Snippets of Scouting Memories

Tan Sri Dato' Dr Haji Abdul Majid b. Haji Ismail
V.I. 1936-1939
Second Selangor Scout Troop

e has fond memories of Troop meetings on Saturdays during which they played scout games and learned much Scoutcraft like orienteering. Camps were equally enjoyable with various activities like cooking, where Tan Sri and his friends would whip up some curry, nasi briyani and lemang. Around the campfires they would enjoy their food and sing songs like Old Smokey and Kookaburra. Many of these memories were happily recorded in log books, which were among many memorabilia that Tan Sri kept until his house in Sentul was burned down.

Besides enjoyment, there was also much hard work involved in scouting. Tan Sri represented the Second Selangor and the V.I. in one of the inter-Troop Beamish Cup Competitions teams in the late 1930's. As well, the scouts worked hard to achieve the coveted King Scout’s badge. Tan Sri was not a King Scout but one of his close friends, Ghazally Ahmad managed to become one. So indeed the Scouts were a hardworking collection of boys, despite taunts of Curi Ayam, which was common even in Tan Sri's days as a Scout.

For his First Class Journey test, Tan Sri had to hike from Castle Camp (now Kem Kota Raya) to Pekeliling area, to Petaling Hill (where Wisma Putra is) to Brickfields and then to Damansara for an overnight camp at the rubber estate. That night, he used bamboo for his cooking, which he did with his friend, Mohd Noor Marahakim (who became a King Scout). The next day, they continued the hike to Segambut, Sentul and back to Castle Camp. It was not an easy journey for there were no bitumen roads and they had to navigate through muddy paths and jungle routes. Yet it was an experience that Tan Sri still cherishes, just like the times he rode with his friends in the back of an open lorry to Port Dickson and Morib. Surely austerity and ruggedness mould character!

Perhaps his most remarkable experience came during his duty at the British Resident's Empire Day Garden party at the King's House (now Seri Negara, next to Carcosa). The Scouts were asked to wait on the guests, serving drinks which ranged from tea to harder beverages like brandy and whisky. Being the mischievous and inquisitive teenagers as they were, Tan Sri and his friend Shafie sneaked into a corner to taste some of the liquor. But sips became gulps and they soon had several drinks. The effects came not long after, when Tan Sri had double vision of a Bobby with his truncheon, while Shafie was too inebriated to cycle home alone. So seating his friend on the crossbar of the bicycle, Tan Sri pushed the bike from Carcosa all the way past Victory Avenue (Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin today) and Batu Road that night.

General (rtd) Tan Sri Dato' Seri Mohd Hashim b. Mohd Ali
V.I. 1948-1953
First KL Scout Group

As a prelude to his colourful career in the army, Tan Sri was a member of the First KL scout group, rising to become a Queen Scout in 1953. One of the important lessons from being a Scout was to teach him to be very particular about cleanliness and tidiness, and this personality led him to later join the army. The Scouting insistence of neatness, clean shoes and uniform, a regimented discipline, organised lines and being on-time led these to become his life philosophy, which he further cultivated in the army. In the Scouts, if they were not up to scratch, they would suffer at the hands of Scouters like Ariff Yahaya and SM Mr Chin Peng Lam. "They will hurl away any pots with soot on them, and if they find dirty cans around the campsite, they will tie those cans around your neck", says Tan Sri.

Another benefit of Scouting was that it impressed on him and his friends the importance of physical fitness. Tan Sri was a Bronze Medallion holder and swam for the school. He remembers his good friend, Kong Ted Yen, as one with exemplary consciousness of physical fitness. Kong Ted Yen was a school swimmer and like Tan Sri, a Queen Scout. Both of them received their Queen Scout award (including a certificate signed by Queen Elizabeth II) from Chief Scout Commissioner General Gerald Templer, who was also the High Commissioner of Malaya. Tan Sri notes that three Queen Scouts from that ceremony, including himself, subsequently rose to become Generals in the Malaysian army. Again, this was evidence of the benefits of Scouting in moulding discipline and appreciation of physical fitness, among other things.

Tan Sri fondly remembers his many travels including the frequent forays to Loke Yew Mansion to catch spiders and fish. Once, he also cycled from KL to Port Dickson with Khoo Teng Bin. Those were the days when there were no smooth bitumen roads and one had to navigate up and down hill, bumping along the pebbly road. After a hard day of pedalling, one would sleep under the stars, enjoying a simple meal on the beach. There were also further forays, such as to Lumut and even to Penang by train.

One of the privileges of the V.I. Scouts of Tan Sri's era was the close connection with the Boy Scout Association, especially since the V.I. Scouts had the Chief Commissioner of Scouting for Malaya, Mr E.M.F. Payne, as their Headmaster (1949-1952). Among the spin-offs of such a privilege was the easy use that the Scouts could make of campsites for camps and Troop activities.

