Game over:Suspected sea pirates are freedom-impaired after commandos from the Royal Malaysian Navy's PASKAL team stormed an MISC ship in the Gulf of Aden that had been subjected to a non-compliant boarding by the civilians in the picture.
Op Fajar: The Malaysian Success Story in the Gulf of Aden 2008-2013
Royal Malaysian Navy and MISC Berhad
November 2013, 186 pages
Download your free English language coffee table book that chronicles the Malaysian Armed Forces deployments to the Gulf of Aden, codenamed Operasi Fajar (Operation Dawn), from this link.
The 186-page book, Op Fajar: The Malaysian success story in the Gulf of Aden, is an authoritative source of reference on the five-year long operational deployment. In that time, 476 Malaysian-flagged merchant vessels from MISC came under the protection of combat forces from the Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Malaysian Air Force and Malaysian Army.
Op Fajar's narrative brings the reader close to the action while explaining the strategic picture such as the sea piracy situation and providing background on ATM forces involved during the deployment. Malaysia's approach to Total Defence (HANRUH) is also explained as the back story that tells how the ATM and Malaysian shipping line MISC jointly cooperated and coordinated the naval and air action on and above the Gulf of Aden.
Info graphics are nicely done. In particular, the range rings drawn on pages 64-65 illustrate the dramatic escalation in attacks over the years as pirates operated further from the horn of Africa.
The picture on page 162 of a PASKAL member embracing someone is quite moving and chosen well by the editorial board as it underlines the human side of the Royal Malaysian Navy's crack naval forces.
The book's editorial approach is commendable as it assumes nothing from the reader. Even someone with zero exposure to the ATM would find everything he or she would need to know about Op Fajar and Malaysian defence matters. That it is written in English should ensure the narrative finds new and enlightened readers in the international defence community.
Circulation of the book on the Internet illustrates the desire by Malaysian defence planners to circulate the good word on Op Fajar to as wide a global audience as possible. The hard copy was launched in November 2013 to commemorate 5-years of Op Fajar.
The Malaysian defence information plan for Op Fajar has range, depth and, most important of all, a compelling story to share. This should ensure the successful operation receives maximum exposure and draws max appreciation from an audience far from Malaysian shores.