PAROI CAMP - WAS THE ARMY HOODWINKED?

Does Paroi Camp, Seremban that was home to ‘T’ Battery LLAD rings a bell to officers and men of the Royal Artillery Corps? I remembered the camp well because it was first occupied by a newly raised Royal Malay Regiment battalion around the late 70’s, before it was handed over to an artillery unit. I think it was the 13th Battalion Royal Malay Regiment. It was an old British Camp though with a short airstrip and the hanger became the army boxing team training center. Well, in those days the Artillery Corps had excellent boxers and I do not really know the reason why. I suppose their soldiers were the hardy type having built their muscle and strength from lifting the heavy bombs and guns. Names like Lt Kol Maskan Katan and Mej Maniam (both artillery officers) comes to mind as they were the officers’ charged with managing the army boxing team.

Sometimes in the 80’s, the Negeri Sembilan state government wanted to build a stadium at Paroi, on grounds that army were ‘technically squatters’, so says the state government then. I may be wrong in my presumption, but if the land was state property, I think Mindef wouldn’t have succumbed easily to the demand by the state government. But on second thought, and upon knowing the ill fated decision to sell off the historical Sg. Besi Air Force Base, I think Mindef would still give away Paroi Camp anyhow, in keeping with the well tested Malaysia Boleh slogan. And did we not see how a portion of Majidee army camp, Johor Baru was sold off to some developer without any thought given towards preserving the historical camp i.e. the birth place of the Malaysian Special Service Unit (MSSU) in the 60’s, or the Commandos as it is popularly known now. Colorful personalities that were the pioneers of the MSSU, e.g. Mej Sidek, Mej Abu Hassan, Lt Ghazali Ibrahim, Lt Ramli Ismail, Lt Sarjit Singh and Lt Hussein Awang Senik are now merely names in the pages of the Malaysian commandos history (if there is one).

After the eviction of ‘T’ Battery LLAD from Paroi to Segenting Camp, Port Dickson that was to become the Artillery School, the stadium was eventually built. However, a large tract of the camp area that was supposed to be developed by the state was left unattended for some unknown reason. I am told that the piece of unattended land has now become private property, with a notice board prominently displayed as such. One can hazard a guess as to who had acquired the land (the notice board says it is Property Development Sdn Bhd), and who do you think are the beneficiaries from the sale of the land. One wonders who the Menteri Besar was then when the sale of the land was transacted and at what price. I doubt details of the transaction will ever be made public because such a transaction is usually categorized as ‘OSA’.

The question that many would ask now is why dispose off a piece of state property that could have been developed by the state to cater for public interest, and at the same time the property remain in the hands of the state government. Such piece of property is priceless and if I were the Menteri Besar, I would have put the area to better use i.e. like turning it into a recreation center, building a school or a hospital or any other public amenities that could benefit the people. Since the property remains in the hands of the state, I would not be getting a cent.

Well, selling off state property in the name of development is the usual argument by most state governments. But why the haste in evicting the army unit out, when it is only now that the reason for the eviction has become obvious i.e. to dispose it to a private concern. What a cleaver way to hoodwink the army.


CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION

KEM RASAH, SEREMBAN IN TOTAL NEGLECT

Saturday 23rd July 2011, I attended a reunion of officers who had served 15th Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment in the era of the 70’s at Kem Rasah, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. This is the second time a reunion of such nature was organized; the first being last year held at about the same period at Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam, Kuala Lumpur.

The reason the organizers’ chose Kem Rasah for the reunion this year was because Kem Rasah was the home of the battalion when it was first established back in the late 60’s. The camp was formerly the Headquarters of the British Gurkha Brigade that withdrew out of this country to conform to the British government’s policy of withdrawing all their troops ‘East of Suez’.

This year’s reunion was accompanied by the spouses and it was wonderful to see the first three Commanding Officers (CO) in the crowd and they are, first, Lt Kol Osman Harun (retired in the rank of Lt Jen), second, Lt Kol Abdul Rahman Lassim (retired in the rank of Kol) and third, Lt Kol Ismail Salleh (retired in the rank of Kol).

Besides the first three CO’s, we also had officers that were the first unit staff officers i.e. the adjutant Capt Yusof Dahaman (retired in the rank of Lt Kol) and the Mechanical Transport Officer Lt Wan Mohammad Wan Ali(retired in the rank of Lt Kol). I was also pleased to meet four of my platoon commanders i.e. Lt Kol Ariffin Shah Muhamad (retired), Lt Kol Noor Mohamed Abdullah (retired), Lt Kol Abd Rahman Kamil (retired) and Mej Ahmad Dzahir Hj. Ali (retired). These were the platoon commanders that I had that made my army life interesting.

I am fortunate to have served the first two of the three CO’s and I remembered having to take command of a rifle company on 29th September 1971 when the battalion was on operations at Kroh, Perak. I was to remain with the battalion for almost 5 years before being posted out to a newly raised battalion i.e. 18th Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment that was being formed at Segenting Kem, Port Dickson where I served for 2 years. So in all, I held the post of Company Commander for a total of 7 years; a record I suppose.

Having got into Kem Rasah, I was dumbfounded to see the changes that have taken shape within the camp itself; not for the better but sadly for the worse. The entire camp area looks so run down, and it appears more of a refugee detention center than an army camp. Someone remarked that we should all be ashamed if a Thai Army Officer were to visit the camp, because the army camps in Thailand are far superior and well maintained. I do not know if ever any of the higher Commanders visits the camp, and I wonder what have they to say about the camp.

I think Kem Rasah should have long moved out because of the intense development surrounding the camp. It is definitely not a safe military complex any more, where even the perimeter fencing is no longer in existence. I am now beginning to wonder why Kem Rasah, the camp where I spent 5 years of my army life has been left to neglect. I just wonder why. Certainly, the soldiers in Kem Rasah deserve something better.

CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION