FHAG 56

It's the 56th anniversary of the Singapore Armed Forces Commando Formation this week!

A flyer that was used as a prop in the Mindef-commissioned film The Usual.
The picture in the original recruitment flyer was replaced with mine to add personal touch to the story.

Prior to enlistment, I was called up to Dempsey Road (the old Central Manpower Base, CMPB) for physical checks. After the usual tests, they sat me down for an interview.

One question still lives rent-free in my head.

Context: In the late 80s, the woke pakciks and makciks were loudly raising the issue of Malay representation in SAF elite units. For those who don’t know… that conversation was HUGE back then. 

Singapore has since made great strides with Malays in SAF. At the 2025 Singapore's National Day Parade, the Parade Commander was Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Firdaus Ghazali and LTC Muhammad Iskandar was the lead pilot for three dynamic flight displays involving F-15SG jets. Lieutenant (LTA) Iffa Daniesha was recently commissioned as a naval officer. Yet ex-Singaporeans overseas regularly make it their mission to harp on the Malay disparity like a broken cassette tape in desperate need of validation. Anyway…

So at the interview, the final question was:

“Which unit do you think you are qualified for? Which unit you want to go?”

Bruh… are you serious? Asking an 18-year-old, freshly awakened in his cultural-socialist phase, which elite unit he wants to be in?

“Oh, I think I am suited for the Commando, F16 pilot or naval commander..!”

Cocky, no irony, no resentment.

Low key I was Samuel Jackson going, “take that mutha fkr.”

I walked out of CMPB feeling strangely emancipated.

It was empowering as an 18-year old to be able to speak up to those who still harboured doubts about Malay loyalty. In my head, that response carried the weight of all the pakciks and abang-abang allegedly denied jobs because the alleged racial profiling eversince National Service was made mandatory post-independence, made many Malays allegedly ineligible for NS. And NS was the green card for employment then. Many woke elderly pakciks who lived through the experience in late 60s and 70s, claimed that gap sent a whole generation of Malay youths into the system. (Go Google.)

I remember taking in the fresh air walking down the hill along Dempsey Road toward Holland Road. It felt like some cinematic moment. 

It felt surreal when I teared open the National Service enlistment letter to find out I was posted to the 1st Commando Battalion! My two older brothers were posted as unit CQ during their respective National Service. I did not have any adult to speak to about real Commando army experience, other than the films Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) and Commando (Arnold Schwarzenegger).

Fast forward BMT. I was called to my OC’s office after a few weeks for a “review.” After a bunch of boring questions, he suddenly asked:

“Do you still recognize me?”

“Huh?”

“I was the one who interviewed you at CMPB.”

F*******!

Moral of the story: sometimes you really do get what you wished for.

I made a video during the historic 50th anniversary of the formation. Watch it here.