ABOUT TWO "MONSTERS" AND GOLF



WHAT A DAY LAH!



MY KIND OF RSM

A GREAT CROWD



I must relate a tale of two gunner "Monsters". I use this term loosely to refer to people who fascinate me and achieve the almost unachievable (for want of a word). The first, is my mentor in some ways, Col. Allen Lai. Now, you may ask, what the heck has he done? Well, in his twilight years, he completed the KL Half Marathon!! Why? I don't know, but I will surely find out over some cold ones, sometime later, and I am sure I will have another post to write. He is simply so tech savvy now and philosophical too. The second guy, is a bloke I bumped into at the Artillery Directorate. He is WO1Asmawi. I asked him "Encik kat mana ni?"Saya RSM Kor", he replied. I was baffled. RSM Kor? Apa benda ni? He then explained that he is in Arty School and designated as the SMR Kor Artileri. A thought then flashed, "Shouldn't he be then, the RSM of the Regiment of Artillery, rather then the RSM Corps?". Aahh, thoughts ,thunk whilst thinking I say, it doesn't matter.

What impressed me most was his uniform and decorations. I then thought of Col Tan Say Loke and his remark ,"He is decorated like a Christmas Tree". He usually referred this to Commando type officers in the good ole days. Now , coming back to the good RSM.He is a .......now get this.. A FREE FALLER, AIRBORNE,PATHFINDER ETC.ETC. What more can I say? A GUNNER AT THAT!!! then he became my Facebook friend. Then I realised, in my typical expression "Bloody Hell, he was my apprentice in Paroi". This then made me recall "FROM SMALL ACORNS, GROW MIGHTY OAKS." My moral to this story,  folks, is trust the young gunners of today, be they officers or other ranks, they will bring "GLORY" to "EVERYWHERE, WHERE  RIGHT AND GLORY LEADS".
Oh ,I nearly forgot, we had a swell time golfing recently, at the inaugural x gunners golf competition for the Dato'Jaffar Trophy. Well done! Capt Amran of Sime Darby. Hey, check out the use of the cross missile & gun to signify ex gunners on the background banner.

TRIVIA & UP AND COMING

Map of Terendak Camp circa 1962

Some of us may not know this, but there is one milestone event coming up in January 2012. This is the Golden anniversary of 1 Arty. The Regiment is now Para and Lt. Col. Aminullah (the CO) is busy putting the event together. If you have done service with this regiment, then you simply must be there.

The Gunners Club is now fully up and running, and all retired Gunners are encouraged to join up and keep in touch with the "GUNNER FAMILY". The contact details are :

No 307A, Melawati Square, Pusat Bandar Taman Melawati, 53100 KUALA LUMPUR

Tel: 03-41084518, 41084586, Fax:03-41083654.

e-mail: xgunners@gmail.com

We also do have a Facebook Page . For your information, note that the Artillery Regiment too has a website as given below:

Lamanweb: www.rad.mil.my

Check these out and be relevant to these developments.

Finally, good luck and safe participation to Col Allen Lai who is participating in the K L Half Marathon. HAPPY RUNNING SIR!!!

WHEN A GUNNER COMES A'CALLING



HOTEL MEET UP



LT JOHN HAINES (seated 7th from left)

The communications started last year in 2010. John Haines and his lovely wife Ann were keen to visit Malaysia. John was a National Service Officer who served the RA as a Lt. in the 50's. He did service in Malaya in 1954/55 in Batu Cantonment with the 11 Independent Light Troop RA.

According to John, the troop was equipped with 4.2 in. Mortars and also searchlights! Strangely, not much information is available on the exploits of this organisation, but with fond memories, John filled in the blanks over many casual conversations over the period of his visit. John was born in Penang and his father was born in Malaya too. A Cambridge science graduate, who ventured into business, related to the agricultural field later, he always had a sentimental wish to walk memory lane. It is no wonder that Ann, taking this cue, put it all together.

Ganeson and I met this lovely couple at their hotel on Saturday February 12th, and over breakfast became quick friends. And, why not? with such great demeanour and sense of humour, they seemed such nice visitors.



