ART, The story teller - Part X

PART X – THE Many ACTIONs’ in PRE-OCTU, YO’s OF PUALDA & Commando Course

Wisma Sengsara –PULADA

This place was never registered in the unit layout plans of PULADA ( Pusat Lanyak Anjing Dan Askar), it only exist during YO course as and when necessary, no Commandant has ever noticed this special Wisma. Not even when it was around, because it happens only in the darkness of the night. This very special Mess is for those selected few who broke the rules as YO! It’s either you are late for PT, your assignment sent late, your rooms in filth or fail any test!

I was never a member of this elite group, consider myself lucky, others who were honorary members should be telling their intimate stories, hope some can come out and share with us!

From what I gathered, all the members carry their poncho and hammocks and build their hooch on the hockey pitch in front of the main HQ block, they stay there for a night and it depends on how many mistakes committed the nights they stay there will be determined my number of XXXX!

Before first light everything disappears, like nothing has happened! 

Kepala Pecah – Megat Mustafa – Arifin Che Mat Din

The next frightening incident during one of our morning PT session was when the tyrant by the name of Ariffin Che Mat Din decided to test his ‘shooting stick chair’ on the head of our poor skotee Megat Mustafa! Phew…blood flew out instantly, gushing out. Those days, as I have said training casualty is 10% WRITE-OFF! So as Cadets and YO’s we can be considered a ‘dead duck’ if so decides the Instructors!

Megat just walked out of the file and reported to the CRS, got his head stitched up and resumed training, did not know if he got ‘ATTEND-C’ or otherwise! That was how harsh IT was BACK THEN, the training in PULADA, if not why we say “lanyak askar dan anjing”, even the dogs gets treated better than US!

The normal routine for YO’s then is anytime you make a mistake a hammer will blow out your head, yes it comes in the form of ‘batang cangkul’, none of the NATO Steel Helmets in PULADA had any shape that is original, all “kemek” because that helmet is mutilated by all the Instructors! 

It happens during the CW field exercises and as we dig the awful trenches in Ladang Tebu along the Kota Tinggi-Kulai road, ask any YO if they have never been hammered, try asking skotee Hassan Bahari aka Ajinomoto! He was one of my comrade-in-arms, a loyal buddy who saw everything the ‘green frogs’ went through in PULADA, he is considered a Green also! 

Map Reading “Gunung Panti” PULADA – Naik Lori Hantu dan Bus….

The map reading exercises in PULADA was made very interesting, we would start just before last light and expected to finish the routine before first light the next morning, but rest assured it never happens. The climbing of Gunung Panti was the test of all test, ask any PULADA students this 'table mountain' has full of mysteries and stories till this very day! Climbed it as YO, then comes Coy Comds Course & AATC. 

Even when I was Head of Survival Wing in PULADA, my very own students disappeared! Not to mention an entire Platoon of Kiwi Troops – they went missing for 4 days, the whole of PULADA staff and students with tracker dogs could not locate them. They only appeared after the search was called off!

As usual to become a good officer and leader, we are expected to survive and complete the mission, no matter what! That leads to climbing onto ‘Lorry Hantu” and those lorry BALAK without any side-boards, tail boards and ZERO safety! If you drop from the lorry rest assured, you are dead meat! There were those that used the Normal Buses shuttling from JB to KT to reach the check-points. All the students would stop short of the check-point and take cover, wait for a moment to ensure that the timing for arrival wasn’t too fast! The game is to outsmart the DS, ‘maka semua buat macam muka letih’ and fake the sweat even, making oneself wet by spraying water onto the camou fatigue-dress!

The trick to board a bus in Kota Tinggi is just so simple, only one guy had to stop the bus by the roadside, the rest will take cover in the bush. Once the bus stops the rest just jump in, lie down flat on the bus and keep silent, the other passengers just watch in amazement but said absolutely nothing! Once the bus starts to move, we request that lights inside the bus to be switched off. More often than not, the bus driver will comply with our request, maybe he is used to this trick by the YO’s! Almost reaching the check-point, all will jump off and hide again inside the ‘ladang sawit’, wait for the right moment before reporting. Ini semua trick lama! 

BAKAR LADANG TEBU

In one of the many exercises in this god forsaken area, where we have to dig our trenches day & night, because the DS would come around and check on the progress. If the parapet and Overhead Protection (OHP) isn’t strong enough, we would be buried inside it.

The DS would jump onto the OHP and if it does collapse, we are in for big trouble! Not only have to redo it, but gets a big whack with the ‘Walking Tall Cangkul Stick’!

So, one night one of us started a small fire to cook our favourite meal – ‘MAGGI MEE, CEPAT DIMASAK SEDAP DIMAKAN” Without this magic meal all of us would be hungry, dead in the middle of the night, hoping all the DS is asleep and not aware what is happening!

