AN EVENING WITH
TWO FORMER SCOUT MASTERS -
Messrs Chin Peng Lam and Chan Bing Fai

by Loh Kok Kin
2^nd KL Troop Leader 1995

was still at The Mines with only 10 minutes to the appointed time that I had arranged to meet them in Petaling Jaya. They were the two great C’s of the V.I. scout groups. The first, Mr Chin Peng Lam, after leaving Pasar Road School, attended the V.I. from 1946 to 1951, after which he joined the School staff as an Art teacher and a scout master until 1954. He then left to become a police inspector. By the time Mr Chin retired from the force in 1987, he was holding the rank of Senior Assistant Commissioner, which to the police is the equivalent of the Brigadier-General to the army. The second Mr C, Chan Bing Fai, who was in Mr Chin’s cohort as a V.I. student, left for teacher training at Kirby before returning to the school as a teacher and scout master; he served at the alma mater for 11 years until 1966. Interestingly, one of Mr Chan’s former teachers at the Batu Road School, one of the V.I. feeder schools of the time, was Mr Choong Wan Chan, the first King Scout of the V.I. (awarded in 1922) and the first vice-captain of the V.I. in 1923.

When Mr F. Daniel was headmaster of the school, it was compulsory for boys to participate in extra-curricular activities, be it a uniformed group, clubs or societies. It was in this environment that Messrs Chin and Chan both joined the scouts - Mr Chan was in the 2nd Kuala Lumpur scout group while Mr Chin was with 4th KL scouts. Thus began a lifetime of devotion to the scouting movement. I was impressed by Mr Chin’s log book from his days as a scout and scout master, which he had lovingly kept over the years in tidy condition. In it, a cutting of the V.I. crest, complete with explanatory notes, sat majestically on a page of its own. On other pages were found neatly sketched maps, reports and jottings, newspaper snippets with news about the V.I. scouts and carefully cropped black and white photographs of the many scouts Mr Chin had known during his tenure. For instance, there was a article from the Malay Mail dated Tuesday 29 September 1953, which detailed the ceremony in which 83 King Scouts were being certified by Sir Gerald Templer. In the photograph, Mr Chin was proudly seated close to the High Commissioner of Malaya. This picture with others and each word in that log book fed a million memories which he weaved into stories that kept me intrigued.

In the words of Mr Chan, "We had pride without needing to be rewarded". The log book was evidence of that. Mr Chan, too, still kept an early First KL campfire song book, presented to him by a keen scout of the 1960s, Yap Piang Kian (now Dr). "Every boy didn’t need to be told what to do. Initiative was a hallmark of the V.I. boys." Mr Chan gave me the example of a House tea party in the late 1950s, organised by its Captain, Kok Wee Kiat (now Dato’). Every logistical detail was seen to completion by the boys, and all that Mr Chan as the House Master had to do was to perform the final inspection. Yet, even though the boys were very capable and talented, "there was always respect and humility."

Indeed, such virtues of pride, initiative, respect and humility cultivated reliability in all V.I. boys, and the scouts were no exception. Whenever there were public events like Empire Day, Coronation Day parades and civil service parties, many of which were held at Carcosa (the Residence of the High Commissioner), V.I. scouts were always the ones called to help. This was despite there being scout groups in St John’s Institution, the Methodist Boys’ School, St Gabriel's and an Open Scout Troop. (The Open Scout Troop was formed by Mr Albert Mah in Ipoh Road, to provide an educational pastime for the many delinquents who lived in that area. Mr Mah later became a Chief Police Inspector). V.I. scouts were called on for parades, to serve and wait on parties and to enforce ‘crowd-control’ measures. Smartly attired in their scout uniforms, with scout hats and staffs, and a ribbon/insignia on each left shoulder (cubs wore a yellow triangle, boy scouts a green ribbon, senior scouts a red patch and rover scouts a red ribbon), the scouts were an awe-inspiring sight. Mr Chin remembers one Job Week in the early 1950’s when Nestlé, who were planning to produce an advertisement, sought the help of V.I. scouts. As well, V.I. scouts were called on to plant the trees at the then newly established Kem Semangat. The Headmaster of the V.I. in those days, Mr E.M.F. Payne, who was also the Chief Commissioner of Scouts in Malaya, as well as Mr Geoffrey ‘Skipper’ Geldard were instrumental in the establishment of this campsite.

