Zulkifeli casting his vote at Kampung Tanduo army base.
FELDA SAHABAT: Kampung Tanduo, where the first Sulu terrorist group landed, is now safe and under the control of the Malaysian armed forces.
The situation and look of Kampung Tanduo have changed where it has turned into an armed forces base to monitor the areas and protect the people.
Armed forces chief General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin said Kampung Tanduo meant a lot to the armed forces members as well as the other security forces.
“This is where the group holed up and where we launched our offensive attack to defend the peace and sovereignty of our country.
“And it was a very unique experience to conduct postal voting in this historical place,” he said when met at Kampung Tanduo during the armed forces postal vote casting yesterday.
Yesterday, about 200 armed forces personnel on Op Daulat duty at Kampung Tanduo cast their votes for the parliamentary and state assembly seats through postal voting.
Armed forces members registering their names before casting their votes.
The 200 personnel are part of the 2,280 armed forces personnel at Felda Sahabat who will cast their votes through postal votes in stages starting from yesterday.
Other personnel will cast their votes in different places such as at Kampung Tanjung Batu, Kampung Tanjung Labian, Cenderawasih, Tactical Base at Felda Sahabat, and Embara Budi.
According to Zulkifeli, another 1,270 armed forces members who had been dispatched to Semporna, Sandakan, Tawau and Lahad Datu for Ops Daulat would cast their votes at their respective operation areas.
He said all postal vote procedures were conducted according to procedures set by the Election Commission and their votes should not be doubted.
“Over the years, postal votes from the armed forces had been conducted transparently according to procedures.
“The whole process is monitored by a responsible officer from the armed forces who had been appointed by EC,” he said, adding that the process was implemented transparently without interference by any party.
Zulkifeli was accompanied by joint forces commander Vice Admiral Datuk Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badarudin, First Infantry Division commander Datuk Ahmad Zaki Mokhtar and Brigadier-General Datuk Ranjit Singh Ramday who also voted at Kampung Tanduo.
Meanwhile, an armed forces personnel voting at the battleground said he was excited and happy as he could carry out his responsibilities.
Private Mohamad Hafiz Md Zin, 23, from Muar, Johor, said it was a valuable experience as Kampung Tanduo has its own history that would never be forgotten.
The postal voting at Kampung Tanduo started at 9.30am and ended about two hours later before proceeding to Kampung Tanjung Batu.