ST MARY'S CHURCH



As the Secretary of the Gunners Club, Ganeson took it upon himself to play the perfect host. A quick ad hoc plan was put together, but little did John and Ann know that being a Gunner means membership has its privileges.

The first stop without question was of course Batu Cantonment. An overview was done from the newly built commuter station, before a drive around. John could recall some features of his old "home" for a little over a year, but time and extensive development had changed many aspects of the camp he once knew. The dead giveaway, however, was the chimneys at the MQs and the Officers Mess. They were the standard features of most buildings of those days. A staff officer from the Artillery Directorate accompanied us during this short tour. It was nostalgic for John but it was near to impossible to locate specific features due to the many changes over the years. Since Batu Caves was nearby, a quick trip was done there too.

Next on the plan was a slow drive to Bentong.This was an attempt to trace the old operational areas of Triang that John was familiar with whilst with the RA. A short stop revealed a spanking new camp at Bentong in place of the old one near the golf course, that we used as an LP.Throughout the journey, conversation floated along about the life of the kampung people in the old days, the development now, and how close the CTs operated to Bentong town then. One funny thing though was how John felt that the signages were wrongly spelt in Malay today. We had to enlighten him of the revised spelling system. John also did a short exercise of remembering Malay words and phrases, and I think he did rather well, given the long absence. We decided to have a spot of lunch at a decent halfway point on our return journey which lasted till late afternoon. After the Chinese fried rice meal it was back to the hotel for a rest. There a tea time discussion took place and John's treasured collection of memorabilia was revealed with much enthusiasm. Ann, meanwhile was watching all this with amusement. It was an eventful day, but only the beginning of more things to come. The evening came to a close with a defined plan for the next day. It was lunch with Gen Tan Sri 'Jack' Yaacob (our former Chief of Defence Force) at the Selangor Golf Club, and fate had its way as we shall see.

Ganeson, the very next morning planned to pick up Ann and John and proceed to the Selangor Club (not the golf club you see). He thought that before lunch he could take them to the St. Mary's Church nearby for a look see, and then go across the road to the Selangor Club where the lunch host was expected to be. At the church there was a very unbelievable incident, where by sheer coincidence it was discovered that John's grandfather was the first Chaplain there - FRANCIS WILLIAM HAINES from 1890 to 1899. Now, was that a coincidence, or simply a calling?  Deja Vu, you might say, but I say that it was an act of providence.Then on realising the error of the lunch location, they proceeded on to the golf club, where Gen Yacob and another gunner general as in Brig Gen Dato' Hadi were there. Gen Yaacob was instrumental in passing the message for John's visit (which he received through his friends in the UK) to the Gunners Club. Lunch was a casual affair with much discussion of nostalgia. As it was a Sunday and some rest was in order, John and Ann decided to abort the visit to the parks in KL and retire for the day.



My Grandad's legacy at St.Mary's KL



Monday the 14th of February was Valentine's Day, but the Gunners Club had a plan for John and Ann. The Director of Artillery invited the couple to drop by Mindef in the morning, and later they would be entertained to lunch at the KL Tower by Members of the Gunners Club Committee and some invited "Old Timers" as in QM Zahir and Capt (R) Ahmad Gedang. It was a meaningful lunch gathering which most of us will not forget for a while, at least.Then as all things must come to an end, we said our farewells to the Haines's as they continued their journey to other parts of Malaysia and as well as Singapore, before returning home to Devon on 27th February 2011.

 "FAREWELL DEAR FRIENDS, AND MAY WE BE BLESSED TO MEET AGAIN".



ANN & JOHN HAINES





  

AT KL TOWER WITH GUNNERS CLUB

  

  

 

BENTONG

 

GOLF CLUB LUNCH





CALLING ON ARTY DIRECTOR



HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2011

Hi all,

Wishing you all a Happy Chinese New Year 2011. It is the year of the rabbit. It is a prosperous and good year.
All the best wishes and good health to you and all your family.
Take care

Allen Lai

Perils of an English Language Handicap

"MOHD Solihan Badri, Head, Corporate Communications Unit of the Education Ministry, in his replies to many of my letters published in the mainstream English newspapers last year, spoke passionately of our education policy and how amendments and improvements since the introduction of the KBSR/KBSM syllabus in the seventies had benefited our students and people. It has now been perfected even more with the introduction of the "Memartabatkan Bahasa Mal-aysia dan Memperkukuhkan Bahasa Inggeris" (Upholding the Malay Language, Strengthening Command of English – MBMMBI) syllabus which will be implemented in the 2012 school term.