As if reliability were not enough, V.I. scouts were also high achievers. Both Mr Chin and Mr Chan agreed that the early 1950s was a time when 2nd KL easily outshone the other groups. In 1953, the Malayan Film Unit (now Filem Negara Malaysia) produced a documentary to illuminate the nation about the ideals and activities of the scout movement. (MFU documentaries were normally screened with the trailers before the main feature in cinemas around the country.) Entitled Chik’s Great Adventure, its main stars were the 2nd KL scouts. The role of Chik was filled by Raja Iskandar Shah while the other scouts in the show were S. Arunasalam (who played the role of the boy who was inspired by Chik), M. Shanmughalingam (now Dato’) and Mr Chin himself. This 2nd KL feat was noted in an article in the Malay Mail that year. Also, in the Champoree Inter-Contingent Shield held at Kijang Camp in Kota Bharu, Kelantan in 1953, it was the 2nd KL scouts, particularly Kamarul Ariffin (now Tan Sri) and S. Arunasalam who led the state team. Even Mr Chin himself did the 2nd KL group proud by being the youngest ever Wood-badger in Malaya at that time. He was 21. The Wood-badge, called today the Manikayu, was an accreditation for scout leaders.

Excellence in scouting is a springboard for success in life as many V.I. scouts have proven. Mr Chin fondly remembered Kamarul Ariffin (with whom he had kept in touch over the years) as an extremely dedicated scout and later Assistant Scout Master of 2nd KL. Together with Ooi Boon Leong (now a successful lawyer and businessman), Kamarul founded a newsletter for the group in 1953, the Second KL Gazette. This must have been a prelude for his lifetime involvement in journalism, as Tan Sri Kamarul now holds various directorships, including being the executive chairman of one of the major newspaper groups in Malaysia, namely, Utusan Melayu Berhad. Then there was the scout ‘smart dynasty’ from the Ooi family. Ooi Boon Leong and Ooi Boon Seng (late Professor of Medicine at George Washington University, USA) were active members of 2nd KL. At the same time, their brother Ooi Boon Teck (currently Professor of Engineering at McGill University, Canada) was a respected scout of First KL. Each one of these brothers won the coveted Treacher and Rodger medals in his time. Other famous ex-scouts recalled by the two Mr C's include Khoo Teng Bin, Dato’ Dr Shanmughalingam and General (retired) Tan Sri Hashim Mohd Ali, who was a First KL King Scout. Many V.I. scouts, like Khoo Choong Keow (also a King Scout), were highly exemplary and dedicated much of their school time to scouting, and yet their scholastic achievements were none the worse for this intense commitment.

The two Scout Masters also recalled the days in the 1950s when Sir Gerald Templer founded the Federation Regiment comprising an elite squad of soldiers consisting of locals, rather than colonials. Khong Kim Kong (from 2nd KL) did the scouts proud when he was among the ('super') twelve recruited to form the embryonic officer corps. Two other V.I. boys were enlisted - Lakbir Singh and Gui Poh Chui. The three V.I. boys bore testimony to the respect that the V.I. commanded from even the highest officials in the country. As Mr Chan said "The V.I. boys stood a better chance in the interview". These boys were sent to the Royal Military College in Sandhurst, England for officer training. The make-up of this group was entirely multi-racial. However, in the 1970’s, this unit was disbanded. Nonetheless, the calibre of these boys were indisputable. Colonel Khong Kim Kong, for instance, was a Commissioned Engineering Officer from 1952 to 1970 in the Malaysian Armed Forces. He served as Staff Officer with the United Nations in the Congo in 1960 (that was the first time Malayan troops had ever served with the UN). From 1970 to 1980 he was with Tractors Malaysia Ltd. From 1982 to 1988 he was an executive director in MUI Ltd.

These scouting achievements were not without the obstacles of economic hardship. Nonetheless, both masters believed that it was such frugality and simple lifestyles that nurtured many admirable virtues in the boys. Creativity was nourished when they made their own toys. Physical fitness was improved with frequent hikes to Loke Yew’s grave near Castle Camp (now Kem Kota Raya in MINDEF) as well as cycling trips trips to the Klang Gates, Klang and Port Dickson. It was also a time when the experience, rather than the cost, was the main consideration. A fine example of this was in the person of Eric Perreira, the camp warden of Castle Camp. He would allow the scouts to camp on the grounds for free and also loaned them the necessary camping equipment without any charge. Mr Chan recalled sleeping on ground sheets that were also used by the Red Cross. Those sheets had blood stains (who knew what those First Aiders had been using them for!) and were so poor in quality that water easily seeped through from below. He also recalled once confronting a snake that had crept into his tent! Yet, they were all content to use those sheets because canvass in those days was expensive and too heavy to carry around.

As I leafed through Mr Chin’s log book, I eyed a neatly sketched map of Malaya. He told me that it was a record of his journey on the vessel Tung Song, which took him and 20 other boys from Port Swettenham (now Port Klang) to Singapore. Eleven days were spent away from home. The trip commenced with a train ride from KL to the port on 26 December, 1952. After leaving Port Swettenham, the vessel took them to Pulau Brani, off the main island of Singapore, where it unloaded tin ore. There, the group took a motor boat to Clifford Pier after which they journeyed to Sands House (the scout headquarters of Singapore) by bus. The scouts also had many such trips to other places. There were, for instance, the trips to Pangkor where they would travel to Telok Anson (now Teluk Intan) and Lumut by bus before boarding rickety fishing boats across to Pangkor Island. At a time when travelling by air was unheard of and travelling by car a luxury, the boys relished each opportunity to see the areas outside the familiar city surroundings, even if it meant travelling along bumpy laterite or gravel roads.

