British veterans awarded the Pingat
Jasa Malaysia (PJM) medal have been given permission by Her Majesty The Queen to
wear it for the first time during Remembrance events next Sunday.
The Government of Malaysia
introduced the medal in 2005 and awarded it to British and Commonwealth
veterans who served in the conflict in Malaya in
the late 1950s and 1960s.
Approval
is not normally given for foreign medals to be accepted if British recognition
for a campaign has already been presented. Previously, veterans had been able
to accept but not wear the medal. It has now been agreed they can both accept
and wear the PJM.
This was done
to recognise the generous gesture by the King and Government of Malaysia, and
their wish to award the PJM in recognition of service given by many veterans in
the difficult years leading up to and following Malaysian independence.
Information on how to apply for the PJM medal can be found on our website.
So why wasn't permission to wear granted in the first place? This has caused so much upset around the world and the cost to HMG in human resources and finances has been quite enormous
ReplyDeleteJohn Cooper
Permission was eventually granted after nearly 7 years of campaigning by veterans through, amongst others, www.Fight4thePJM.org.
ReplyDeleteI think the above announcement has been carefully couched in words to avoid it being promulgated that Parliament has declared the whole system for awarding medals to servicemen and women is flawed and needs a fundamental review to ensure that veterans and serving personnel are never again treated to shabbily.
In closing, it would have been nice if this begrudging announcement had acknowledged that the award came from a Commonwealth country reflecting the Commonwealth spirit.
I understand that a number of contributions have been submitted on the matter of the above notice, but none seem to have emerged on this page.
ReplyDeleteCan you advise when we might view them? I hope none conflicted with anyone's censor-tivities!
Dear Mr Fleming. Apologies for delay in responding. I can confirm that we have 3 comments pending moderation.
ReplyDeleteAs a dual national living in Australia I had the ludicrous situation until recently of having the permission of the Queen of Australia to wear the Malaysian medal but not the Queen of the United Kingdom.
ReplyDelete