According to him, the original Razak Report on education that formed the basis of our present education policy – which was followed by two amendments over a period of thirty years, culminating in the introduction of the MBMMBI syllabus – has resulted in a vast improvement in the use of our national language, and in an almost total loss of interest in other languages such as English, Mandarin, other local dialects and foreign languages, which meets the aim of the education policy squarely. The popular Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (PPSMI) syllabus was also found to be unsuitable after being used successfully for almost eight years and has since been scrapped. The use of only one language by all, regardless of race or religion, is also designed to be the catalyst to make the 1Malaysia concept fully acceptable to all.

I agree with him on all counts.

However, considering the handicap of our people being proficient in only one language, our ability to communicate with people outside the country will be affected and perhaps even rendered impossible. If the situation is not checked, in future, many of us may not be as equipped as our hearing and speech impaired citizens. We will only be able to speak and write in Bahasa Malaysia, a language which only Malaysians will use; but the hearing and speech impaired would at least still be able communicate with their counterparts worldwide as many people use sign language. Therefore, it can be easily translated into various world languages for use by people who are not hearing or speech impaired.

Since the government is stubbornly adamant about putting aside English Language in order to make our national primary and secondary school students and our people proficient in only one language, and relegating all other languages to an abyss, I urge my fellow Malaysians to learn sign language to remain in communication with people outside the country. When the need arises, I bel-ieve we shall have more than enough people to teach us.

There are many interpreters who can comfortably translate sign lang-uage into various world languages, but few who can do the same for Bahasa Malaysia. In order to do business globally and to enable our diplomats, trade representatives and company representatives, communications remain extremely important.

Our country has vast economic potential, and with our abundant natural resources and having more and more talented people in future, we cannot allow our limitations (inability to communicate normally) to thwart the country’s development; and with sign language, albeit a little slower, will allow us to communicate in order to continue and increase the sales of our products and services overseas. It will also enable us to continue our diplomatic ties and do business as usual.

Our country can also be the world’s future hub and leader in the use of sign language."

STANDARD CHARTERED KL MARATHON 2011

Yes, I have been away for quite awhile. Really off the road to recuperate my injured knees. I had been a good boy and waited. But I could not wait any more. Standard Chartered KL had just opened for registration. Kiasu me. I'm an early bird I am.
Ready or not I'll take part in the half marathon.
Signing off now. Got to start my training this evening. 158 days left. Ayoh !

Join me. Don't be left out. Register TODAy.

Take care

Allen Lai

WAYS TO GET OUR HISTORY RIGHT

MALAYSIA has a relatively short history compared with the United States, Russia, China, India, Britain and Egypt. Many of our history makers or those who contributed to our history are still alive They were around before the formation of the Federation of Malaysia; before, during and immediately after the Second World War including the British occupation of Malaya; the Japanese occupation; the Malayan Emergency; the formation of the Federation of Malaysia and events such as the May 13 tragedy.

These may be ordinary people who served as civil servants, ministers, politicians, worked in the private sector, the military and the police, universities, teachers, writers, journalists, community leaders or members of royalty.They may also have been witnesses to events and incidents which were part of our history. We have people who are going to, or have already hit, the century mark who were either history-makers or who had contributed to our history.If there are doubts about the correctness and accuracy of our recorded history, consult them.I believe they can verify the facts about the events that took place.Perhaps some are direct descendants, relatives or close associates of history makers or people who contributed to our history.

Being privy to such events and incidents, these people definitely know our history.Some of these families, I believe, also have historical records which are now family heirlooms. It is quite unfortunate that the historical records of one of our better known families have been sent to Singapore for safekeeping because the descendants felt keeping them here was not the best option.

Members of the Historical Society of Malaysia and History teachers can also be roped in to help check and verify the accuracy of our recorded history.

So let’s get cracking and start calling up all these people and put our history right once and for all. Stop arguing and start working on other more important things.

HUSSAINI ABDUL KARIM,