I also asked Mr Chin if he remembered the 2nd KL group song which has been attributed to him. His memory was faint, and he said that it was probably the result of a collaborative effort in the early 1950s. He could not remember it off the cuff but when I sang it to him (thanks to King Scout, Mr Khoo Choong Keow, who had sung it to me a few days before during the 2^nd KL campfire), he nodded and smiled in agreement. Sung to the tune of It's a Long Way To Tipperary, it goes:

It is interesting that Mr Chin had a role in this 2nd KL song because the 1st KL group song was composed by Mr Wong Peng Kong together with Mr Geoffrey Geldard. Both Mr Chin and Mr Wong were from 4th KL when they were students in the school - talk about shifting allegiances! Meanwhile, the other songs that the scouts used to sing (especially when sitting around a campfire) include Kookaburra Sits On The Old Gum Tree and community songs like Clementine, the original It's a Long Way To Tipperary and Pack Up Your Troubles.

Scouting activities had always managed to intertwine fun with some element of skill and character-building. Both masters remembered the ‘Test of Patience’ when they would sit the boys in a group and then play popular records, alternating them with long bouts of classical music. Or instead of music, the masters would sometimes read entire income tax returns documents to the boys. Other (less boring) activities included pioneering, where even the boy scouts would build monkey bridges and signal towers; rather arduous tasks for those in their developmental stages considering the physical and mental rigour involved in these activities. Meanwhile, during Sports Day, there used to be a scout event. The activities involved include stretcher building, first-aid skills, knots, signalling and some pioneering (construction would have started before Sports Day). Mr Chin used to grill his boys until they could apply first aid, tie knots and send signals blindfolded! Both masters chuckled as they recalled that 4th KL always emerged last!

Mr Chin often gave the following message to his boys: "If you believe in what you do and you do believe in scouting, then as a scout, you can help others to understand the bond of brotherhood. The ties of scouting friendship are greater than those of any other kind." He and Mr Chan reminisced that those were the days when the eye was truly blind to the colour to the skin. Everyone would laugh at the jibes and good-spirited teases like ‘Eh Melayu celaka, tolong ini’ and ‘Cina Pek mari sini’ being hurled around, without the slightest offence taken. In fact, I was deeply moved by a card sent to Mr Chin by a Malay former scout, when the latter was studying in England. The card, dated 10 May 1954 read: "Brother, Thou Art My Inspiration". Then I asked both masters about food taboos, especially when cooking at camps. Mr Chan replied, "Come to think of it, we never ever discussed it. We just knew on our own accord that pork and beef were inappropriate and so we took a lot of sardines on camp. There was automatic respect for each other’s differences, without any need to play it up." When anyone needed help, the others would rally to provide it especially as most boys were not economically well-off. Fixing the roofs of each other's houses and mending pipes and sinks were normal gotong-royong activities, even if the gotong-royong word was not used. Mr Chin and Mr Chan received many remarks from astonished parents who asked, "What did you do to my son? He never lifted a finger around the house but now he takes on most of the chores!".

The spirit of scouting brotherhood cut through the various troops. On 18 September 1953, a variety show called Fiesta was collaboratively organised by the First, Second and Fourth KL Scout Groups to raise money for the scout funds. Charging a meagre 50 cents, $1 or $2 for entry fees, the Fiesta had performances as well as singing sessions (with songs like Sons Of The Sea and From Cotton Fields To New Orleans). With the assistance of other groups like the Malayan Arts and Theatre Group which lent them spotlights and screens, the scouts raised $1,319.30, a king’s ransom in those days. Such a spirit of brotherhood is not transient, but remains with the boys throughout their lives. Recently, a number of old scouts rallied together to raise funds to sponsor the visit of Captain John Lever. He was a scout master in the 1960’s, and now resides in England. This generous act was a token of appreciation to him. Such is the bonding between the members of the movement. This spirit was so infectious in the days of the two Mr C's that parents, too, were actively involved in the movement. There used to be a parents’ committee that acted as a ‘Board of Governors’ for the V.I. scouts. Among the members were Dr and Mrs Ooi Keng Seng (parents of the Ooi brothers), Mrs Teh Hon Yoon and V.I. teacher, Mr Lim Boon Hor.

In Mr Chin’s log book, I found the lyrics to the song Taps, which aptly summed up his and Mr Chan’s scouting reminiscences. Perhaps, when one gazes back on such memories of a lifetime, eyes a-twinkle and heart rancour-free, truly there is much to be grateful for:

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