KUALA LUMPUR: Ever the soldier, Leftenan-Jeneral Datuk Johnny Lim Eng Seng gave a salute when he called it a day after 41 years serving the Malaysian army.
“It has been a wonderful journey. It is always an honour and privilege to serve your country alongside your comrades in the military,” said Lim, who was the first Chinese Leftenan-Jene-ral in the history of the armed forces.
This means that he was the first Chinese senior officer to have the prestigious three-star rank in the country’s military.
On Tuesday, the 60-year-old was honoured in a retirement parade at Kem Wardieburn in Sungai Besi with over 600 people in attendance including Army chief Jeneral Datuk Azhan Md Othman, army personnel, former commanding officers, comrades and veterans.
Lim told The Star that he had often been guided by a sense of duty.
“The army belongs to everyone whether you are a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dayak or Kadazan. We are all Malaysians.
“We all share the same flag, the same soil. The army is a reflection of that,” said Lim, a widower with one son.
It has been a long but rewarding journey for Lim, whose mother was once hesitant about his career choice due to the communist insurgency back then.
“But after seeing how determined I was, she relented,” he recalled.
He said his mother, who died in 1998, would surely be proud of him today.
“I could imagine her saying to me, ‘Well done, thank you’.”
Lim was trained at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the United Kingdom.
Upon graduation, he was commissioned into the Royal Ranger Regiment in December 1986.
In an interview with The Star two months ago, he shared about his many missions which included an operation to locate the “Flower Garden” communist camp along the Malaysia-Thailand border in 1987.
The jungle trails, he recalled, were dangerous with hidden explosives and traps, adding that it broke his heart when his comrades were killed by booby traps.
For Lim, his memories of the army aren’t just about the battles on the ground, but also about the brotherhood he forged with his fellow soldiers.
“This camaraderie will be with me forever,” he said.
