Kluang Airfield - The Training Regiment Overlooking The Airfield

The Regimental Sergeant Major was stickler for rules and procedures. One of the funny things with 10th Regiment was a legacy left by the British. They have two metal gates, and brick walls at the front of the camp. The brick walls run for a short distance and that is it. We used to guard the gates, I guess the British expected their enemies to attack from the front, as there was no perimeter around the camp. It was soon rectified; they laid barbed wire around the whole camp.

The reign of “terror’ by the RSM and the Adjutant had repercussions. One of the trainee or trainees busted up the Adjutant’s junk of a Volkswagen. They smashed the windscreen and the rear screen. Not only that, they pooped in the car. All of us paid a price, we were sent on a forced march at 1200 hrs that day. All of us were cursing whoever did that, in our hearts we felt a little glee.

The guys who attended courses were subjected to very short haircuts, enforced light outs, very strict on it. No wandering in the camp after lights out. More fatigue duty. Frequent barrack and toilet inspections. You can say that the cleanest toilets in the Malaysian Armed Forces could be found in the 10th Regiment Engineers Training Centre.

There was a bonus though, the food at the cook house improved. Especially for the Indians, they were entitled to chapattis and mouth watering mutton gravy. That only happened on Fridays. For better morale, they came up with a innovative idea for one day’s ration to be divided into half. Which meant you get fish and meat and two varieties of vegetables for lunch and dinner. Instead of eating one variety at each meal, they dished out two varieties.

The drug problem was there too. Marijuana, those days in Malaysia, was normal, the village folks used to smoke them. When I first joined the unit in Taiping they passed a reefer to us young soldiers in the open. It was not an issue until later. In Kluang we went to one of the Chinese New Villages, checked out their opium dens.

Whilst smoking opium you had to lay your head on a wooden pillow. The opium is inserted into a pipe, the old man there lights it up. You are supposed to drag on the pipe. While dragging on the pipe if the correct sound does not emanate, the old guy will abuse you, saying that you are wasting money and time. Opium make you want to sleep the whole day.

There were guys who were addicted to morphine and heroin, there was an Engineer Troop on standby at the Engineers Training Center. There was an addict in that troop. We used to watch him take his shots with a needle. He was known as “doctor”. We were fascinated by “doctor”. He slowly draws out his blood mixing it with the morphine or whatever ‘shit’ it was and pumping it back into his veins. I am surprised and amazed how he got away with that, everyone knew about his addiction.

The 10th Regiment Training was the Engineers Training School, located in a small sleepy town called Kluang in the state of Johore. It was a small town, you could walk there. The Engineers camp was large, overlooking a military airfield. It was an old British Army Camp of the Royal Engineers. In the camp was a pond which they called a “dam”, it was used for waterman ship, training with assault boats and outboard motors. Beyond the dam were other training grounds for bridging, demolitions and for all the stuff that combat engineers do.

We were trained at waterman ship, demolitions, booby traps, (improvised explosive devices), improvised bridging, bridging, construction of landing points, laying of minefields, clearing minefields, water supply and anything and everything to do with the field engineers.

Whilst on this course I realized that I would never be able to live a normal life and raise a family. One of my friends invited me for lunch at his house on a weekend. I dressed up and started walking; the area where he lived was a squatter area. He had two kids, he and I earned the same amount, I always wondered how on earth he could maintain his wife and kids. That was the cheapest housing he could afford.

It was a wooden “shed” made out of planks, rejected by the sawmills. It was basic, wooden walls and a zinc roof. The flooring was tamped earth, clean though. The hall too acted as the bedroom. No furniture, he had laid out mats for us to sit and dine on. I bought some fruits and candies for the kids and handed over to one of them.

There was rice, prawn paste (belacan), raw vegetables gathered blanched in hot water, soybean cakes (tempeh) and one big fat pomfret fish (bawal) in green coconut gravy. I asked my friend whether the kids had eaten. He told me that they would eat later. Whilst I was eating the kids were peering from a partition separating the kitchen. They were all smiles and staring at the food.

Deep in my heart, I knew that it was a mistake to accept that lunch invitation. They had barely enough for themselves, here I made myself a burden to them. I ate as little as politely possible. The food was delicious though. I thanked his wife, who complained that I ate very little, I complimented her on the food and told her that I was bloated and that had stuffed myself. Soon I took my leave, before I left, I gave each kid $2, that was in 1973. As I was walking back, I made up my mind never to get married, so that I will not force someone’s daughter in a hovel!!

After passing that course we had the right to be known as sappers, it meant instead of being addressed as privates we were called Sapper so and so. The course made us proficient in improvised bridging, mine warfare and demolitions, water supply and the most important subject, booby traps and improvised explosive devices.