THE .45 caliber bullet accompanying the letter dropped off by the unknown courier speaks volumes of Abdullah CD's intention to remain steadfast with the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). Yeop Mahidin Mohamed Shariff reads the Pahang communist leader's carefully worded letter while coming to terms with its contents.
It starts with the many things that the men share in common. Both Yeop and Abdullah are cousins and studied together at the Anderson English School in Ipoh prior to the Second World War. The onset of the Japanese Occupation and the subsequent return of the British in 1945 led them to adopting different ideologies. Realising that reconciliation was virtually impossible, Abdullah announces the complete severance of ties with his cousin at the end his letter.
Yeop remains calm. Somehow, he was already expecting a reply of this nature when he wrote a letter urging Abdullah and his men to lay down arms and nailed it to a rubber tree close to his cousin's suspected hideout in the jungles of Pahang. It has only been three years since the Malayan Emergency began in 1948 and the communist terrorists led by their charismatic leader, Ong Boon Hua or better known as Chin Peng, are enjoying the upper hand.
Abdullah and his 10th CPM Regiment are entrusted by Chin Peng to seize control of Pahang and make it an example for the rest of the country to follow. The only person experienced enough to thwart their plan is Yeop.
CIVIL SERVICE CAREER
Born on Feb 20, 1918, Yeop aspired to join the Malay Regiment after finishing school but was discouraged by his headmaster L.D Whitfield. Whitfield urged Yeop to further his studies at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar before starting his career in the Malayan Civil Service.
Upon graduation in 1938, Yeop was appointed magistrate in Telok Anson (now Teluk Intan) and transferred to Kajang a year later. In 1940, he was appointed Assistant District Officer in Kuala Lipis. During his time in Pahang, Yeop's aspirations to join the armed forces resurfaced. He signed up for the local Malay State Volunteer Rifles Reserve and commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant.
During the Japanese Occupation, Yeop voluntarily formed a resistance group called the Pahang Wataniah. His 254 man unit was trained by Major JD Richardson from Force 136. Yeop and his men repeatedly ambushed Japanese Imperial Army convoys and destroyed more than 40 enemy military vehicles. Yeop's bravery and exploits earned him the nickname Singa Melayu or the Malay Lion.
Towards the end of the war, Yeop was made commander of local resistance forces and his rank was elevated to that of a Major. Yeop was given the opportunity to undergo military training in Britain but he flatly refused the honour, preferring instead to remain in Malaya. Captain Abdul Razak Hussein (later Malaysia’s Second Prime Minister) and Lieutenant Ghazali Shafie (later Malaysia's Foreign Minister) went instead.
In 1950, the Home Guard was formed to assist security forces counter the communist threat. Major Yeop was appointed Deputy Director and held the post until the voluntary unit was disbanded in 1958. After that, Yeop filled in the shoes of the Chief Food Denial Officer in Perak. His primary task was to ensure that the communists didn’t receive any sustenance from sympathisers.
BIRTH OF THE TERRITORIAL ARMY
Yeop's name was right at the top of a very short list of candidates when calls for the formation of a Territorial Army (in Malay, Tentera Tempatan Persekutuan) to replace the Home Guard surfaced in 1958. In December that same year, the Territorial Army Ordinance was passed with Yeop as its first Director with the rank of Colonel.
After some time, the name was changed to the Territorial Army Regiment (Rejimen Askar Wataniah). Some said that this name was chosen to honour Yeop's highly successful Pahang resistance force during the Japanese Occupation.
Right from its first recruitment drives during the early months of 1959, the Territorial Army heralded a bright new chapter in the history of voluntary military service in our country. Malaya had come a long way since May 1902 when the first volunteers enrolled in the Selangor Company of the Malay States Volunteer Rifles. The handful of eager part-time soldiers eventually became the forerunners of the pre-Second World War Malayan Volunteer Infantry and the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force.
The men making up the Territorial Army Regiment came from a large cross section of the newly independent Malayan society. During parades, Malay East Coast fishermen and their paddy farmer counterparts lined up alongside Chinese shop assistants and Indian rubber tappers.
Despite their distinct diversity, the group shared one very important common denominator - they all wore the same Territorial Army uniform of dark blue headgear together with jungle green shirt and slacks with unbridled pride.
RACIAL HARMONY
As a side issue, the Territorial Army's formation was seen by many as an effective method to promote inter-racial harmony and national loyalty at district level. Joining the unit was one of the best ways for people from all walks of life to mix freely and form an in-depth understanding of each other's culture and religion.
A few years into the establishment of the Territorial Army, this camaraderie came into full view when a Malay private passed away of natural causes. His funeral was attended by his comrades who were drawn from almost every race in the country.
Although quite a number weren’t in the same unit as the deceased and hardly knew him, everyone threw away all reservations and helped out with the final rites and burial. The only thing that mattered to them was that members of the Territorial Army were considered family and the lads were willing to go the distance to help each other out during times of need.
Among this crowd of novices were a leavening of former Home Guards and special constables but they were few and far between. The age limit of 18 to 26 for new recruits ensured that it was the country's untrained youths who were taught to bear arms and took their fair share of responsibility to safe guard the nation's security.
