Coffee Table Book

Gentlemen,

I see from the articles and posts sent in by members, we can come up with a coffee table book about the Royal Malaysian Artillery, from the days of our formation until today and also the future, maybe. I am sure there are many stories about our past opertional and administrative experiences that can be told such as the 'escape' experience of Lt Kol (Rtd.) Hamzah Bachek, the MALBATT and other UN sponsored peacekeeping duties experience where gunners were also involved, Brig Gen Dato' Hussein Kamal's and Maj Gen (Rtd.) Dato' Wahid's experiences when performing their duties in Liberia, etc., etc. Of course Kol (Rtd.) Lai has a lot of stories to tell too. Others who are waiting on the line can also start coming with their stories, e.g. Lt Kol (Rtd.) Heera, Lt Gen (Rtd) Datuk Aziz, Lt Gen (Rtd.) Dato' Jaafar, Lt Kol (Rtd.) David Lam, Lt Kol (Rtd.) Masoud, Lt Kol (Rtd) Ahmad Daud, Brig Gen (RTD) Dato' Yusoff Said, Maj Gen Dato' Mokhtar Parman, who will be retiring soon, and all the other retired senior officers, officers and men from the Malaysian Royal Artillery.

I am willing to take up and coordinate this assignment and perhaps to get sponsors as well. I am sure others will also want to volunteer and provide assistance to make this assignment successful.

Best regards.

Capt. (Rtd.) Hussaini Abdul Karim

Back to the Warfront Again

Hi everybody,

I am back for awhile. I was drafted into a personal war late last year. The warfront is ablaze and horrible, unlike conventional warfare. Took a quick break from the front to post this.

I am glad I had learnt my lessons well in our tactics courses, in MTAT and in MPAT. I am more glad to have been DS and Instructor whilst in service. I understand Strategy, I understand the importance of terrain and most of all, fire and movement. I know I must fight on grounds of my own choosing. I must identify my GTI. I need all the fire power available and fire at will. I must maintain my momentum. I must.

I must do my appreciation. It must be a Full appreciation with my own pink DS answers and all. A quick appreciation on Aim, Ground and Plan is inadequate. I don’t know nor understand the enemy well, and now the enemy has an upper hand.

As of today I have a better understanding of the enemy. The enemy is ferocious, brutal and intense. The enemy grows from strength to strength every second, every minute, 24/7. The enemy’s combat power is almost unmatchable. The enemy employs blitzkrieg movements with onslaughts far exceeding the pace used by the Germans in WW2. The enemy employs guerrilla tactics and techniques to entrench itself in our weakest area. It establishes a very strong base before breaking out. Once it breaks out, the enemy is almost unstoppable until it is too late for us. The enemy’s strategy has 4 stages. Its operations in the first two stages are almost impossible to detect, unless we do deliberate surveillance over our sensitive terrain.

I was alerted by friendly forces, of possible enemy within my mist late last year. Intelligence units confirmed the presence of the enemy. I was caught sleeping with my pants literally down. The enemy had firmly dug in and entrenched into it’s stage 3 and is in its local advanced stage. I was in total shock when the intel was presented to me. I couldn’t believe it, what, with me nicely retired and starting to look forward to a good life. The Intel was F1 intelligence and confirmed by several sources. I must be drafted into the war. It is my war. My defense pact with several friendly forces is inadequate. There is only so much that they can do and assist. I cannot let them do all the fighting. I am fighting fit and I will fight. I am a Gunner.

I have Cancer.

Allen Lai

PS. I will continue to post my battle reports here, if Rama allows me, otherwise I’ll be on the front until you hear from me again. My old battles will have to take a back seat for now.

A VISIT TO 1 ARTY AND 3 DIV ARTY HQ

Firstly, I must apologise for the long abscence. Business comes before pleasure, I suppose. Speaking of pleasure, it was a delight to drop by and visit 1 Arty and 3 Div Arty HQ. Maj. Ganeson and I thought that it would be a good idea to walk memory lane, once in a while, and why not, since there was an opportunity. The CO of 1 Arty and the Div Arty Comdr were gracious hosts, considering the short notice. Ganeson has history of service as a BC in 1 Arty, but I only was attached there for a few weeks ,prior to my YO's course. Nevertheless, the walkabout brought back instant memories. Changes were evident in many ways but the original form remains the same. I can never forget the excellent view of the Straits of Malacca from the officer's mess dining hall. I noted that the soil erosion from the seaward side is quite conspicious, especially from the mess garden . After the chat with the CO, we met some officers of the regiment at the mess. What struck me most was the "josh"of the airborne regiment. It seems to me that we gunners have indeed come very far from the simple field regiments of yesteryears. Then , it was a quick trip to the Div Arty HQ, where the Div Arty Comdr welcomed us and showed us his pride and joy - THE GALLERY- We were very mesmerised by the sheer creativity of it all. Here was a little nook converted into "A Museum of Achievements". As I had served the HQ before and knew every corner of the buildings, I was indeed impressed with this transformation. When we first moved in, it was a simple single storey, typical office complex. But, now it has character and to a great extent some style- something typical of us gunners. The Div Arty Comdr gave us a thourough brief of the gallery, and walked us through some events recorded in history. Did you know that Gunners now have entered the Malaysian Book of Records? If you do not, then I suggest, as a true blue and red gunner, you should visit this gallery. My sincere congratulations to the Div Arty Comdr and the CO of 1 Arty- Thank you gentlemen, you have indeed kept the Corps spirit with "Pride & Glory".