My father the hero

It all started with our casual chit chat, this time it was about what motivated the members of the Malayan Communist Party that they continued the battle from 1948 right up till the 1980s. My father being a former soldier he then recounted stories when he was in the army. Since I just returned from Gua Musang he told the story of the Battle of Sungai (River) Semur. He also told the story of when he was a young Lieutenant when he was at a post near Sungai Yai. He said that there was an airstrip before and so I did a Google Map search. This was what I found. The name of the airstrip was Fort Chabai.

As we can see he trekked in this terrain back in 1962 in pursuit of the bandits. It was impenetrable then and it is impenetrable now.

Then he talked about the Sungai Semur Battle. It happened in the 1950s where 18 soldiers from the 3rd Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) battled almost 400 bandits. They fought to their last bullet. Later, as fate has it, he commanded the 3rd RMR or 3 Malay as it is better known in 1976. There he met the only soldier that survived the battle, Corporal Jamaluddin bin Muhammad who was then feted and honoured by the late Sultan of Kedah, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah.

This is their insignia and motto. Of course, my father served in many distinct roles in different battalions and units. One day I will recount some of his stories from his memoir. He has written a memoir from his childhood days right up till now. Memoirs are meant to be shared with the family and not meant for publication, but I can redact some of the stories.

I know my father was a soldier and I have heard many stories including the story on Ops Gubir where a helicopter was shot down by bandits. And yet each time I cannot really believe what he went through to bring peace to the nation. There are times when he is disappointed with some of the shenanigans going on, because these were not what he expected from the sacrifices made by him, his men, and the family.