Warriors’ Day: Reminiscing the sacrifice of our heroes
Hajar Umira Md Zaki
SHAH ALAM - Have we ever thought of how and what our ancestors went through to achieve the peace and independence that we are enjoying now?
The pain, blood spill and the sacrifice made for the sovereignty of the country.
Sure many untold stories were not disclosed in the past and today, Sinar Daily talked to a national hero to find out his story as our nation fought for independence.
After serving the army for twenty-three years, Major Datuk Sallehuddin A Muttalib decided to leave the military after he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder (PTSD) at age 33.
“It all started after my mission in 1972 in Sarawak, where I was ordered to capture a communist party leader and his wife alive, so I brought two communists who had surrendered with me.
“It was around 12.30 midnight, so it was pitch black when things happened... I set my submachine gun to automatic and the bullets went off, which startled the enemies.
“I then used the gun and parang until both of them died, but it was pitch black and I could not see anything,” he said.
However, as the team turned on the torchlight, they saw a gruesome scene as that was when they realised the communist’s wife was pregnant, and the baby was also killed in the incident.
Before he went on the mission, Sallehuddin said he was told if he could capture the Sarawak communist party leader alive, the whole Sarawak communist party would be defeated.
Following the incident, it took him almost ten years before he resigned from his position as a soldier.
“To overcome the PTSD, I can’t hold any weapon and also can’t look at the pregnant woman. Thank God, I wasn’t married yet at that time.
“However, truth to be told, my father was initially against my intention to be a soldier and he laughed it off when I told them that I quit,” he said.
After he resigned from the military, Sallehuddin started his own business and is now blessed with three daughters.
Sallehuddin was awarded Panglima Gagah Berani in 1976
Despite being in the military, he said he would never encourage his children to join the armed forces.
Meanwhile, another honourable Malaysia hero interviewed by Sinar Daily was Datuk Paul Kiong who served the police force, and was directly involved in the second Malayan emergency to fight against the communist Malaya party in the year 1968 until 1989.
“When I was in the police force under the special branch, my duty was to handle the communist party as we knew it was an illegal organisation and we found that the ideology was unsuitable for our community.
“I was trained physically and mentally to handle the matter, and I was posted in the second emergency in 1968 for the war against communist resurgence.
“During my duty, I was ordered to infiltrate their base without them knowing to get their intel and either capture or eliminate them. However, my concern was not to kill,” he said.
He said the communists were angry and aggressive when they were apprehended as they strongly believed that their ideology was right and could be applied in the society.
However, Kiong firmly said regardless of time, the communism ideology could never be imposed in the country as it wasn’t conducive to our multiracial country.
“That’s why I sacrificed myself because if I die, that would be only one person but if we succeed, 32 million people would be saved to enjoy peace and prosperity.
“Moreover, our objective at that time also was to rescue them and bring them back to the society, as well as to contribute to the country,” he said.
By looking at the peace that Malaysia enjoys now, Kiong expressed his disappointment as the younger generation nowadays was clueless about what the veterans had gone through before.
“They must be aware of what had taken place by the veterans, if we have a talk program like involving veterans such as the Taman Tugu Human Library event, they have to come and listen or read books,” he said.
