Uniform as an adjective describes things which are all alike, as though made from a mold. The members of a regimented organisation have a uniform code of conduct to follow.

Uniform as an adverb describes behaviour which is in accordance with an established policy or set of rules. The members of a uniformed organisation all act in a uniform manner.

Large organisations such as a national police force or a national army have rankings of subordination. Each member has a specific rank relative to all other members. Each rank must obey the orders and directives of all superior rankings, and all rankings must follow the directives and policy of the highest ranking officer.

The military is headed by a general, who is often called the chief of staff, and he has as his superior a civilian politician, usually the minister of defense. The minister of defense, in turn, has as his superior the prime minister.

The national police has a similar organization, each with a rank and insignia, and there is a chain of command just as in the military. At the top of the chain is the inspector general of police, who answers to the attorney general. The attorney general reports to the prime minister.

It is the prime minister who is the top authority for both the military and the police, throughout the country.

The lowest ranks report to their superior, and then the reports are given to the next higher rank, and so on, all the way to the inspector general of police and the chief of staff. They give a detailed report of all important activity and operations to their superiors, the attorney general and the minister of defense, respectively. They, in turn, make their report in a timely manner to the prime minister.

If the prime minister is satisfied with their report, then he gives them a nod of approval. But if he has questions, or if he feels that they have not followed his orders, then he will rebuke them. In serious breaches he will replace them. They know this, and so they try to please him, because they know that if they don't follow his directions then he will find someone else who will. And they will be punished and sent away.

When the prime minister gives his orders to the attorney general and the defense minister, they in turn repeat the orders exactly to the inspector general of police and the chief of staff. The orders of the prime minister travel down to all units of both the police and the military. That is his job. If he doesn't do his job well, it will be noticed, and he must give an explanation to the people. Thus the prime minister answers to the people who elected him, and he is responsible for everything that happens in both the police force and the military.

The reports travel upwards toward the prime minister, and the orders flow downwards towards the lowest rankings. That is the way the police and military organizations work, and it is important that all the members of both organizations carefully follow the orders that they are given.

If the men in the ranks do not follow orders exactly they can be punished. So they are careful to follow orders exactly, even those for which there does not seem to be any sane reason. The men in uniform follow orders even when the orders clearly are inhumane or illegal. This is unfortunate for them and the people who are harmed by their actions. The orders are to blame. The person who gave the orders is to blame. The orders come down from the top. The reports of orders which were followed go up to the top. There they are praised and appraised.

On occasion the police and the military conduct joint operations. When this happens the chain of command remains intact. The inspector general of police directs the police forces and the chief of staff directs the military forces. Both of them take direction from their superiors, all the way to the prime minister, who is kept constantly in touch with events.

On these occasions there is often a widespread media interest, and the representatives of the press and television gather to collect the news as it is released. The inspector general is generally the spokesperson for the police forces, and he will have a press conference site where he gives out sporadic updates on the continuing events. The journalists write down his every word.

The military will also have a spokesperson who gives press conferences from a designated office, and in important events this might be the defense minister himself, who has arrived on the scene in order to be close to the action. He receives continuing reports of military activity, and relays it to the prime minister. The prime minister then gives detailed orders on how to proceed. He will also give instructions on how the media is to handled, and how much they are to be told.

In situations where joint police/military operations are being conducted, the reports of the police may differ somewhat from the reports of the military, with resultant confusion. The inspector general may report one set of events to the prime minister and the media, and the defense minister may report another, which contradicts the police report. It often leads to conflicting press and tv reports, which can lead the public to think something is amiss. This is especially true if the government has a poor past record of giving accurate information to the media.

An example is the recent theft of arms and ammunition from military camps in the northern state of Perak. When the suspects finally surrendered to a military man, a general who confronted them face-to-face, the military was credited with a resolution of the incident. The general modestly accepted to honor, and brushed aside attempts to glorify his famous feat of bravery.

The police, however, reported another version of the surrender, in which it was their man, a member of the notorious UTK unit B, who was seen (through binoculars) chatting with one of the suspects just prior to the surrender. Th police felt their man should get the credit.

Thus it was that on August 1, 2000 inspector general of police Norian Mai, before the full brigade assembled at their headquarters in Ipoh, at the parade of all police forces in the area, gave a field promotion to the rank of assistant superintendant to chief inspector Abdul Razak Mohamed Yusof of Unit B UTK. This was in recognition of his bravery in a face-to-face confrontation with the suspects on the hill. The honor of the police was preserved.