FOR ex-army ranger Kapt (Rtd) Panirchellvum Velaitham, the road from a remote rubber estate in Kulim, Kedah, to the front line of the communist insurgency began with a small newspaper coupon.
The son of a rubber tapper, the lanky 19-year-old had just completed his Malaysia Certificate of Education in 1973 when he spotted an advertisement seeking army recruits in an English daily borrowed from a friend.
With his friend’s permission, he cut out the coupon and sent in his application.
“It was a sudden calling to serve my country. Moreover, living in poverty, I had hoped for a better future in the army,” he said in a recent interview.
Weeks later, a police car arrived at the plantation to deliver a travel warrant to him.
“It was a train ticket to Seremban for my army interview. That itself was a very proud moment for a simple rubber tapper’s son like me.”
Panirchellvum passed the physical and written tests despite being only slightly above the minimum weight requirement and was sent to the Royal Military College for training.
In 1974, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and was posted to the 3rd Royal Rangers Regiment in Taiping, Perak.
Three years after regular reconnaissance duties in the jungle, the young officer found himself facing a mission that could have cost him his life.
His commander ordered him to pick four soldiers for an operation to intercept a group of communist terrorists (CTs) heading into Gerik, Perak, to collect food supplies.
“We knew this would be a different mission. A fellow officer had earlier sought detailed information of our next of kin.
“It was a grim reminder that some of us might not return,” said the 72-year-old, now a director of a plantation company.
That night, Panirchellvum and his men waited in pitch darkness before spotting several flashlights approaching them.
“The flash of their torchlights showed that they were heavily armed. We were outnumbered and they were too close to us. So I lobbed a hand grenade towards them. After it exploded, a brief gunfight ensued as the CTs scrambled for safety.”
In the darkness, he suddenly felt something warm and sticky running down his face.
For a moment, Panirchellvum feared he had been shot.Only when his men shone a torch did he realise it was blood and brain matter from a CT whose head was blown up by the grenade he had thrown.
Despite orders to hold their position, the young officer radioed his commander and pleaded for permission to pursue the fleeing group.
The team eventually captured an injured CT who later proved valuable to the police Special Branch for intelligence gathering in subsequent operations.
For his gallantry in destroying a core CT outfit, Panirchellvum received the Panglima Gagah Berani, the second highest gallantry award from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, in 1978.
But Panirchellvum was reluctant to take sole credit, and gave recognition to the men who fought alongside him on that day.
“I put up a multiracial unit comprising Kpl Kamaruddin and L/Kpl Hassan, both Malays, L/Kpl Rusip, an Iban, and Ranger Lim Meng Hong, a Chinese. All four brave men valiantly charged and defeated the enemy on that day.”
His voice turned sombre when he recalled another operation in Sungai Siput, Perak, two years later, where Lim lost a leg to a booby trap.
After over a decade in the army, Panirchellvum decided on early retirement in 1984 and later found success in agriculture and the plantation sector.
But the memories of his army years remain along with his belief that Malaysia’s greatest strength has always been its people.
“Malaysia was built by the blood and sweat of all races. When racially sensitive remarks are made, it is hurtful to ex-servicemen like me,” he said.
As Malaysia celebrates National Day, he hopes Malaysians will preserve the harmony and unity he had witnessed among his fellow soldiers.
“For soldiers who once walked into the jungle knowing we might never return home, our only wish is that the peace so many of us fought for is never taken for granted,” he said.
