the same old questions……..
Thursday, January 25th, 2007
i was being asked the same questions again and again. are you in the navy? no, merchant navy. what is merchant navy? the story goes on from here.
in the jurassic period, there was one bright caveman who saw a drifting log passing him in the river and then out to the sea. he was thinking, why don’t i do something with this log. that was when the first mode of transportation through the water being invented.
the question now is, which one came first, the merchant navy or the navy? well. this is quite complicated.
scenario 1: considering the time the caveman invented the dugout boat, it was peacetime. he was able to trade his wares to the other side of the river/sea. we knew how shallow was the people then. disputes can be big just from petty trivial matters. people fight. this is when the same dugout boat being utilised as ’ship of war’.
scenario 2 : considering there was hostilities back then. one brilliant caveman came out with an idea of creating some sort of transportation to ship them to the other side of the river to attack their enemies. the navy was born. but then, some of the boats might be kept as supply boat, carrying vital supports for their fighting force.
zoom to the year 2007. from these long traditions of sea going people, evolved into various trade: merchant navy and the royal malaysian navy. merchant ships are manned by civilians while the navy are manned by military personnel. both carry the task of carrying their trades on the water: transportation,supplies, nation’s trade and for military, defending the maritime boundaries of the sovereign nation.
that is the difference. being in the merchant navy are not as popular as being in the navy. because of less exposure to the people. both navies wear the same uniform with some difference. the merchant navy’s peaked cap comes with badge without the crown, hence the naval cap badges have a crown, denoting their ‘royal’ status.
the armband of the blazer and shoulder epaulettes denotes the rank of the officer. merchant navy officers wear the stripes with a rectangular symbol denoting the officer is a ‘certificated’ officer, while the navy stripes are a bit different, with a round symbol, denoting the officer is a ‘commissioned’ officer. royal commission from the sovereign of the state. 
next time, you will know the difference between both. both are important to the nation, one is to trade and bring crucial food,fuel and other supplies to our country and another are to defend the country.
i hope this will enlightened the people who read this.