In their anxiety to enlist, some enterprising youths resorted to all sorts of devices to ensure that their names were on the list of those who qualified. In his detailed report made a few years after the Territorial Army's inception, Yeop told of a very keen lad who fulfilled the age and education requirements.
CLAMOUR TO JOIN
The slightly underweight teenager presented himself in the selection queue with pockets crammed with pebbles to help ensure that his weight breached the minimum requirement. The poor boy's ruse would have been successful if the examiners hadn’t insisted that he stripped for the medical inspection!
Yeop's fascinating report also made clear that the high-spirited response to sign up for the Territorial Army wasn’t due to the glamour of the uniform or money earned from training allowances and annual bounty. Yeop felt that there wasn’t much for Malayan youths to show off in 'a rough cloth uniform designed for utility and little else'.
He pressed home the point that not many young men would find glamour in pedalling for long distances on their bicycles to attend three-hour parades for which each received a remuneration of as little as 35 cents an hour.
Although the $100 annual bounty for full attendance during the 120 hours of training a year and at the two-week annual camp would seem like a large sum of money to the average unemployed village youth, Yeop cautioned that these lads, despite not having a fixed monthly income, weren’t short of odd jobs that offered them very decent wages.
It was pointed out by Yeop that the enthusiasm of the recruits stemmed from the instinctive and often unexpressed national consciousness of Malayan youths. After having lived through the dangers and hardship brought about by the communist terrorists' reign of terror, the lads were determined to equip themselves in the best ways possible and resist future enemies bent on taking over the country.
EXAMPLARY ATTITUDE
The recruits continued to show this unyielding resolve during training sessions as well. There wasn’t a single crease on their well-pressed uniforms and the men were seldom late for parade. So great was their spirit and keenness to serve that a platoon once refused their annual bounty, choosing instead for it to be pooled and spent on brightening up their austere battalion headquarters' recreation rooms and buying much needed uniforms and equipment for ceremonial parades.
These part-time Territorial Army soldiers attended regular evening parades at centres scattered throughout Malaya. During the early formative days, the volunteers were regarded as having a 'Cinderella' relationship with their well-trained and equipped troops in the Malayan Armed Forces. Through perseverance and sincere dedication, the Territorial Army began earning the respect and admiration from their full-time counterparts.
At this juncture, Yeop proudly stated in his report two memorable instances when his charges received gratifying comments. A British officer, who was clearly impressed with the Territorial Army's high standards at a parade, reacted with utmost surprise when told that the unit had just trained for a total of 78 hours!
The other incident worthy of mention happened when the Kelantan battalion managed to transfer all their belongings and equipment to Kuala Kubu Bahru for the Territorial Army's annual camp in Selangor without a single mishap. After taking into consideration the comparative rawness of the volunteers, where some members hadn’t even ventured out of their home state before, their feat was definitely worthy of commendation.
The Territorial Army's achievements and rapid progress didn’t go unnoticed. In post-Emergency Malaya, the government began setting plans in motion for the volunteers to be closely affiliated to the regular technical units of the Federation Armed Forces. The primary aim was to create a force with sufficient technical knowledge to support and complement their full-time counterparts, especially during times of national peril.
INDONESIAN CONFRONTATION
Malaya's time of need arrived soon enough in the form of the Indonesian Confrontation which began in 1963. The Territorial Army Regiment was activated and the men quickly went into Active Service mode. By March 1964, a platoon was sent to the Pengkalan Chepa Camp in Kota Bahru to guard key installations in Kelantan.
The need for the Territorial Army to become full-time security forces arose as the Indonesian Confrontation continued to drag on. Just two days after the decision was made on Sept 4, 1964, the Territorial Army soldiers underwent a seven-week infantry training course at Batu 5 Camp in Mentakab, Pahang.
Upon completion of the course conducted by officers from the Malaysian Royal Armoured Corps, members of the Territorial Army began serving at various parts of the country including Sarawak, Kelantan and Pahang. Their level of competence and dedication to duty won praises from their superiors.
Finally, the opportunity arrived for the Territorial Army to have a place to call their own when they moved into the newly-built Seberang Takir Camp in Kuala Terengganu in March 1966. The camp was subsequently renamed Kem Seri Pantai when it was officially declared open by the-then Terengganu ruler, Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Zainal Abidin III on July 14, 1973.
The Territorial Army had definitely come a long way since its humble beginnings. As the years passed, its members continued to chalk up numerous successes and that made the Territorial Army Regiment a force to be reckoned with.
Even though Yeop left his men in 1963 when he was made the Kuala Lipis District Officer, he’ll always be remembered as the Father of the Wataniah - the man who had the foresight and resolve to make a credible force out of ordinary village youths.
Yeop continued serving society after leaving the Armed Forces. Like me, many Malaysians will remember his service as Secretary of Ministry of Social Welfare (1965) and Felda settlers Affairs Director (1967). Later in life, Yeop was active in the Malaysian Olympic Movement and subsequently became the Chef-de-Mission of the Malaysian contingent during the 1971 South East Asian Peninsular Games in Kuala Lumpur.
The Malay Lion passed away of old age in 1999. He was a true Malaysian warrior who gave his all to his fellow countrymen. Today, his lega
cy continues to live on in the hearts and minds of the men who make up one of Malaysia's best trained forces, the Territorial Army Regiment.