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| Mass in the Jimna State Forest |
2. The treatment of the soldiers: the most important part of the episode
For me, the most significant moment is not the confrontation with the Air Force Staff Sergeant. It is the discovery of Sarinie Tingkak sitting forlorn and depressed.
This is where the narrative changes character.
The author has arrived at the airport and sees his men already assembled. He notices one of his former Batman Rangers looking unhappy. He could easily have ignored him, particularly after a demanding overseas exercise. Instead, he approaches him and asks what is wrong.
Sarinie's explanation is heartbreaking in its simplicity.
The soldiers had used their Australian allowances to buy things for their families. These were not necessarily extravagant purchases. They were ordinary men who had been away from home and wanted to bring something back for their loved ones.
Now they were being berated over excess baggage.
This small episode reveals something important about Major Swami's leadership philosophy.
He notices his men.
He recognises their emotions, understands their circumstances and is unwilling to allow them to be humiliated unnecessarily.
The author is not defending an abstract military principle here. He is defending individual soldiers who have little opportunity to defend themselves against a superior authority.
That is an important distinction.
3. Swami's confrontation: an officer defending his command
The confrontation is characteristically Swami.
He does not quietly approach the Air Force personnel to negotiate. He challenges them publicly, in front of their senior officers.
His argument has three dimensions:
- Fairness: Why are the Army soldiers being singled out?
- Reciprocity: The Army is paying for the aircraft fuel and airport charges, so why are its personnel being treated as unwanted passengers?
- Consistency: If Army baggage is being scrutinised, why are the Air Force personnel's own cases of fruit apparently escaping similar scrutiny?
The last point is particularly interesting.
The author alleges that cases of apples, pears and oranges belonging to Air Force personnel were being transported alongside the Army's equipment. He challenges the apparent double standard and threatens to have the fruit unloaded.
This is not simply an argument about luggage. It is an argument about equal treatment.
His language is coarse, confrontational and deliberately intimidating. Some readers will find it excessive. Others will appreciate the refusal to tolerate what he perceives as bullying.
But the underlying principle is difficult to dispute: an officer has a responsibility to stand up for his men, particularly when they are being treated unfairly.
4. The significance of the Air Force senior officers' reaction
One detail deserves particular attention.
The confrontation takes place in front of Air Force Lieutenant Colonels, Majors and other personnel.
One of the Lieutenant Colonels eventually beckons the Staff Sergeant and speaks to him privately. The Staff Sergeant subsequently disappears.
This is significant because it suggests that the senior officer recognised that the situation had become unacceptable and needed intervention.
The outcome is equally important: none of the Army soldiers' luggage was unloaded.
The author also receives an endorsement from Lieutenant Colonel Mark Evan, who remarks that similar behaviour occurs in the Royal Australian Air Force.
That observation gives the incident an additional dimension. Inter-service arrogance is not necessarily a uniquely Malaysian phenomenon. It can emerge in other armed forces too.
However, it does not excuse it.
5. What does this tell us about the Royal Malaysian Air Force?
I would be careful not to interpret this episode as a condemnation of the entire RMAF.
One incident, even if accurately recounted, cannot establish the institutional character of an entire service.
Nevertheless, the episode raises some uncomfortable questions about the attitudes of the personnel involved.
Issue What the episode suggests
Inter-service relations An unhealthy sense of superiority
Treatment of soldiers Insufficient respect for fellow servicemen
Professional conduct Inconsistent application of rules, as alleged
Military hierarchy Rank potentially being used to intimidate
Leadership Senior intervention was eventually necessary
Joint operations The need for mutual respect and cooperation
The irony is that the Army and Air Force depend on each other.
An army cannot operate effectively without air transport, logistical support and aerial capabilities. Equally, air power cannot achieve its full operational purpose without the ground forces it supports.
Neither service has a monopoly on courage, professionalism or sacrifice.
A Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force is no more inherently important to the defence of the country than an infantry soldier operating in the jungle.
Different responsibilities do not confer different degrees of human worth.
6. The Melbourne Cup incident: an interesting contrast
There is another aspect of this chapter that should not be overlooked.
