PART V – How to EAT?
You guys must be thinking why write a story on this subject, well as civilians we eat however ways we want, not in Cadet Wing, we were taught how to eat like officers. Yes eating “SQUARE” was the only standard approved, up satu senduk, up dua bawa ke depan dan up tiga mum mum masuk mulut! No slurping sounds, no clanging sounds of the fork & spoon and off course no yapping while you eat. Even eating on the green coloured food trays was a luxury!
The most un-digestible menu in the cook-house, guess what? HATI LEMBU! This has always has been my public enemy NUMBER One! How to eat that stuff, cooked just like that! However way you cook this meat, to me, it was just horrible and some said that the meat was as old as we all were!
The ikan jacket besi or ikang cincaru was another meal to forget, just imagine, gutted and thrown into the hot frying pan, no flavour no nothing, memang jaket besi betul! It was so deep fried that it turned black and hard like a piece of rock!
Then we have sawi and kangkong rebus dalam air sahaja…they termed it makanan ITEK….yet we survived with the good old alternative kitchen called Jamal Kantin…maggi mee goring was the best option for many of us!
A suspected Communist from IPOH
This was my most horrifying moment on arrival at Sebatang Karah, after a long train journey from IPOH Mali, I boarded the 3 ton Mercedes at Seremban town. Everything looks good & fine at that time! A new experience awaits a young man of 18 years ole. There was this apprehensive feeling inside all of us, to go ahead or turn back. Turning back was never an option in my mind, why…because malu kat orang kampong nanti…akan dilabel tidak ada TELOQ!
The terror started when I landed inside the camp, the Orderly Sgt on duty took me with my papers from the truck and I landed on the huge parade square, his question & orders were simple: Q1. Where are you FROM? A1.IPOH!
Ha ini komunis! Mana bom dan pistol awak! Mana parang awak?
Can’t imagine what raced through my little frightened brains! I said mana ada bom staff! Saya bukan komunis staff! Saya mahu jadi askar dan tembak komunis lah..hiyah!
So my whole bag was opened up and everything was searched thoroughly and nothing offensive was found. I was wearing long sleeve shirt with a tie and my shoes were 4 inch platform shoes, JOHN Travolta was the in-thing back then, something I regretted till this very day! Had to run with it to the barracks! That night it was even worst, everybody had to run on “Orders”…and the shoe was broken, what a waste!
What to wear & how to wear
After all the fuss was over, maybe in two weeks, we finally got the tailor made ‘planters order’ rig for night wear, with the green cadet wing tie, the pants were a pair each of grey & brown and the shirt stripped with a piece of blue and the other was red. Off course we had to wear singlets too! The Johnson long boots also came later, but if you were to report sick you put on the walking out kasut potong & PD Green only!
All the neck-ties were never un-knotted, all ready for use at any-time. The handkerchief was also a part of the uniform a cadet must have! Ironed and nicely pressed but never used or stained!
As for the socks we have maybe 2-3 pairs only, alternating its usage from one to the other, cuci entah bilaq? White socks was a problem for games period, some has turned black!
The Kelantanese Clans – Fakeh Zulkifli
The cultural shock which I encountered when entering the TUAH Coy Barracks was the Kelantanese Clans Man..he is none other than, Cadet Fakeh Zulkifli. He spoke with the other tribesman in pure Kelantan dialect, which was alien to me at that point in time, never before had I heard such conversation in my entire life!
It was pure Kelantee speaking, “mu nak kena Teh”…to me it seems an invitation for teh tarik….but lo-and behold…it means do you want to have me beat you UP! This Kelantan clan was a plentiful in Tuah Company, the likes of Suhaimee ‘budu’, Tajri Alwi, Nawi, Tengku Adli, and a few more I can’t remember their names.
Remembering Fakeh our Expert Tomoi exponent who wanted to box like Muey Thai when in RMC, his legs could not stay down on the mat, whoever Cadet who boxed with him was terrified. I wonder where he is today, never met him since commissioned 35 years ago!
