One of a Kind (2nd Edition)

DAY ONE AND THE FIRST SIX WEEKS

101

SEVEN

IV. THE WELCOMING COMMITTEES

From various recollections, though many clearly faulty, it has been possible to cull the

events that marked the first day of the first intake in Pasir Laba. Enlistees designated for ‘A’

Company arrived at around 1100 hrs and debussed with their baggage, mental and material,

at or beside the then main square, next to the QM/MT complex. They were greeted by

Company Warrant Officer (CWO) WO1 Mokhtar with several NCOs, all except one in the

peak caps of the SIR; the odd one out had a green beret and was as rugged looking as they

came. One of the NCOs began to call out names and enlistees fell in before respective

NCOs, although those who had to fall in before ‘Green Beret’ did so with great trepidation

because a rumour began to go round that the green beret represented ‘Marine Commando’

which was immediately assumed to portend hellish training conditions. WO2 Mohd Mizah

bin Ahmad was meanwhile blissfully oblivious of his fearsome credentials and carried on

organising his contingent into three lines. He was to prove a kindly, if quixotic, Platoon

Sergeant of Platoon 3. He once fell in the whole platoon, asked one trainee to report to the

platoon office and fell out the rest. On another occasion, just before lunch, he fell in the

platoon and asked those who played musical instruments to put their hands up. Several did

and Inche Mizah, as he was commonly known, fell out the rest. The musicians were then

instructed to report to the Officers’ Mess to help shift a piano. Some profound principles of

man-management may well have been lost with him. But the incident also demonstrated the

lack of communication between those whose enlistment had been solicited for an officer’s

commission and the establishment on what they were in for, since obviously some were

made to feel that there would be further re-grouping without their prior consent into all

sorts of sub-categories of trainees. At the time, the SAF probably operated on the notion

that once an enlistee signed the dotted line, he had no choice but to accept what was dished

out to him. Presumably if a soldier had been required to have an opinion, he would have

been issued one by the Regimental Quartermaster.

The three platoons were led off in a loose order of march to their respective barrack blocks

in ‘A’ Company lines and divided into sections. Each section was allocated its separate room

and the enlistees were either assigned to, or selected their cots. Bed sheets, pillow cases, a

mosquito net, a blanket, webbing, a steel helmet, its inner liner, a water-bottle, socks, mess-

tins, a field dressing, a military jack-knife, a housewife (sewing kit), a cutlery set and an

enamel mug were laid out on each cot, beside which stood a two-door locker. An itemised

list of what had been issued was handed out for each to acknowledge.

The enlistees were

then told to collect their mugs and eating implements and form up in platoon groups on the

parade ground (or ‘square’ as it was commonly called) as it was nearly lunch hour. The three

platoons were led to a dining hall designated ‘A’ Company Dining Hall where, according to

the majority of accounts, they were served rice, chicken, some vegetables and soup, with

syrup water and an apple for dessert. For quite a few enlistees it was a more substantial

meal than they had ever got at home and the Instructors went around enquiring tenderly