Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.
– Seneca (or Seneca the Younger) (c. 4 B.C.E. – 65 C.E.), a Roman philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and writer.
MY love affair with the armed forces started with an invitation to perform at a dance party held by the Sarawak Rangers, later known as First Rangers at Oya Camp, 14th Mile, Jalan Oya in Sibu.
It must have been in late October of 1973. I was a Lower Six Arts student at Sibu’s Methodist Secondary School. The invitation was done by word of mouth through an uncle, WO II Tom anak Dap, my father’s second cousin. Uncle Tom, then newly married to Endoh, a beauty from Debak, was blessed with a new-born girl who became the centre of attention and light of their lives.
During that weekend I was joined by two other Iban classmates who were also my classmates in SMK Saratok. They were Darius Munang and Joshua Panggau, both college-trained teachers and are now happily retired. The three of us took lodge at Uncle Tom’s quarters in Oya Camp and were served with good food for our meals.
That evening the First Rangers held a dance party at their mess in the camp. In accompaniment were their resident band D’Rangers that played beautiful instrumentals, especially those of The Shadows, The Hollies, The Ventures and The Quest.
Also performing were a few young unknown artistes just like me.
Uncle Tom introduced me to the emcee, an Iban Ranger whose name I cannot recall. I was given two slots and was required to perform two songs in each slot.
Dressed in a simple self-tailored flowery long-sleeved shirt cut in the style of Elvis Presley and black pants, I first took to the stage around 9.30 pm with two rock and roll numbers Blue Suede Shoes and Hound Dog accompanied by D’Rangers. For my second slot I complied with popular requests to do a slow Iban number Balang Semaya originally by Brangka Bayang and then did Pengerindu Enda Berubah by Reynolds Gregory, a song copied from I Can’t Stop Loving You (in the style of Elvis Presley, though the original singer was Ray Charles).
The emcee later handed me an envelope containing RM50 that I considered big money for an unknown artiste and certainly a big relief for a poor rubber tapper’s son attending a town school.
After the show Uncle Tom and his wife brought us to another venue, a tennis court where some lower ranked Rangers were busy preparing and serving barbequed chicken wings washed down with liquors of various brands. That was where I met my eldest brother RTM recording artiste Edward Jelani Salok and Uncle Musa Giri (now Datuk) whose presence at the dance party earlier was unknown to me.
Edward brought sad news – our mom’s eldest brother Ngauh Narang nicknamed ‘Lelayang Mandi Pukul Lapan’ (Swallow Strikes at Dusk) just passed on at our bilik in Kedap longhouse at Saratok. However, I told him it would not be possible for me to go back home as our Third Term School Exam was to start the following Monday. We were in Oya Camp on Saturday and Uncle Ngauh’s funerary night was scheduled to be held on Monday.
Though sad, I was contented that Edward had relayed the bad news to me in person and that my family in Saratok would come to know that my absence from the funeral was due to our school exam. Musa and Edward handed me RM20 each. It was a loaded weekend for me and I gladly shared the joy with my two friends.
My next trip to Oya Camp came about 11 years later, namely in 1984. By this time, Oya Camp was still very much the same as it was in 1973 but I knew Uncle Tom and family were no more there as 8th Rangers were then occupying the camp. Our trip, led by my father-in-law Papa Edward Kechendai, was to see WO I Kanang Langkau, PGB, SP (later Datuk Temenggong and Malaysia’s most decorated hero) to seek his help with some bottles of liquor.
Papa Edward knew Kanang well. So, when we presented ourselves at his quarters, Kanang, who was wearing white singlet and white shorts, greeted us heartily. Also joining our trip were my mother-in-law and my wife Julie. A very hospitable and talkative Kanang told us about his experience and details of being wounded when trekking the communist terrorists in Tanah Hitam, Perak on Feb 19, 1980.
He said he ‘died’ for some minutes, but lived, though badly wounded and was hospitalised for two months. Papa and I were privileged to see the scars around his stomach that he showed us.
“I had a dream that I dropped my charm (amulet) but out of eagerness to track the enemies, I disregarded the dream and carried on with the operation. During an ambush I was shot and was wounded badly around my stomach (this was when he showed the scars to us) but still encouraged my men by shouting our war cries ‘Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban’ (Fight While You Still Live).
“During the melee I thought I was in another world but came to terms with reality when I felt the pain. I probably died for some seconds but was back to life again and the rest is history,” said Kanang.
We left with at least five bottles of liquor after more than an hour there at his residence in Oya Camp.
I met Temenggong Kanang twice in 2007 but never met him after getting his Datukship (PGBK –Panglima Gemilang Bintang Kenyalang) from the Sarawak Governor. He died aged 67 on Jan 3, 2013.
While studying as an undergraduate at Penang’s Universiti Sains Malaysia, I visited my first cousin Patrick Aman Nyireng (now deceased) twice in Suvla Line Camp, Tambun in Perak that housed the 8th Rangers. On my first trip (in 1976) I was joined by a cousin Jonathan Bedindang Ensu, one year my junior, who was doing Social Science in the same university and now a law practitioner in Miri.
The cab that we took in George Town dropped us at the entrance to the camp where we tried to obtain some information from the guard on duty. One soldier (certainly an Iban as a typical Iban traditional tattoo adorned his throat) who was on duty at the guard house took to speaking Bahasa Malaysia despite being confidently asked by me in simple Iban.
“Tolong isi borang ini dahulu; nanti saya suruh satu orang bawa kamu bedua kepada kediaman Corporal Patrick Aman (Please fill in this form first; I will ask one official to guide you to Corporal Patrick Aman’s quarters),” he said politely in heavy Iban accent.
Another Iban soldier with throat tattoo – he introduced himself in BM too but I cannot recall his name – brought us to Aman’s quarters a short distance away from the guard house.
Aman’s wife Ukie, who is also a cousin, was very happy to see us. Their toddler son Aleksey (fondly Sey) was busy with his toys – he is now a graduate teacher serving in Betong.
That evening, some guests gathered at Aman’s place for a simple welcome for us as guests, a typical honour usually observed in Iban longhouses. Among them was Corporal Kuyah (now deceased) who apologised for speaking in BM earlier, saying it was in compliance with government regulation.
I made another visit to Suvla Line Camp about six months after the first one.
When I reunited with Kanang in 2007, he was an invited guest of the Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) at Dewan Suarah, Kuching together with other PGB warriors – those who had been conferred the Panglima Gagah Berani gallantry awards, Malaysia’s second highest bravery award. Kanang then was the only living recipient of the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (SP) award, the highest federal award, higher than Tun and DK (Kerabat Diraja). His PGB award was earned earlier.
During the event I also met an old friend ASP (rtd) Wilfred Gomez Malong PGB, Barrister-at-Law (now deceased) and other PGB holders, including Cpl. Bajau Ladi of 7th Rangers who was awarded PGB by the Agong in 1971. He is related to me by marriage.
In 2013 during a Kuching function I was reunited with Uncle Tom who is happily retired and a dotting grandpa to a number of grandchildren. We talked and laughed about good times, especially the 1973 episode at Oya Camp. My love affair with the army, especially the Rangers is yet to end.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