Our intake had a number of Kelantanese Cadets, the likes of Tengku Mat Wan Chik, Wan Mahat, Shokeri, etc….
The Smuggler – Buns & Bulan Puasa
This is an odd job which I swore never to do again, yes, fasting month in Pre-OCTU was dreadful, for it was hot, dry and sweaty because of the closeness to the sea. These so-called buddies of mine in Tuah Coy would pesan for grubs from the canteen when I do my lunch every-day. One fine day, it was the event just waiting to happen! I was already done for lunch, my mission was to buy buns and chocolates for my skotee! Here we go, full of buns in my pockets and pants, I walked along the Sgts Mess towards the barracks, and all of a sudden, my favourite PTI, who else….S/Sgt Ismail Murukun!
Kadet mari sini, he whispered in his ever so soft and unique voice……nak ke mana? Balik Bilik Staf!
Ada apo dalam baju dan seluar? Keluarkan SEMUA! Ohhhh…hang nak seludup yah…kau makan semua sekarang…and I had to eat and swallow all the 7 pieces of buns, all assorted flavours! By the time I had finished he was ready for round two! I thought that was it, no he had other ideas – sekarang forward roll…aduoi hai….mati aku….SELAGI AKU TAK SURUH BERHENTI TERUSKAN…..apa lagi semua keluar balik lah double quick time! Lain kali nak buat lagi kadet…tak mahu STAF! Balik sekarang….when I reached the barracks everyone looked at me, hoping to get good news…but the mission failed, everyone was disappointed with me……nasib baik aku tak dapat lepaskan makanan semua…kalau tidak aku jadi bersubahat dengan orang-orang yang tak puasa! BERDOSA AKU ……It was a blessing in disguise I GUESS!
IT WAS A GOOD LESSON LEARNT – the hard way! NEVER HELP A FRIEND TO DO A BAD DEED!
Guess for that training in side roll and forward roll including back roll we can stay steady even after drinking a gallon of chap anjing, or go deep sea fishing for days and remain steady…..ummmmm never know whether it was that PT drill? I will have to ask Ismail ‘Cdo’ Feisol….if he mabuk laut?
The Friday evenings escapism thanks to Capt Samy and Indian Cadets…..
This was another secret of my cadet days, nobody knew about this plan, except for the 5 China-man ( Tan, Ong, Lee, Leong & ART) and 3 Indian-man ( Kandiah, Bahawanin & Rajasingam) and off course Capt Samy himself the mastermind. I guess he knew we all needed a break and cool off! Every Friday nights were temple nights out in PD town, the gang of 8 would take a land rover and rush to town by dusk and return by 2200hrs just in time for roll-call! I can't recall whether Subit Chuan joined in or not! Must ask him personally.
The Indian cadets would go to the Indian temple and the China-man eat BAK KUT TEH! Everyone came back smiling in the insides only, all the faces look sullen off course, all well camouflaged like nothing had happened! It was the 1st COVERT Ops for me!
Friday Prayers & Malam Tahlil…
This was another night non-muslims cadets look forward too, whilst the Muslim cadets did their prayers, some took cover as usual,,,,…..we stayed in the barracks to finish our chores, kilat kasut, iron baju and wash up in peace, knowing the instructors will not be around to harass. These were precious little moments of peace and bliss!
The Rank Holders
If I am not mistaken, the rank holders were picked after about 2-3 months of training, some were relegated when they failed to meet the mark, me was always a MAK CAH-IE forever….the ex-putras, ex-afats & ex-service had leadership qualities and were the chosen ones! So the low down private 2nd class do all the dirty work, cleaning toilets and scraping the longkangs!
We had Cadet CO, Cadet OC, Cadet Q, Cadet CSM, Pl Comd & Pl Sgt……ada yang berlagak nak mampus….will talk about them later..!
So far….all about PRE-OCTU & its’ nonsense….a little bit more for the next series…TBC
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