i think our stance is to act as a deterrent much like Israel...strike first so long we have sufficient belief that hostility is imminent.
We cannot afford to defend - cos we don't have enough ground to defend. First smell of trouble, we will strike to knock out enemy's strike capability. And then wait for an aircraft carrier to arrive.
bcos there will be no second chance...we have nothing...all we have is our infrastructure built up over these years. Once port / airport/ infrastructure is destroyed by whatever shit...we are gone. Even if we finally win the war, we are still gone.
Times are different, we won't have the chance to build up ourselves as financial hub, logistics hub, whatever hub bcos the world is not goin to give us the time and chance to develope again.
In this region, no need have army actually. All you need is to bride the Indons and Malays in Malaysia. These 2 corrupt countries accept brides easily as long as you keep feeding them well and fat as pig.