‘Uphold the spirit of patriotism’
JELI: Till the day he dies, Mohamed Asari Che Derahman will remember the day he saw his colleague shot dead in a battle with communist guerillas in 1965.
Recalling the incident, the 77year-old said he and his teammates had been tasked to guard the area in the immediate vicinity of Kampung Lubok Bongor, here.
They had been there for three months when the communists attacked the village.
“We took heavy fire. We were pinned down in our bunkers. Then I saw one of my colleagues collapse... but there was nothing we could do except continue to fight until the enemy retreated,” he said at his home in Kampung Lubok Bongor Baru.
Asari entered service in the Home Guard in 1954. Five years later, he was absorbed into the Territorial Army.
He retired in 1987, but will never forget what he and his colleagues had to go through in fighting the Communist Party of Malaya.
“People suffered during the first and second emergencies. It was a tough life.
“Villages had barbed wire around them and had to be patrolled by security forces.
“At that time, Kampung Lubok Bangor, Kampung Lawar and Kampung Kalai were often the targets of the communists who tried to threaten the villagers to give them food, medicine and information,” he said.
Asari said the current generation were lucky indeed as they did not have to go through what everyone from the late 1940s to the late 1980s had to go through.
“Our sacrifices, putting our lives on the line to free this country from the threat of the enemy, should not be taken lightly. We should always have the spirit to defend our nation and appreciate our freedom,” he said.