Plan afoot to bring home S’wak Rangers who died and were buried in Peninsular M’sia, S’pore during the insurgency.
KUCHING: A plan is now taking shape to bring home members of the elite Sarawak Rangers who died and were buried in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore during the communist insurgency.
This initiative is being spearheaded by Lieutenant General (Rtd) Robert Rizal Abdullah.
A former Ranger himself, Robert from Sri Aman is now residing in Perak.
He told thesundaypost yesterday that he had tracked down the burial place of 21 trackers and Sarawak Rangers, including one border scout, and he hoped that he would eventually be able arrange for all of them to be returned home.
The graves are in Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Melaka, Kedah and Singapore where two of them are in Kranji Military Cemetery.
Robert revealed that he took up this cause after he learned of the grave of a Sarawak Ranger, Lance Corporal Ungkok Jugam, at Km3, Jalan Langgar, in Alor Setar through a blog in November last year.
Describing it as a “shocking discovery”, he said Ungkok’s grave was located on a patch of green on a road shoulder. “For a hero who died fighting for a country, a roadside grave is certainly undignified,” he said. Ungkok, who is from Lubok Antu, had served at the height of the first Emergency in Malaya from 1948 to 1960. He was a bachelor in his mid-20s when he died.
After discovering the grave, Robert immediately set the gears in motion to relocate Ungkok’s grave.
He immediately sought the help of the Veteran Affairs Department as well as the local authorities.
On April 28 this year, a ‘miring ceremony’ was performed and Iban soldiers from the Fourth Malaysian Rangers based in Kangar dug up what was left of the grave and the headstone.
Ungkok was reburied in the graveyard of St Michael’s Catholic Church at Jalan Sultanah.
Sadly, Ungkok’s remains were not found.
“We couldn’t find his remains. Even after scanning the surrounding area with a geo-electromagnetic surveyor, a precision location detecting device, we were unsuccessful.
“It is said that the soil in Alor Setar is very acidic and after more than 50 years, the remains could have dissolved,” said Robert.
He was present at the ceremony to relocate Ungkok’s grave. So were Veteran Affairs Department director general Major General Datuk Zulkiflee Mazlan, Datuk Bandar Alor Setar Dato Khazali Din, a senior officer in the Rangers Regiment Col Steven Mundaw, and Ungkok’s relatives.
Robert revealed that soon after he discovered Ungkok’s grave he had actually brought it to the attention of Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud when the latter launched his books on November 6, last year.
Besides discussing the relocation of Ungkok’s grave, he also proposed the return of the remains of the Sarawak Rangers and Trackers to the State.
He said the Chief Minister agreed with his plan but he also advised Robert to get the written consent of all the next-of-kins.
At the same time, he suggested to Taib that the state government set up a Heroes Memorial here.
When asked how soon this plan could be realised, he said: “It depends on how fast can the state government set up the Heroes Memorial, how fast we can track down all the next-of-kin and how fast can we tie up all the arrangements with the other State governments.”
Robert hoped that the Heroes Memorial could be a part of the Sarawak Museum and is accessible to the relatives of those buried there as well as tourists and visitors at all time.
The Heroes Memorial, he pointed out, would be dedicated to the fallen warriors as well as the present and future generations, especially the Ibans.
“The courage of the Iban Trackers and Sarawak Rangers are known worldwide. I believe this legacy is kept alive by the present generation of soldiers in the Malaysian Rangers. The many gallantry awards they have earned spoke of their deeds
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