yes, pertahanan awam is what i join not RELA... I have always been confused by ppl saying that im a "RELA" which with all due respect is not true.... so i will just list the difference here ....
1. First of all, we are governed by different Ministry
RELA - Ministry of Home Affairs
Pertahanan Awam - Ministry of Internal Security
where The Minister of Home Affairs is Y.B. DATO' SERI MOHD RADZI BIN SHEIKH AHMAD
while the Minister of Internal Security is Y.A.B. DATO' SERI ABDULLAH BIN HAJI AHMAD BADAWI which also is our Prime Minister. So... in this, you can see that we are DIFFERENT...
2. Okey.. Second, Yes we are all volunteers (Sukarelawan) but not all Vonlunteers are to be called "RELA" rite ? RELA stands for Ikatan Relawan Rakyat Malaysia (People's Volunteer Corps)... It's RELAWAN RAKYAT(People's Volunteer) which functions something like home guard(being decribed in thier website).as for us, we are Pertahanan Awam or in english Civil Defence, which defence the country without weapon.
3. Third, we are under different Laws of Malaysia
RELA - Emergency (Essential Powers) Act 1964 (Security Force)
Pertahanan Awam- Act 221 Civil Defence Act, Act 425(Akta Perkhidmatan Negara 1952 Semakan 1990) and Perlembagaan Malaysia Perkara 74 and 77.
RELA was formed under the Emergency (Essential Powers) Act on the 11 January 1972 as voluntary government security apparatus
While us(Pertahanan Awam) is formed in 1939 by the british as a form of Passive Defence under the Emergency Regulation Enactment Chapter 41 to help in the World War II.
By the means of Perlembagaan Malaysia Perkara 74 and 77, Pertahanan Awam is part of the Defence Force of Malaysia.
4. Since we are set up under differnt regualtion and act, our function is totally difference, but some similarity within also...
From www.moha.gov.my/opencms/export/KHEDN/BhgJ2/index.html,
(i)RELA was established to provide opportunities for patriotic citizens to become members of a government security agency which was formed to assist, maintain and safeguard peace and security in the country.
(ii)Its establishment is consistent with the philosophy that the responsibility of defending the sovereignty and independence of the country is in the hands of its own citizens, with all citizens playing their respective roles.
which in short is something like citizen-formed alliance that protect the nation and citizens' peace and security in the country.
As for Pertahanan Awam,
Pertahanan Awam have 2 function in 2 different time, During War and During Peace,
During war,
Civil Defence will protect the country by all means without involving the use of weapon. Action is taking before, during and after the war.
During Peace,
Civil Defence will protect the lives and properties of citizen whether if the action is taken before, during or after the event.
So for the similarity, it will be both of us trying to protect the safety of citizen so there are times that we will be working together.
Motto For RELA is Ready to Serve
Pertahanan Awam is SEDIA PANTAS BERINTEGRITI
5. Officers of RELA could with some regulation carry weapon(gun) when they are doing thier duty but not for Pertahanan Awam.
6. RELA main function is to control the peace while Pertahanan Awam is to save lifes and properties mostly during natural disaster or just "madn-made" disasters, accidents and others. We are trained to perform first aid, RELA too, but that's our primary aim not thier's. We have ambulance services, we are also equipped with essential knowledge and equipment that can save lifes during fire such as fire-bridgage and others, but thier small compare to the Fire Rescue Department (those red ones u see everywhere... )
7. Different logo...
RELA
Pertahanan Awam
8. For u to diffrentiate us when u see one of us...
RELA
Notice the Beret ( cap on top of the head) - it's Yellow together with thier badge
The line above the left hand (circled) pocket says thier registered personal "call number" which is detachedable... the name and the number are "stick-on" kind...
on the left sleeve(circled) is a line written "RELA"
as for pertahanan Awam,
this is the formal uniform where u can see
the beret - is orange, with gold colour crest on it
on top of left pocket is written "Pertahanan Awam" or "JPA3" instead of number as like RELA... It's sew on and the name is on the right which also is sew on.
The line on the left sleeve is written "Pertahanan Awam"
In general, our uniform is green colour, but the RELA has a lighter green while us is a darker green. u can tell when both stand together... hahaha ...
sometimes we also wear half uniform during our duty...
the black beret is juz a older version , it does not show anything special ... and the top will be in orange ...
In general , RELA is assocaited to Yellow colour and Pertahanan Awam is Orange
i think that's all i can think now... there are more actually.. so stop getting us confused... and im not a RELA... im a Pertahanan Awam.... stop referring me as RELA or call me one.. hahaha ...