The author recounts the Melbourne Cup celebrations on 1 November, when allegedly intoxicated Australian officers attempted to set fire to the officers' mess at 6 RAR.
Swami describes punching one of the individuals and taking away his lighter before he could ignite a bale of hay.
This is an interesting contrast with the airport confrontation.
In Australia, he intervenes to prevent damage to another military establishment. Back in Malaysia, he confronts members of his own armed forces because he believes they are mistreating his soldiers.
In both situations, his instinct is to act rather than stand by.
There is also a revealing element of the Australian response. Lieutenant Colonel Mark Evan's supportive reaction suggests that the author was not necessarily being unreasonable in the eyes of his Australian counterparts.
The episode gives the reader a glimpse of the complexities of military friendships across national and service boundaries.
7. The final irony: the arrival at Subang
The final passage is perhaps the most amusing, but also the most provocative.
After 13 hours of flying, the Army trucks arrive to unload the equipment and personal belongings. The author then remarks that numerous bottles of alcohol and pornographic magazines entered Malaysia without inspection.
His sarcastic reference to the RM3 collected is particularly pointed.
It implies that the enforcement of regulations was selective and that the authorities were apparently more interested in scrutinising the soldiers' baggage than examining other potentially questionable imports.
This is a rather effective literary device: the author ends the episode with irony rather than a lengthy moral lecture.
However, the implication about the RM3 payment should be understood as the author's insinuation, not independently established evidence of corruption.
8. What this episode reveals about Major Swami's leadership
I find this episode particularly useful in understanding the author's military personality.
Three characteristics emerge.
First: personal loyalty to his soldiers.
He does not regard his men merely as subordinates. He takes an interest in their personal circumstances and recognises their sacrifices.
Second: intolerance of perceived injustice.
He is prepared to confront people of superior rank when he believes his men are being mistreated. He does not automatically defer to another service's hierarchy.
Third: an unconventional approach to authority.
He is not particularly concerned with diplomatic niceties when he believes something is fundamentally wrong. His approach is direct, forceful and sometimes abrasive.
There is, however, a legitimate leadership question here: could the same result have been achieved through a more measured confrontation?
Possibly. But the author clearly wants readers to understand that he believed a quiet approach would not adequately protect his soldiers in that situation.
9. Literary assessment: why this chapter works
The episode succeeds because it combines several elements:
- Military humour.
- Inter-service rivalry.
- A personal relationship between an officer and his soldiers.
- A confrontation over authority and fairness.
- An ironic conclusion.
Most importantly, the narrative does not present the author as a perpetually diplomatic military officer.
He is presented as a combative, occasionally foul-mouthed, fiercely protective infantry officer who is prepared to make himself unpopular.
That makes the character more human and arguably more believable.
There is also an important editorial consideration. The account would be even stronger if the author distinguished between the actions of the particular Air Force SNCOs involved and the institutional culture of the RMAF as a whole. That would make the criticism harder to dismiss as inter-service antagonism.
10. My overall verdict
Strong leadership episode
This is more than an amusing anecdote about an Army officer having a public argument with Air Force personnel.
It is a small but revealing study of military leadership, inter-service relations and the dignity of ordinary soldiers.
The most memorable character in this episode is arguably not Swami himself, but Sarinie Tingkak.
His forlorn appearance at the airport provides the emotional foundation for everything that follows. Without that moment, the confrontation could easily be interpreted as an officer displaying his temper or indulging in an inter-service quarrel.
With Sarinie, the reader understands the motivation.
The author is standing up for his men.
My strongest observation is this:
A military officer's leadership is not measured solely by how effectively he commands soldiers in battle, how well he performs during exercises or how many decorations he receives.
It is also measured by what he does when one of his soldiers is humiliated, distressed or treated unfairly.
In this episode, Swami demonstrates that his loyalty to his soldiers does not end when the exercise ends.
And that is perhaps the most important lesson in this chapter.
A soldier may forget many orders given by his commander. But he is unlikely to forget the commander who stood up for him when nobody else would.
All about the book is here 