So, the story goes, the fire ran out of control and started to burn wildly, almost burn down the whole defensive location, apa lagi “API API API – PADAMKAN LAH”! The guy who started it was honoured that NIGHT! I can’t remember who this champion was, maybe Ali Kun knows!

My Maggi Mee cooking in the mess-tin had an uninvited guest, my trench mate was none other than C-4, he being the Sapper Officer was the best buddy one can have! He was the best trench digger off all time, with sparks flying out every-time the pick-axe or shovel hitting the stones and rocks in the ground. This place is full of rocks!

The uninvited guest for my special Maggi Mee was none other than a ‘Katak Minyak’, somehow or rather it came from nowhere and leaped into the boiling soup inside my mess-tin, ummmm yum yum extra messing extra ordinary!

This piece of exercise area was previously known as ‘Ladang Tebu’ because it was a Sugar Cane plantation of the Johor state government, but it failed, mainly because there wasn’t much effective drainage system and water in that area! 

Red Indians Dancing Around A Fire – Cdo E&E module

This was the most memorable dance of all dances, once you get caught by the DS using the road, tracks or arrested by them basic commando students, the punishment is simple: 1st offence you lose your Shirt, followed by Pants, next your Boots and lastly even your pants! Not to mention your head gets shaved!

So, some of us came back to the final check-point with nothing more than a loin-cloth made from leaves from trees, which were big enough to cover the BIRD!

The DS asked us to find a stick long enough to be used as a ‘TOMBAK’ with a make shift shield and also start a fire, after which we were to do the ‘RED INDIAN FIRE DANCE’, going round and round the fire! Chanting exactly like the real Red Indians! Incidentally Aya-Wang Baharuddin was one of the lucky guys with his syndicate to have done it, seems there were photos taken too!

Map Reading Pre-Octu 

Another incident and joy – my syndicate was to redo our map reading exercise during Hari Raya Haji, guess what it was a blessing in disguise, we got to enjoy free “makan rendang landak & lomang di kampong orang asli” ….. and that was a real treat for all of us. I have never tasted that excellent meat all my life before, how lucky that we met the Orang Asli family who were Muslims and we were offered a feast.

Till today that remains as one of my best moments in Pre-OCTU, what more I still love that meat, and would hunt for Landak when given the chance!

Boxing In RMC

This is another incident filled moments for all Cadets in RMC, the best boxing trainer was PTI Bohari aka P.Ramlee, his voice and size fits nicely! One thing for sure, he was worried for me, because I could not be fitted into any weight category for any bouts, not even light-feather weight, I was way too light according to him! I was less than 50 kgs! But, boxed I did, with my buddy Abd Rahim (EME), those days he was nick-named ‘Mr G’, now & today he is a millionaire! Kalah atau menang tidak kira, janji tumbok aje, sakit pak, muka lebam dan telinga bengkak pulak! 

We had some real natural talents in my company, as in Razak ‘Boy’, obviously he was a good BOXER, being an ex-boy. We also had MR.RADI the IRON-MAN, not forgetting also Fakeh the Tomoi specialists! Both had killer knock-out punches, sure KO! 

The best fight for our intake was between Din Taxi vs Rajasingam! The CI lost his cool watching that bout and the poor side-table became history, broken, of course into a thousand pieces! Macam mana pulak seorang kurang tinggi lawan dengan seorang sangat tinggi! That remains a mystery till today! My guess is probably they were of the same weight category! 

Din Taxi – The Live Target

This is also another blood-chilling and anxious moments for all the Tuah Coy Cadets, only those in the company would know about it! The next time we meet Din Taxi or now Din Limo, we shall ask him how he really felt!

So, one fine day while at the small arms firing range in LATEDA, those good ole days as it was known, the location is still there actually, if one is to take the back road towards INSPEKA today, between LATEDA and PUSASDA! It is by the side of the road leading towards the hill to RAMD Officers Mess!

We were all doing the small arms shooting practice, to be precise, the 9mm Browning Pistol! Our beloved Instructor, Capt Johar called Din Taxi forward .. and I do not know for what apparent reasons! The Browning was aimed at HIM starting from the top of his head and ended at his toes, and all off a sudden BAM, a shot was fired into the ground! Nobody knew or thought that the gun was loaded and cocked!

Yes, it was so scary & crazy, Capt. Johar immediately removed the magazine and cleared the gun, what would have happened if the trigger was pulled earlier! I guess Din Taxi would have become one of the 10% casualty of our INTAKE 34! 

The Next Story…….

OUR FAVORITE SONGS

1) Lagu favourite – ‘siapa suruh masuk tentera…..sendiri suka sendiri RASA!’

2) Satu ribu, dua ribu, tiga ribu belum tentu……..!

3) Den tenang, den tores terrigor……den depet sekor ayem donak…!

4) Lancang KUNING!

I hope those that can remember all the lyrics can email or FB to me...TQ