Dining Hall

Located in the South Wing, just a floor under the MAFDC, Kancil is where both CP and PUSPAHANAS’s living-in officers will have their breakfast, lunch and dinner. The foods and drinks served in Kancil are Halal for Muslims in addition to a range of veggie food for the vegetarians.

Musalla (Muslim Prayer Hall)

A Muslim prayer hall or in Malay called Musalla is a shared facility located near the MAFSC Hall of Fame Gallery on the ground floor of the South Wing. It is for the convenience of Muslim staff and CP (mostly MAFSC and NRC) and for the time being, can accommodate only a small number of people amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cafetaria

Unlike Kancil, the cafeteria is operated by a private entity. The non-living-in officers and guests can enjoy the foods at a fraction of cost and an alternative dining place for the CP and the living-in officers. Foods and drinks served here are Halal.

MAFSC

The MAFSC occupies mainly the ground and second floors of the South Wing. The second floor is where the administrative offices, Training Development offices, Training offices and a meeting room (Kalam Azad) located. Additionally, the Commandant’s office, offices of the Head of Departments (HOD) and Faculty Members (FM)/Directing Staff (DS) are also located on the second floor. Other college facilities are the main lecture hall (Hikmat Hall), a VIP waiting room (Zain Hashim), syndicate rooms and tutorial rooms.

Hikmat Hall

Hikmat Hall is a full-fledged lecture hall that can accommodate up to 250 people at one time. The hall is equipped with a state of the art multimedia system that benefits both the lecturers and the CP, especially on the ease of use and a more conducive learning environment. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the stringent COVID-19 SOP opts for social distancing, requiring an occupant to be seated empty-seats apart, left, right, front and rear. Thus, the hall can no longer accommodate 165 CP and DS for central lectures. The main lectures are now relocated to the PUSPAHANAS Main Auditorium.

Meeting Rooms

Aside from other small meeting rooms at the individual college department levels, the one meeting room commonly used for meetings involving all FM/DS is Kalam Azad meeting room. The room is equipped with the latest audiovisual system, individual monitors for key personnel, personal mics and an LCD projector allowing effective and efficient meeting sessions.

Syndicate Rooms

There are 15 syndicate rooms in the college, and a syndicate room is for 11 CP. 14 of them are on the ground floor while another one is on the second floor near the IT Department. The syndicate room is where the CP spend most of their time in the college with their syndicate members. The room is specially designed to accommodate 11 CP and equipped with a computer, a printer and an LCD projector. The PUSPAHANAS IT Department maintains the equipment while a rim of papers is provided to the syndicate by the college weekly. Additionally, all CP are provided with lockers in the syndicate room to keep their items safely. Currently, the syndicate room’s seating arrangement is designed to meet the requirements stipulated in the COVID-19 SOP.

Tutorial Rooms

Four tutorial rooms named after the former MAFSC’s Commandants are located on the lower ground (Jaafar and Ghani) and the ground (Arul and Daud) floors. Seating in the tutorial rooms is arranged in a circular fashion whereby the audience can focus on the centre of the room for lectures, exercises and others.

SURAU (ISLAMIC PRAYER BUILDING)

In accommodating/fulfiling the religious needs of the Muslim CP, an Islamic Prayer Building or also known as Surau in Malay is erected adjacent to the Multi-Purpose Hall (MPH). Some of MAFSC’s small-scale Islamic religious activities are also conducted here, particularly those involving a smaller number of participants.

MULTI-PURPOSE HALL (MPH)

The PUSPAHANAS Multi-Purpose Hall (MPH) also double itself as a mini sports complex is a building where two squash courts and a gymnasium are co-located and made available for CP and staff. The hall is typically used for social events organised by PUSPAHANAS or any of the colleges. The gymnasium and the squash courts are open for CP and staff daily with the applicable usage rules and regulations, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OFFICER’S MESS

The PUSPAHANAS Officer’s Mess is a building located about a kilometre away from the Main Building. All officers must subscribe to the mess’s services, including CP, local or foreign, working in PUSPAHANAS. Unfortunately, the rooms in the mess are very limited and only provided to the unaccompanied staff officers for the duration of their service in PUSPAHANAS. Foods are not served in the mess, but the mess’s dining hall can accommodate roughly 70 people and only suitable for college’s division-size activities.

OTHER FACILITIES

Other buildings and facilities in the PUSPAHANAS Complex are vital for the operation of PUSPAHANAS. They are Other Ranks’ Accommodation, Quartermaster Complex, Weapon Storage, Guard Rooms and POL and Transport.

CP Accomodation at Paragon 3 Condominium

STUDENT ACCOMMODATION/RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX

Paragon 3, located about 15 km or a 20-minute drive away from PUSPAHANAS, is a residential condominium to accommodate the course participants throughout the duration of their study in the MAFSC. It is located in Seri Kembangan, an emerging township strategically located with numerous existing and thriving facilities and amenities. Paragon 3 comes with a very tight 24-hour security to ensure the safety of its residents.

The CP will stay on a sharing basis, a mix of MCP and OCP, in the 3 + 1 bedroom, fully furnished condominium. Excellent facilities and services are all around Paragon 3. The CP can easily access the various shops and restaurants around that area for their day-to-day requirements. Several hypermarkets such as Tesco, Carrefour, Giant, Pasar Borong Selangor, IOI Mall Shopping Centre, The Mines or Alamanda Shopping Center are nearby the residential