Keeping promise made 50 years ago
New Straits Times (Columns)
2 Sep 2007
Zaini Mohd Said 

OUT of habit, I had a haircut the day before the parade. It was one way of trying to look good and, during the early days of active military service, to avoid incurring the wrath of the commanding officer.

It was a privilege, indeed, to lead those who had been awarded the country’s gallantry medals and to troop past the king at Dataran Merdeka on Aug 31. Doing it for the 50th Merdeka Day celebration was one reason.

The other was that I had Mej-Gen Datuk Abdul Kadir, a Panglima Gagah Berani (PGB) holder, in the pack as well as warrant officer Kanang Langkau, who marched three paces behind me.

This fearless Sarawak warrior holds the record of being bestowed with the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (the highest) and PGB medals, and had suffered multiple gunshot wounds in firefights with the enemy.

One of the firefights occurred during a pursuit operation at the Korbu Forest Reserve, Perak, in February 1979. I happened to monitor the detailed tracking of the communists by (then) Sergeant Kanang’s platoon.

I was the brigade major, the principal staff officer handling operations and training, at the HQ 2 Infantry Brigade in Ipoh and the Korbu area was in the brigade’s TAOR (Tactical Area of Responsibility). That was when I first knew about Kanang and his dogged courage and determination to pursue and engage the enemy without fearing for his safety.

The final rehearsal for the parade was held in the morning of Aug 29. On that morning, Kanang did not forget his duty.

I managed to hear him tell me: "Kanan lagi Datuk" and "Kiri lagi Datuk", as he occasionally and tersely guided me to remain on the straight and centre line. And when I once surged too far ahead he gave a loud retort to "Pendekkan langkah Datuk".

That is the right way. No matter where or how high ranking you are, military officers are constantly guided by their subordinates’ wisdom and calls. It is difficult to walk the straight and true path when you are the lone commander forward, unable to see what is happening to the pack behind you.

Many of us in the pack were also quite deaf. Misplaced bravado and the ignorance of many in the past were its real causes.

During our younger days, we did not protect our hearing enough during live weapon shooting and battle-simulation training. The loud gunfire reports, artillery shells and demolition explosions gradually took their toll and the damage to the ears became irrecoverable.

But we would talk about our condition with dry wit and humour. "That is why you are one of us," some would say. "When you are deaf, you hear no evil, see no evil and fear no evil!" I, on the other hand, would amuse my audience at lectures by pointing to my damaged right ear and saying that this was my "wife’s ear".

But the condition matters little to us nowadays. In fact, the problem has heightened our sense of sight, smell, taste, feeling and even thinking with the heart.

This allows us to get a better read and feel for any situation and formulate more effective solutions to tackle life’s problems, especially in times of turmoil. And that was exactly what happened during the actual parade itself.

The happy crowd, the music and drums from the bands, the singing and announcements all but drowned out any chance of me hearing Kanang’s instructions.

But the feel was there and we just knew what needed to be done and marched smartly past. The only command I heard from Kanang was when he gave the order to "Pandang kanan" to salute the king.

We were happy to be there. The general agreement among us was that we shall never see the day for the centennial celebration. We also said that those who were unable to be there were a little unfortunate.

To see the incredible new battle tanks of the army and the Sukhois of the RMAF was a real pride and joy. The amazement of the military veterans from UK, Australia and New Zealand, who once served here, was another revelation.

But to top it all, to see the rakyat and wonderful young Malaysians of all races relishing their time at the 50th Merdeka bash was heart-warming.

I hope they recorded their feelings and presence at the wonderful Dataran. It would surely give them the push to make sure that they could just be present, albeit as elders, at the same place, 50 years later.

We have kept our promise. We have made up for our absence during the parade half a century ago. Merdeka!

Lt-Gen (R) Datuk Seri Zaini Mohd Said is a former army field commander. He can be contacted at panglima_sauk70@hotmail.com

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