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SECTION TRAINING
184
NINE
III. EVASIVE TACTICS
IV. HORNETS
rifle and snatched off his helmet, mad with pain. His buddy behind him, Victor
Lam Ying Kit, kept his cool. He grabbed the helmet and rammed it back on
Peng Khoon’s head and both rolled down the slope of the hill they were on.
Peng Khoon got a preview of the state of his head and face from the look his
Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Richard Ong gave him. He had been stung 14
times. He was warded in the SAFTI Medical Centre for two days of treatment
and observation in case his neck swelled to the point of choking him to death.
Mukhtiar Singh and Chua See Tiew discovered a unique way to get out of the
second half of Exercise Red Beret, an infiltration exercise from Tampines to
Pasir Laba, though not by choice. Moving towards Bukit Timah Hill along an
overgrown footpath beside Mandai Road, they heard the unmistakable sound of
a swarm of angry hornets coming their way as they passed the sluice gates of
MacRitchie Reservoir. Having listened to accounts of hornet attacks from their
colleagues, they recognised what it meant and hit the ground. Though they were
not aware of it, they had been given a live demonstration of the Doppler Effect.
They remained absolutely still but they were not spared. Fortunately, they had
adopted the best course of action, if one could call accepting the inevitability of
a limited amount (hopefully) of hornet stings an alternative to running. When the
sound of the hornets died away, both bolted for their last checkpoint where they
knew they could get help. Sensibly, they did not venture to recover See Tiew’s
rifle and their maps. Two instructors at the checkpoint arranged for them to be
evacuated to SAFTI Medical Centre, after which one of them went to recover
the rifle and maps. Mukhtiar and See Tiew were excused the rest of Exercise
Red Beret.
In Singapore, people generally use the term ‘hornets’ indiscriminately to describe
the bee-like insects that respond to a threat to their nests by attacking the intruder
and anything else in the vicinity. In fact, hornets are a species of social wasps,
belonging to the family Vespidae (origins of the name of a popular brand of
scooters) among which are included hornets, yellow-jackets and digger wasps.
Some are solitary, while others form colonies. There are species of false hornets
but trying to establish that before taking to one’s heels is not recommended.
By and large, wasps living in colonies are aggressive only when their nests are
threatened. They actually play an important part in ecological balance by preying
on other pests, especially caterpillars and flies. Social wasps make nests of pulp
from chewed up wood and vegetable matter, which are encased in a rounded
paper-like envelope typically about the size of a football. As many as 15,000 may
be found in a nest.