Templer's "Budak Boy"- Fifty Years On

assalamualaikum warahmatullah and hi...

the piece below is one of my favourites. personally, i might not experienced few of the things mentioned by the author, but majority of the circumstances are more or less the same since 40 years ago. like the author, i myself was a Bravorian (Mulia Perkasa Jaya!!!). this article is full of military terms, so some of you might be a little confused, but just enjoy it anyway...

Templer's "Budak Boy"- Fifty Years On

They came from all over Malaya, back in the '50s, when most of them were barely in their teens. They were handpicked from schools all over the country after undergoing a vigorous selection process. They came by train, by bus, and some - the lucky ones - by car, driven by rich parents. But mostly they came by train from distant states and distant towns and villages. They came in batches of thirty, forty, fifty and more; to share in the vision and the dream of one man: the late General (as he then was) Sir Gerald Templer.

It was he who conceived and established the Federation (now Royal) Military College - RMC - where boys, young boys, at the age of fourteen or fifteen would continue their secondary education in the Malaysian equivalent of a military Eton-cum-Sandhurst. He believed in "grabbing them young", when they were at the most impressionable and formative stage of their adolescence. There he would mould them into boy soldiers and future leaders. Whether they chose to be military leaders or leaders in commerce and industry, in academia, in politics, in the civil service, or whatever, was entirely up to them. But leaders they would be all the same.

For most of them it was three, four, five years of fun and tears, sweat and grind, curses and laughter. It was a tough grind, "Reveille" at 0600 hrs, morning drill, breakfast, classes, lunch, compulsory rest, afternoon tea, games, dinner, "prep" and finally and mercifully the soulful strain of the "Last Post" at 2200 hrs, "Lights off!!" the duty sergeant or NCO - usually a tough and humourless permanent staff - would bark. And so to bed. In the deep of night, some homesick lads would sob and wonder whether they would make it; others would giggle as some "cheeky bugger" broke wind. But the majority just snored - too tired to think and too weary to care. In the end all of them did make it. They had toughed it out; they had made the grade.

In the three to five years at the Boys' Wing, Templer's "Budak Boy" (a term invented by some semi-literate NCO who didn't know that "Budak" in Malay meant the same thing as "Boy" in English) lost his adolescence and much of his innocence. He became "quite a boy" though not quite yet a man. For those who chose a military career, that would come sooner, at the Cadet Wing.

Malaysia's military Eton imparted physical ruggedness and endurance to the boy soldiers. But that was only part of the story. It also gave them self-confidence and taught them self-discipline and self-reliance. The punishing and unchanging routine of morning drills, classes, games, and "prep work" at night introduced order and discipline into their daily lives and gave them a stabilizing reference point. It gave them that extra something which the boys in civilian schools did not have nor want. The results began to show, and how?. The RMC whipped the best of the civilian schools in athletics and sports. It outpointed them in debating contests. And it topped the list of schools and institutions with the highest number of passes in the Overseas School (and Higher School) Certificate.

Those who studied there consider the RMC to be unique in more ways than one. It taught the 15-year old "Budak Boy" to be soldiers, scholars and sportsmen. More than just these, it gave them the kind of leadership qualities and moral code which would see them through thick and thin. Whether they actually became leaders - a relative term anyway (leaders of whom? leaders in what?) - was unimportant.

What was important was that the RMC taught these boys to be outstanding, if not the best, in whatever they did. It taught them to stand up straight and live up to their principles. It gave them the strength of character that goes with being - or trying to be - an officer and a gentleman.

Forty years on, and many of these "Budak Boys" have grown up to be army and air force colonels and generals. Forty years on, and those same boys have become navy captains, commodores and higher. Forty years have come and gone, and more than twice as many of them have become lawyers, doctors, bankers, accountants, top civil servants, senior lecturers and professors, managing directors, and even a minister or two. But they never forgot their heritage: the unique institution they grew up in, and the many little extras they learned there. The special bond forged at the RMC in the three to five years spent together was to endure and last more than a lifetime. More than just a bond of friendship, it was a kind of personal commitment and attachment to one another - a deep loyalty to the alma mater and a special affection, not so much for one another as for the stream of memories and experiences shared.

Forty years on, and where are they now? That wonderful collection of teachers and mentors, who taught these boys soldiers to cherish those values that money and success cannot buy. Forty years on, and where are they now? Those who taught these "Budak Boys" the meaning of integrity, courage, loyalty and honour. Their names roll off the tip of the tongue like it was yesterday, and with the names come images of those vintage years when the real life colonels and generals of today had to face the wrath of Bowers, Bickers, Bengough and Bond; the icy fury of Wallwork, Walker and Wade; the explosive outburst of McMichen and McLelland, the sharp tongue of Nicholls, Thompson, Trythall, Thurley and all the others.

Forty years on, and the "Budak Boys" of these vintage years are now "Old Puteras". But the special attachment to their alma mater has placed them in a state of perpetual time warp, where shared experiences and memories never fade away, and the term "Budak Boy"- meant to be pejorative by whoever invented it - has become a badge of honour and the key to many a closed door. Many of those tutors and mentors have passed away, but the lessons and values that they imparted are valid today as they were then. Integrity, courage, loyalty and honour. What would a man be without these ethical reference points? And where would society be without such men?

Just as MacArthur and other West Pointers before and after him always return to that one-and-only institution "in the evening of their memory", so is with the "Budak Boys" of those vintage years and the 40-odd years thereafter. For without the RMC there would be precious little to fill "the evening of their memory" as they greet the twilight of their years. If only for this and nothing more, many a "Budak Boy" would gladly live those vintage years all over again.

by OP Mohd Shuhud bin Hj Mohd Saaid (Ex B Coy, 1953-1959)