Ooi Boon Leong
V.I. 1950-1956
Second KL Scout Group

The Victoria Institution was and is still only a secondary school, that is to say, its classes began from Form 1 to Form 6. In the early fifties Form 1 was referred to as Standard 6 and so on until when Form 5 was referred to as Standard 9. The sixth forms were added only a little later. As most of the boys who began in the V.I. were at least 13 years of age there were no wolf cub packs.

The V.I. had 3 groups: each group comprised of Boy Scouts, Senior Scouts and Rovers. They were designated as First Kuala Lumpur Group, Second KL Group and Fourth KL Group. I cannot remember the ages for the Boy Scouts, the Senior Scouts and the Rovers. All the three groups had similar uniform: khaki shirts, navy blue shorts, navy knee socks and brown or black shoes. For headgear the 2nd KL wore hats not unlike those of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with wide brims. The V.I. Groups were distinguished from groups in other schools which had shorts of khaki although some began to adopt the navy blue ones as time went on. The shorts were held up by a leather belt with a buckle bearing the Scout insignia of a fleur-de-lys. Hung from the belt is a rope wound-up to about 6 inches and a Scout knife in a sheath. This Scout knife could be bought from a shop in KL which had imported it from the Scout shop in London.

The highest achievement for a Boy Scout was to obtain the Green Cord and for a Senior Scout the King's Scout badge. It meant that you had obtained the requisite number of badges for certain skills and activities. "King" then meant the King of England and I suppose they are now called Yang di-Pertuan Agong's Scouts.

The most exciting activity when I first joined the Scout movement was to go camping. This we did in a place called "The Castle Camp" which was situated at the end of Jalan Gurney (it is now called, I think, "Jalan Tembak"). It was also near the Headquarters of the British Army and officially known as HQ Malaya Command. I looked forward to sleeping under canvas cooking our own meals and building our own fire with twigs and branches we gathered from the grounds. We cheated somewhat by cooking tinned provisions but we did cook fresh vegetables. I remember we used to make very good tea. We would boil the tea in a large circular metal container and whilst it was boiling we would add a few tins of condensed milk; the tea tasted delicious when drank after a hike in the surrounding hills (notably Loke Yew hill where Loke Yew had his grave). In the evening we would have a campfire when we sang Scout songs and cowboy songs.

Kuan Beng Teik
V.I. 1957-1963
Second KL Scout Group

We travelled around by bus or bicycle depending on the distance. The furthest we had cycled was to Pangkor Island. One of the challenges was to cycle up the hill on the way to Templer Park. What we built at camp depended on the length of stay. If it was about a week, we would build a proper dapur and tables and chairs. Rice, egg dishes, fried vegetables and fried fish was the normal staple. The Treasurer will go to the nearest market/corner shop to buy the fresh food.

For Job Weeks, the popular areas were the residences where the top Government servants and big shots stayed such as Ampang, Kenny Hill, Imbi Road and Petaling Hill.

At campfires, normally each Patrol would put up a show. The number of people would depend whether it is a Troop Camp fire or a combined campfire. The normal campfire songs included Ging Gang Goolie and Our Campfire's Burning. Normally we brought our own water or cordial drinks in the water can for refreshments.

Saturday was convenient for meetings as there was minimum other school activity. Cannot remember the typical agenda.The idea was to learn the various skill and have fun. We wore our uniforms and the meeting usually last the whole morning. The uniform was tailored. Scout equipment was bought from local shops or scout shop which ever was cheaper. Badges were from the BP House Scout shop.

To be a King Scout was not easy. It required determination. You had to work towards it. The main problem was to get the testers for the various badges. Acquiring the skill was not difficult. For example, to get the Fire-fighter Badge we arranged with the fire station in Shaw Road for a course. At the end of the course you would get the badge. The other skill you learned during camps and weekly meetings.

We did not have any memorable Scout Master. The Scout Masters that we had we were either nominal or serve too short a period. Fortunately we had some able Troop Leaders who basically ran the Troop. Meanwhile, I had too many other activities to maintain a close relationship with the other members. During my varsity days I still kept in contact with some of the members who were still in KL. Now we are all over the world. There is this special bond and I do make it a point to contact any member if I know the contact number or address.

The school treated Scouting like any other school activities. Scouts were useful during school functions. The usual public saying was that Scouts curi ayam. We had good relationships with the Scout Commissioners because 'Skip' (Geoffrey Geldard, Scout Master of the Second KL Seniors in the mid 1950's) was the Executive Commissioner at that time. We used to help in some the Headquarter's projects. We had a jolly District Commissioner who was helpful in being tester for the various badges. We had to do odd jobs in his house once in a while to be in his good book.

