DEFENCE WHITE PAPER 28. The reassessment of changing realities at the international level has occasionally resulted in Malaysia changing the forms of its defence engagement. Malaysia used to anchor on a military alliance, the Anglo-Malayan/Malaysian Defence Agreement (AMDA) with the United Kingdom. The alliance-centric approach was later replaced by a more balanced external posture, when AMDA was succeeded by the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) in 1971. It was around the same time that Malaysia started to embrace non-alignment and the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) regionalism in its external outlook. The Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) declaration was signed by Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN member states in 1971 in Kuala Lumpur. The creation of various ASEAN-led mechanisms since the 1990s has deepened the role of ASEAN as the cornerstone of Malaysia’s foreign policy. 29. Parallel to these changing external postures is the changing foundations of Malaysia’s internal resilience. “Resilience” means a nation’s overall capacity to withstand challenges through inter-agency coordination, as well as national capability and cohesion across the society to tackle national problems. It encompasses national unity, government coherence, development and societal participation in security preparedness. From a Malaysian perspective, defence and development always go hand-in-hand, as stressed by KESBAN (Keselamatan dan Pembangunan, or “Security and Development”), a concept adopted during the Second Emergency. 30. The whole-of-government and the whole-of-society approaches are the key pathways to enhance Malaysia’s national resilience. The Government’s approach to resilience is highlighted in Chapter 5: People in Defence. Efforts to build internal resilience go in tandem with the endeavour to forge external partnerships, the focus of Chapter 6: International Defence Engagement. Together, they form the foundation of Malaysia’s pursuit of security. 31. Enhancing Malaysia’s defence capability and readiness. The third and the most important purpose of the DWP is to identify ways and means to enhance the country’s defence capability and military preparedness. This task is performed by Chapters 3 to 8, on the basis of the vision and strategic outlook analysis presented in Chapters 1 and 2. 32. Chapter 3: Defence Strategy translates the vision into directions by describing the three pillars of Malaysia’s defence strategy as a roadmap to enhancing Malaysia’s defence readiness. These pillars are: Concentric Deterrence, Comprehensive Defence and Credible Partnerships. Each of the pillars is elaborated in Chapters 4, 5 and 6, respectively. 33. Chapter 7: Defence Science, Technology and Industry and Chapter 8: Transformation, Governance and Funding concentrate on the implementation of the DWP. Both chapters explain how the Government plans to operationalise the three pillars into enhanced national defence by consolidating the defence capability development plan, pursuing defence transformations, reinvigorating Malaysia’s defence industry as an economic catalyst and securing a stable defence funding. All of these are aimed at transforming the MAF into an integrated, agile and focused force. 34. It is important to understand the development of the MAF and related agencies as the nation’s security custodian. When Malaya attained independence from the British on 31 August 1957, the then Malayan Armed Forces consisted of an Army and a Navy that were 24 and 23 years old respectively. The Malayan Army, which included the Malay Regiment, the Federation Regiment and the Federation Armoured Car 14