KUALA LUMPUR: He was hand-picked by the then Malayan High Commissioner and former Field Marshal General Tun Sir Gerald Templer, nearly 70 years ago.
Brigadier-General (Rtd) Datuk A. Arulpragasam recalled how he was one of 36 young men among 2,000, selected to form a multi-racial Federation of Malaya’s armed forces in 1952.
That was just soon after the Briton had chosen his own “Templer’s 12”, a mix of youth from various races and religions, to be groomed as officers and complement the Royal Malay Regiment.
And 20 years later on Jan 8, 1972, Arulpragasam was given the honour to hand-pick his team of 12 pioneer instructors to establish the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College (MAFSC).
The college, better known as Haigate (after a British school that was initially located there), is located adjacent to the Defence Ministry in Jalan Padang Tembak.
“Very much later, I was also invited to set up the Armed Forces Defence College, a stone’s throw from the MAFSC.
“However, I had already decided by then to go on optional retirement at the age of 50 in 1981, as I felt I had outlived my usefulness in the army.
“I moved on to the corporate world where I served for 33 years with a company in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah,” said Arulpragasam, who turned 91 on May 21.
He said there were initial objections to equip officers with better academic qualifications, fearing they would abandon the armed forces for the lucrative private sector.
“This does not hold water anymore, as we need more knowledgeable and qualified people in the world of a technological revolution that transforms geopolitics and defence strategies,” he said.
As the first commandant of MAFSC, Arulpragasam was invited to grace the official closing of the college’s premises in Jalan Jambiah on Friday.
Present were Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Affendi Buang, the tri-services chiefs and MAFSC’s other former commandants.
MAFSC has since September last year, relocated to the all-new RM100 million National Defence Education Centre (or Puspahanas) in Precint 1, Putrajaya.
Its current premises will be taken over by the Armed Forces Headquarters’ electronic communication division.
Looking back at his amazing times, Arulpragasam said that after being recruited into the army, he initially trained for six months at the pre-Officer Cadet Training Unit in Port Dickson.
“Then, the 36 of us were sent to Eaton College in Chester, England for another six months.
“Thereafter, 24 of us were selected to train at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England for 18 months.
“After graduating as second-lieutenants, we returned to serve in various parts of the country, with my first posting in Butterworth,” said Arulpragasam, who now is the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Sabah branch honorary adviser.
He added that the initial years proved an arduous task, as it was a relatively small army headed by just a “one-star” brigadier-general (Tunku Osman Jewa).
“As young officers there was a lot of jungle bashing to toughen us up, to face the communist terrorists at the height of the counter-insurgency and Emergency.
“We often were air-dropped and spent up to three weeks in deep jungle operations, supporting other security units like the police’s Special Branch.
“There was a lot of action, with many of our soldiers suffering serious injuries or fatalities.
“One horrendous incident, when I was serving near a dam in Gubir, Kedah was the crash of the S61A-4 Nuri helicopter, purportedly shot down by terrorists, that killed all 11 on board (on April 26, 1976),” said Arulpragasam.
As he moved up the ranks, Arulpragasam was sent for a year to the Staff College Camberley in Surrey, England.
Later, he served as the defence adviser in Canberra, Australia in 1964 at the same time as Singapore’s former Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock, who was the republic’s high commissioner to Australia at the time.
His advice to the younger generation: “You must be able to hold your ground with dedication, discipline and integrity.
“Express your views in a polite manner and respect your leaders.
“Nowadays, you hear of many people being involved in corruption, which can threaten national security.
“People will respect honesty and not just (crooked) millionaires,” he said, thanking the army for his good grounding.
Meanwhile, MAFSC commandant Brig-General Datuk Mohd Sofi Md Lepi said to date a total of 5,390 officers had graduated from the college.
The figure includes 62 officers from the police, two from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, five from the Public Service Department and 1,169 from foreign militaries.