Dr Yap Piang Kian
V.I. 1961-1967
First KL Scout Group

We used to buy our uniforms and Scout equipment from army surplus stores located at the Malacca Street (now Jalan Melaka) bus station. The shops are now obliterated. They used to be at the beginning of Ampang Road, now occupied by Bank Bumiputra. The Len Fong bus company used the site and it was the meeting point for many outings to the north and east coast. We also got a lot of equipment from BP House and Gian Singh (G.S. Gill along Batu Road) which sold sports equipment as well.

Scout uniforms were worn most of the time, especially during Troop meetings. The first part would be a formal inspection, announcements and prize-giving. Then there would be competitions or training. If I remember correctly, the scouts also had a special swimming session.

We had a lot of outings, and Bukit Takun was one of our favourite destinations. One boy sustained a snake bite - we didn't know if the snake was a poisonous one or not but the tin miners there didn't help by saying that he was a "gone case"! Another two got lost for two days, and they remember waving to passing planes for help. We also did some night climbs and I remember getting lost too. We decided to sleep and the next morning discovered that we were only a few metres off the track, after having wandered in circles! I heard that an MBS scout died in a fall. A few of the First KL scouts also climbed up the vertical face using ropes (Wong Twee Juat, Ng Hon Yuen and others of their year, Sixth Form 1967-1968).

Besides Castle Camp, we camped at Camp Semangat in Cheras, later renamed Kem Sardon. We also camped at a few sites off Jalan Duta (valleys, rubber estates and a small river/stream) and opposite the present Agricultural Department. We have also camped at Kuala Kubu Baru, Pongsoon, Ulu Langat and further afield, we have gone to Langkawi, Pangkor, East Coast, Port Dickson, and even Singapore. We either cycled or bussed to these places. Occasionally the Scouter with a car or a kind parent would drive us. We had great fun racing each other up Kanching Pass on the way to Takun.

At camps, we ate rice with a mixture of cooked food and tinned food. Cooked food would be fried fish - usually kembong - occasionally beef and chicken. Vegetables would be choy sam, cabbage and onions. Tinned food included corned beef, baked beans, sardines, and sometimes, Yeo's chicken curry! Also we used to bake cakes by using an old biscuit tin as an oven and heaping embers over it. If the cake didn't rise, we would call it a biscuit! One patrol would be responsible for marketing on a particular basis. The other patrols would tell them what they wanted and give them the money. Sometimes the Scouters would do the marketing for the whole Troop - they would decide on the food and divide it up accordingly.

Our normal campfires during camps were of course kept simple. All patrols had to present an item and there was always a competition for the best. Food was tea and biscuits usually. There was always a formal opening and closing, and after 'Taps', there was a minute of silence for reflection. I have fond memories of staring into the embers, with the heat on my face thinking about life in general and telling myself  "another campfire gone...". Some of the scouts would spend the night sleeping next to the fire while the others would go back to their tents. In Kuala Kubu Baru, I remember making a visit to a camp (I was in university then) and I believed I was saved from getting malaria because I slept next to the fire at nite. The next morning the burnt out wood would be put aside, and the turf replaced over the site of the fire and within a week nobody would know that a fire had been set there!

The Annual Parent's Campfire was usually held at Castle Camp and was very elaborate, with about 50-80 parents, friends and well-wishers attending. The various patrols were allocated tasks such as:

For food the parents usually helped. This was served during intermission. Each patrol was also asked to provide an item. Auditions were held and only the best five or six items were selected (noting that there were sometimes up to 10 patrols in the Boy Scout Troop from the middle to late 1960's). As for the songs, most if not all of them were in a song book that I compiled and edited while I was in University. There was guitar accompaniment. The impressive part was the opening and closing ceremonies.

For Job Weeks, we used to choose affluent neighbourhoods like Lower Ampang Road. Usually, we would cycle there. The hope was that we would be shooed away by the busy occupants with some money, without really having to work! The commonest job was car washing for which we would get a few dollars. Five dollars was considered good and $10 a windfall.

The old Den was a second home to most of us. We would gather after school to socialise, have meetings and teach the younger scouts knotting, etc. It was diagonally divided into two parts for the two Troops. The First KL side had a huge row of lockers for all the camping equipment etc. There was also a table and chairs for the COH etc. I think there was also a small library and trophy cupboard.

We had a whole collection of old newsletters, Gang Show souvenir programs etc. They were edited by me from around 1968 to around 1970 while I was in the Rovers. I was also in the University then and when I got too busy and passed to to someone else it just died! It was mainly news of the Boy Scouts, Seniors and Rovers and some articles on Scoutcraft.

