"THE officers and men are my precious jewels." These were the words of a former battalion and unit commander who braved the battles during the height of the communist terrorists' insurgency, the Confrontation (with Indonesia) and the Emergency.
Colonel (Rtd) Harchand Singh, who turned 90 on April 7, still remembers the gruelling encounters in the deep jungles of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak while serving with the Royal Rangers Regiment.
"They were torrid times and our lives depended on each other on the frontlines. We worked as a team and were a close-knit family of brothers in arms.
"I treasured commanding them in various missions deep in the jungles," said Harchand during a recent impromptu reunion with 31 of his close friends and former comrades from various corps at the home of Captain (Rtd) Loo Choon Chew in Lukut, Negri Sembilan.
Present were former Army Divison One commander Major-General (Rtd) Datuk Toh Choon Siang, Army Senior Officers Institute deputy commandant Colonel Inderjit Singh, reunion coordinator Major (Rtd) A. R. Ramachandran and Harchand's wife, Eva Guest.
The reunion was also held to usher in Warrior's Day and to commemorate National Day.
The occasion was held via a video phone call between Harchand and another illustrious veteran, Rear-Admiral (Rtd) Tan Sri K. Thanabalasingam, the country's first local Royal Malaysian Navy chief. Harchand and Thanabalasingam go way back in their relationship.
"It was a short yet delightful conversation, as we recalled our old encounter at Parry Road (now Jalan P. Ramlee) in Kuala Lumpur.
"My eyes lit up as I heard his voice. I nonchalantly uttered 'I love you with my heart and soul' to my good old buddy'," said Harchand, as his comrades gave him a fitting Rangers' Iban battlecry Agi Idup, Agi Ngelaban (As long as we live, we shall fight on).
Harchand, who hails from Kuala Kangsar, Perak, had his early education at the Anglo-Chinese School in Ipoh.
In 1953, he was interviewed by British High Commissioner to Malaya, Field Marshal General Tun Sir Gerald Templer, and was included among the pioneer batch of 36 Short Service Commission cadets who underwent training in Port Dickson for six months.
He then made his way to Eaton Hall in Chester, Britain for another six months.
Harchand, subsequently, was among 24 cadets to be sent to the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom and was commissioned as a second lieutenant after 18 months in 1953.
In an illustrious career, he served with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Congo and commanded five Ranger battalions, before finally retiring as commandant of the Army Combat Training Centre in Ulu Tiram, Johor in 1985.
Toh described Harchand as a seasoned paratrooper, a flamboyant character and a dedicated leader of men.
"It is the best way to describe him. Harchand was always protective of his officers and men, whom he described as his jewels.
"At the height of the Malayan Emergency periods, he was often in active operations hunting down the infamous Chong Chor (leader of an assault unit of the Malayan Communist Party in Pahang)," said Toh.
Ramachandran, who had served with the Royal Artillery Corps, said that they had earlier planned to celebrate Harchand's 90th birthday this year with a bang. However, the imposition of the Movement Control Order following the Covid-19 pandemic put a damper to that plan.
"Nevertheless, we made our journey to his house from all corners of the country to wish him a belated birthday on a modest note, keeping in mind to adhere to the MCO's standard operating procedure," said Ramachandran.
In paying tribute to Harchand, Ramachandran recapped how people often would say "legends are born everyday, but few are remembered".
"Harchand was a soldier's soldier," he said. He recounted how one late night deep in the jungle, in the light of a dimly-lit Hurricane lamp, Harchand was seen poring over military maps.
"He was plotting the fate of the bandits with the uncanny ability to predict their next move, like a chess master. That was the Harchand I knew from the 1970s," said Ramachandran.
He hopes the younger generation would appreciate the trials, tribulations and sacrifices of the veterans.
"A nation is not simply born, but raised from the blood, sweat and tears of its people."
He added that Harchand was also fond of singing Born Free, Besame Mucho and You Are My Sunshine to keep the spirits of his troops high.