114 / 409
DAY ONE AND THE FIRST SIX WEEKS
98
SEVEN
Dr. Goh visiting Simon Road Camp. Oddly, the Commanding Officer (CO), then-MAJ Richard Jambu (extreme
right) is wearing the SAFTI formation sign.
II. RENDEZVOUS AT BEACH ROAD
The 300 or so who turned up at Beach Road Camp were gathered in the large hall on the
first floor, which was a beehive of activity. They were dressed in every fashion imaginable of
the mid-1960s and several sported long hair and sunglasses. Among them were those who
had come in uniform as they were already in service, such as Samad Athambava and Ibrahim
Bulat. Samad remembers that he had, like a good soldier, come with the regulation 4x2
haircut (a four-inch width close crop at the back and two above the ears), as well as the $5
that he had been advanced on his next pay to buy sundries like tooth paste and toothbrush.
On the other hand, Ajit Singh felt out of place in uniform because all those who had come
before him were in civvies; so he found a restroom and changed out of his uniform. When
he returned to the drill hall, Officers and NCOs were busily checking nominal rolls. One
This would be inviting all sorts of complex dynamics in performance, motivation and peer
support. MID was obviously looking downstream at the first intake at SAFTI as plans for
the SAF were being batted around. It would have wanted a broader spread of talent, ability
and educational qualifications over several cohorts. Therefore, it must have been consciously
decided to distribute acceptable candidates accordingly and ignore the issue of whether the
candidates themselves would have been agreeable to a deferment in beginning their officer
cadet phase. The times being what they were, MID must have decided to brazen things out
because available resources would only support one officer cadet training frame at a time.