Dennis Kwok Yoke Kwong
V.I. 1970-1975
First KL Scout Group

I liked the camping trips and campfires. I remember going to Singapore (without parents of course!) and sleeping in classrooms. Port Dickson trip featured camping on the beach on Richard Lee’s father’s property and moving from tent to house one night after a heavy downpour basically flooded all the tents. Can't remember much except that it was raining and windy and water was coming in everywhere until the word was finally given to "move to drier spots". The camp itself was great mixing the regular scouting activities with some aquatic sport. No worries about food here too... the Si Rusa Inn was a short walk away and there were shops outside it.

We also undertook a kayak expedition down the Klang River. My kayak didn’t quite make the whole journey as it capsized! That experience is actually quite embarrassing as it capsized because the river was too shallow. I think by the time I sat down in it (can't remember who my mate was), it was almost touching the bottom of the river. I think it eventually got stuck when it really touched a shallow point and turned around and toppled over! The rest went on - I got help to get to the river bank and after that, I think I went home. I sure didn't feel like going on! Preparation was training in the Taman Titiwangsa lake. Compare that with the low Klang River and you can understand why the training and real life differed!

Michael Chin Yew Ming
V.I. 1984-1990
Second KL Scout Group

The 1984 Telematch saw the Troop send two teams (approximately 14 Boy Scouts) to the event. We were competing against teams from the public on a few events such as "simultaneous walks on planks", walking on stilts, carrying rubber bands, using straws etc. It was a fun yet exciting event, and we beat all the teams in nearly 80% of the games held that day. For the Form 1 students (all of my batch's Scouts), it was a delight receiving the trophies from our Headmaster during the school assembly (being the first experience).

The 1985 Inter-district Comp Camp at Sekolah Sri Delima was held in March, in conjunction with World Scouts' Day. It was attended by 14 members of our Troop. Second KL was the backbone of the KL Bandar troop and we were proud to be the champions of the inter-District competition. The team was divided into Seniors and Boy Scouts. One of the activities during the competition was an "impromptu gadget building competition". Two people represented the KL Bandar Team – myself from Second KL and Harry Loh (MBS Scout - I'm still keeping in touch with him to date). The instructions were to build a safe and secure contraption in 45minutes that could be used to cross a 10 foot river, using the limited logs and ropes that were available. We built a 15 foot "tripod" bridge with handbars, foot support and decorations. All in all, as expected, we won the competition. It was a joy for the Troop to receive the winner’s trophy from Dato’ Amar Sulaiman Haji Daud, the then Minister of Education and Chief Scout of Malaysia.

The Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Inter-Troop Competition for 1986 was held in February at Sekolah Alam Shah and our Troop (Second KL/ Victoria Scout Group) emerged runner-up. The competition was held on a secondary jungle beside the school, and we were not allowed to chop any trees for building any gadgets. As a result, we had to bring wood externally (from wood chopping expeditions) to set up the campsite. The campsite was on laterite ground and due to the constant rain, it was a really muddy and wet competition camp. Due to the short time frame given to complete the campsite, we had to work until 5.30am in the morning, at times in the dark with only a torch light to ensure that our lashings were accurately tied and fastened.

On the inspection day, we could see that our campsite gadgets were way above the other Troops, both in quality and quantity - we had built a suspended flagpole, archway, larder, kitchen, shoe rack, boundary, and altar fire. Of course it was an uphill task to convince the judges, especially as Sekolah Alam Shah (who became eventual champions) were the host school. We emerged second. Nevertheless, we departed from the competition knowing that our Troop had been true to its standard of being Second To None in terms of discipline, commitment, capabilities, gadget building and skills. That is why we have always insisted that these qualities be sustained in the troop today!

The 1989 Tahan Expedition was held in March. One of the highlights of the trip was that we saved a group of disillusioned students from Singapore (comprising Japanese, Pakistanis, Indian, US, UK, Canadian, etc) from being attacked by a swarm of wasps. We had to rescue two Japanese ladies and one Indian guy from a cliff as they were stuck there after one of our Troop members stepped on an underground bee-hive (ignoring the woodcraft sign of no-entry!). As a result, I got 17 wasp stings around my body/eyes/arms and I had to run all the way up Gunung Tahan, to make myself tired in order to forget the pain of the poisonous stings! In addition, it was a "natural anaesthetic" to numb the pain by submerging the body into the icy-cold pool of water at the Padang Plateau in Gunung Tahan.

There were lots of happy moments, such as some of us getting leeches stuck in private parts after having a bath in the river.. and blood was oozing unnaturally! Instinctively, all of us hurriedly made "extraordinary check ups" without further persuasion! Not forgetting, my surreptitious encounter with a tiger, our witness of a wild honey bear, making a sarsaparilla (a.k.a. sarsi) drink from a tree bark, and the troop's joy of lifting up the VSG banner at the peak of Gunung Tahan! For your information, the mountain rats/ rodents were the size of a cat!(some were in fact bigger than cats!) These are indelible memories indeed.

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