By Raja Umi Nurshahirah Raja Izzuddin
GOMBAK, 6 October 2016: ROTU (Reserve Officer Training Unit) Airforce once again conducted an event called ‘Pembukaan Latihan Tempatan dan Pemakaian Pangkat’ to welcome newcomers and to celebrate an occasion for the commissioning of the senior and intermediate.
This semesterly event has been conducted by ROTU Airforce on 2 October (Sunday). They started to rehearse around 8.30 a.m before the ceremony officially began at 9.00 a.m and finished at 10.10 a.m.
The event held at IIUM Parade Square was attended by ROTU Airforce’s members and Deputy Director of Kulliyyah Engineering, Shahrizad Sa-idul Haj (Honourable Officer).
The ceremony began with “pemakaian pangkat” and continued with a speech by Shahrizad and later ended with spectacular encouragement for fellow members.
The objective of this event is to start the training officially and to make sure all cadets can finish the training splendidly and later be commissioned after three years being in the ROTU Airforce IIUM.
“My hope for this team to go through all training with integration and with the spirit of love for the country as they are the second line of defence forces in country. I really hope all cadets can divide their time between academic and ROTU activities until they graduate from IIUM,” said Leftenan ‘Aizat Razzaq who is the Adjutant for IIUM ROTU Airforce.
“Being promoted as a leader of the students, my target is to promote ROTU Airforce to the fullest especially to the civilian. Not only that, I also want to change people’s perspectives towards ROTU Airforce as they do not know what we have been through to make this far. Because of that, I tried to propose some events that include all civilians to make sure members can mix around with the civilian,” said Muhammad Zaharie Zamani, Senior Under Officer (S.U.O), a student of IIUM.
He added, “I promise to make sure the chances will not be wasted and I really hope we can make some improvement. To me, being the leader is not because others are not qualified enough. It’s just my chance to prove to others that I am qualified for this status but it does not mean I will ignore other ideas. I will respect any idea no matter where and what from the members as long as to improve and to promote ROTU Airforce.”***
Photo Courtesy: ROTU Airforce