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ELEVEN
is also the perception that the first day’s activities were camp-bound and oriented towards
administrative priorities. In any case, by the end of duty hours, Monday-morning blues
had pretty much dissipated and everybody was back in the groove as if the break had not
occurred.
Those who came from ‘B’ Company had the opportunity to renew their acquaintance with
Company Warrant Officer (CWO) Hong Seng Mak, who had been promoted to WO1,
having briefly known him in the first two weeks of recruit training in ‘B’ Company. It was not
exactly reassuring to discover he was the king of the parade square in ‘A’ Company because
he had earned a reputation for being unbending and unforgiving of mistakes. Before long,
everybody referred to him as ‘Tiger’ or ‘Tiger Hong’ and his presence in the barrack lines had
the effect of a curfew. It is a matter of wonder to most of the First Batch how few of them
actually ran foul of Tiger in the form of extra duty or other forfeits. Tiger demonstrated that
it is not necessary to harass anybody to cow them: merely, let it be known that no nonsense
would be tolerated and come down hard, but fairly, whenever it reared its head. Tiger’s
personal conduct—in dress, inscrutability, aloofness, lifestyle (non-smoker, qualified boxing
referee, whip-thin)—offered no opportunity to fault him or encourage cynicism about his
professional credentials. As far as the cadets were concerned, while they may have had their
personal stars among the officers and instructors, no one left such an impression on them
as Tiger did.
CPT Jagrup Singh and CPT Goh Lye Choon, previously Platoon Commanders of No. 4
and 6 Platoons respectively in ‘B’ Company had come over to ‘A’ Company as Platoon
Commanders of Platoons 1 and 3, while CPT Albert Tan remained as Platoon Commander
of Platoon 2. MAJ John Morrice and CPT Daljeet Singh remained as Company Commander
and Company 2I/C. ‘B’ Company cadets had come to know of several of the officers who had
been instructors in ‘A’ Company during the pre-cadet training phase, including CPT Clarence
Tan of the red Midget, while CPT Albert Tan (no relative) had also figured prominently in
the recruitment brochure in an elegant home setting with his wife and elder son, Adrian.
The easily recognised CPT Cedric ‘Butch’ Klienman, Commander, Platoon 3 of the original
‘A’ Company had been reassigned to the Training and Doctrine Department. A Sword of
Honour winner at the Federation Military College, he looked like a Caucasian although he
was Eurasian, spoke with a clipped accent reminiscent of his partial German ancestry, had
curly reddish hair and was known for his stylish turnout and earnest professionalism. Ex-‘B’
Company members of the new Platoon 3 were introduced to LTA Abdullah ‘Dollah’ Ghani,
a tough young Malay officer who took himself and his duties very seriously though his
irrepressible boyishness got him into regular trouble with the Adjutant and it seems now that
his name was always on the duty officer roster several days running at a stretch. A Federation
Military College graduate, LTA Abdullah left the SAF in 1970 after attending a course in
the School of Advanced Training for Officers (SATO) to join the Malaysian Armed Forces,
where he earned the sobriquet of ‘Yehudi’ Ghani and retired as a Major General.