Article courtesy of NST dated 29th Aug 2020
"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.
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