DURING the early years of the British administration in Malaya, security was provided by the British and Indian battalions. But sometime in early 1920 some of the state rulers requested the British Administration to raise an army from the local population.
On Nov 23, 1932, the War Office in London approved the formation of a Malay Regiment as part of the British Army. On Jan 23, 1933, the Federal Consultative Council passed the Malay Regiment Act with an allocation of 70,000 dollars to buy the Kong Sang Rubber Estate in Port Dickson for the Recruit Training Centre.
It was on March 1, 1933, that the first company finally started, with 25 recruits under the command of British officers. In March 1941, two Malay battalions were raised and played a major role in the defence of Malaya during the World War 2.
After the war, the Malay Regiment was reorganised into three battalions. During the Malayan Emergency in 1948, they were deployed to fight against the communist insurgents. Only Malays were being recruited in the Malay Regiment.
It wasn't long before the clarion call for citizens of all races in the country to take up arms against the communist insurgents for their own security was made by the British High Commissioner in Malaya, General Sir Gerald Templer, who was also the director of Operations. He had taken over from Sir Henry Gurney, who'd been ambushed by the communists at Frasers Hill on Oct 6, 1951.
MULTIRACIAL FORCE
The Malayan Emergency was a local war between the British colonists and the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). On July 3, 1952, the Federation Regiment Bill was approved by the Federal Legislative Council for the formation of the first multiracial force as per Templer's vision.
Many young men were attracted to the clarion call but only 12 were approved by General Templer. On July 27, 1952, dubbed as the Templer Super-12 Pioneers, these men formed the nucleus of the multiracial Malayan army.
Among them were Lai Chung Wah, Victor Nelson Stevenson, Lakhbir Singh Gill, Thong Chee Sin, Ng Boon Hwa, N. Selvarajah, Gui Poh Chui, Leong Siew Meng, Khong Kim Kong, Asna Mohamed Sutan, Abdullah Samsudin, and Amiruddin Mustapha Al-Bakri.
After three months of undergoing the preliminary military training at the Pre-Officer Cadet Training Unit (Pre-OCTU) at 5th Mile Coast Road, Port Dickson, they were sent to the British Officer Cadet Training School at Eaton Hall in Chester, Cheshire to attend an initial intensive infantry combat training course to gauge a candidate's suitability prior to admission to the prestigious Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, England. Fortunately, all the candidates made the mark.
RISE OF A SOLDIER
After two years of military training, all 12 officer cadets were commissioned as Second Lieutenant at the passing out parade of the academy on Feb 3, 1955. The most outstanding graduate was Senior Officer Cadet, Khong Kim Kong.
He attained the highest position in the Order of Merit amongst all overseas officer cadets in Regular Intake 14 and was awarded the coveted Commandant's prize. He was also the first Malayan officer cadet to win the Commandant's prize, making his country proud. He was subsequently commissioned into the Federation Engineers.
Khong accomplished much during his time in the army engineers. He'd served in various road construction projects in Perak and Kedah as well as on flood relief operations. He also provided combat engineer troops in support of infantry operations to clear mines and booby traps in the Malaysian/Thai border for the safety of our troops.
The formidable Khong was also selected as one of the officers to lead the Merdeka (Independence) Day military parade and march-pass in front of Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur on Aug 31, 1957.
In March 1958, he was posted to the Manpower Division of the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) as a Staff Captain and was responsible for army recruitment and remuneration budgeting.
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
During his service in Mindef, Khong was selected to serve as a Regalia Bearer for the first king of Malaya, where he had to attend to all the ceremonial functions at the king's palace in Kuala Lumpur.
It was in August 1960 that Khong was selected as one of the first Malayan officers for overseas service with the United Nations (UN) HQ in Belgian Congo, Central Africa. He subsequently joined the Malayan Special Forces Brigade HQ in Bukavu, Eastern Congo and served under Brigadier General Hamid Bidin as the Brigade Staff Captain Administration.
Upon the completion of his assignments with the United Nations and the Malayan Special Forces in Congo, he was selected to attend the British Army Staff College in Camberley, England in October 1962. This college prepared officers for senior positions above the rank of major.
Intensive and comprehensive modules were conducted by the British Army Staff College in the command of troop deployments at battalion, brigade and division levels in combat under all phases of war such as advance, attack, defence, and withdrawal.
It also conducted modules in asymmetrical warfare, troop deployments and tactics in counter-insurgency operations. The defence against nuclear, biological and chemical warfare and logistics management were part of the curriculum.
Lessons were conducted by presentations, lectures, syndicate discussions followed by field exercises. The art of writing military papers and presentation of battle and operation orders, both orally and written, formed an important part of the course. Graduates were given exemption as members of the Malaysian Institute of Management (MMIM).
ILLUSTRIOUS SERVICE
In January 1966, Khong was posted to Mindef's Logistics Division as the Senior Staff Officer with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His most challenging task here was to devise a logistic support plan to carry out and sustain the deployment of Malaysian troops, who were taking over the security operations from the withdrawing British forces in Sarawak and Sabah after the cessation of hostilities in the Indonesian Confrontation on Aug 11, 1966.
The plan involved the leasing of a large sizeable civilian cargo ship and converting it into a troop ship to ferry troop deployments, arms and ammunition, rations and vehicles between West and East Malaysia.
This was because the British forces were withdrawing their troop ship support after their troop withdrawal. This task was speedily accomplished with the tacit support of Mindef's head of finance division through their approval of the budget.
During the height of the counter-insurgencies in Sarawak and Sabah in July 1968, Khong was deployed as the Commander of Royal Engineers (CRE) in 1 Infantry Division in Kuching under the command of Major General Datuk Ibrahim Ismail, who was the then-director of operations, East Malaysia (DOPEM).
He had two engineer squadrons to provide combat engineer support to infantry operations in Sarawak and Sabah respectively. He also coordinated the 18km road construction from Lundu to Biawak at the Indonesian Border by his army engineers.
For his services in the state, Khong was conferred with the state award of the Most Illustrious Order of the State of Sarawak, "Ahli Bintang Sarawak" (ABS) by the Governor of Sarawak on Aug 3, 1970.
Out of the Templer-12 super pioneers, only two remain today — both at 90 years old. They're Lieutenant General Datuk Abdullah Samsuddin and Lieutenant Colonel Khong Kim Kong.
The cessation of hostilities in the 2nd Malaysian Emergency came to an end on Dec 2, 1989 when the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) signed the peace treaty with the Malaysian government at Hatyai in Southern Thailand.
This victorious event also coincided with the collapse of various communist regimes around the world in 1989, especially the Berlin Wall in Germany. Earlier on in 1980, President Deng Xiao Peng of China was instrumental in urging MCP to seek a peace accord with the Malaysian government.
This was because Malaysia and China had established diplomatic relations since May 1974 when Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein made an unprecedented historic visit to China as the first member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) to forge peace in Southeast East Asia.
May God bless Malaysia with everlasting peace and prosperity.
Ingenieur Lt Col Raymond Goh Boon Pah KMN (Royal Engineer Regiment, Retired).
PROUD MILESTONE
ON Aug 1, 1952, Khong Kim Kong of Victoria Institution Kuala Lumpur was on his way to Singapore for a school holiday, but was involved in an accident and had to return to Kuala Lumpur. Fortunately, he escaped unhurt.
His father, a tailor who had sewn suits for General Sir Harold Briggs, General Sir Gerald Templer, and General Sir Rob Lockhart told him the good news of his successful selection in the Templer Super-12 Pioneers. His army seniority number was 200003.