The activities planned by MAFSC for the course participants (CP) covers all aspects of academic, co-curricular and administrative activities and are conscientiously scheduled by the college dedicated programmer.  The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever.  MAFSC is also affected to a greater extent and has to adapt to the new norms, balancing between the importance of education and the more paramount health safety risk.  The upcoming cohort will experience a new education environment in a unique ecosystem.  The way of conducting activities have been redesigned, conforming to the new norms as outlined by the authorities.  The Overseas Course Participants (OCP) will experience a glimpse of the culture, customs and traditions of the main ethnics in the multi-cultural society of Malaysia.  Study visits to interesting places locally, regional and extra-regional are in the pipeline.  Additionally, there are tonnes of other activities such as sports, special wife enrichment programme, family day, etc. organised for the benefit of both Malaysian CP (MCP) and OCP.

Reporting

The reporting day is a very meaningful day for everyone, and that day was quite significant for the previous cohort, Cohort 53/24, which was the pioneer of the newly completed PUSPAHANAS complex.  The cohort comprised of 124 officers from the Malaysian Armed Forces along with an officer from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and another officer from the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP).  For Cohort 54/25, the joining date for the OCP is 6 Jan 2025 and for the MCP is 13 Jan 25.

Opening Ceremony (Proposed changed to ‘Welcoming Activities’)

The college plans a series of activities to develop relationships among the CP and for them to get to know each other better.  The welcoming activities are usually planned with the spirit of fostering friendship amongst the MCP and the OCP.  The first activity would be in the form of an ice-breaking session to provide an opportunity for the CP to interact and socialise through the selected ice-breaking activities.  The second planned activity is the Welcoming High Tea, another opportunity for the CP to build relationships and introduce themselves to the Faculty Members (FM) and Directing Staff (DS) and vice versa.

Besides these two events, there will also be a flag hoisting ceremony, held as a central PUSPAHANAS (the three colleges combined) event but will be organised by MAFSC.  The flag hoisting ceremony symbolises and acknowledges the presence and involvement of the OCP from different countries as representatives.

Academic Session

The academic session in which most lectures are held and handled by NDUM would be held at the PUSPAHANAS Auditorium.  However, tutorial group (TG) sessions will be held at NDUM every Wednesday at the Marine Centre (Lakeside).  The CP can also take this opportunity to meet their Commandant Paper (COMPA) supervisors for consultations.  Apart from the TG sessions, final examinations for subjects conducted by NDUM would be held at the NDUM examination hall.

Overseas Visit (Comparative Study Visits)

The college plans for comparative study visits every year as part of the Strategic Studies and Security Affairs in the Asian Region (SSSAAR) module.  Cohort 53/24 had their comparative study visits to China, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.  During these visits, the CP would have the opportunity to collect data directly from the sources that can be specific areas or agencies related to the subject.  The visits include military bases, defence industries, international relationships, security-related organisations in addition to places of attraction hosted by the countries visited.

Domestic Visits

The domestic visits concern with the capabilities and operational studies of the visited units to provide valuable insights on strategic and operational experiences besides understanding the climate and topography of the region.  It is also to prepare the CP in planning tactical operations based on the Malaysian terrain.  Cohort 53/24 had the opportunity to visit the Northern Region (NRCOS), Southern Region (SRCOS) and East Malaysia (EMCOS).

Another form of domestic visits, Defence Industry visits are conducted in conjunction with the NDUM’s PSD 5233 Defence Management (DM) subject.  The visits are designed to expose the CP to the capabilities and responsibilities of the local defence industries in supporting the military.  The sharing of experiences and case studies of the particular defence industries will enhance CP’s knowledge and in line with the objective of the curriculum.  Cohort 53/24 had the opportunity to visit Boustead Naval Shipyard and DEFTECH.

Singapore Visit

Taking the opportunity of the SRCOS visit, the college plans to extend this visit to the Singapore Goh Kim Swee Staff Command and Staff College.  This would enlighten the CP on the course conduct of another neighbouring country military institution at a similar level.

Keynote Address

The keynote addresses by the Minister of Defence, Service Chiefs (Chief of Defence Forces, Chief of Army, Chief of Navy and Chief of Air Forces) and IGP are among the many activities planned for the course.  The keynote addresses are based on a specific theme which will be presented by the keynote speakers themselves.  CP will be given opportunities to pose questions directly within a particular time slot allocated during the Question-and-Answer session to obtain direct views from the speakers.

Diners Club

The Diners Club is an event organised every year.  Prominent guest speakers who are the subject matter experts or renowned figures will be invited to deliver talks.  It exposes the CP to how such events are organised besides gaining knowledge from the perspective of the speakers.  As the name implies, the Diners Club is conducted while dining and the CP can seek for additional views or clarification from the speakers during the question and answer session.

Firepower Training

The annual Firepower Training (FPT) is an event conducted specially for MAFSC.  The FPT is normally conducted at the Asahan Range in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan.  The concept of the training is the demonstration of the ability of a Combat Team in the combined arms to conduct manual and firepower capabilities that would be assisted by assets from navy and air force. The demonstration includes dynamic segments showing the manoeuvre of combat vehicles, MAF armament system revealing the impact on the targets.  In addition, there would be an indirect fire segment demonstrating tactical display followed by the RMAF fighter capabilities, artillery and mortar capabilities.