IPOH: For wives of the police force’s commandos, the sound of an approaching police truck or a whirring helicopter would always send shivers down their spine, especially during the pre-independence and Malayan emergency era.



While some were able to breathe a sigh of relief that the sound meant their husbands had safely returned from the war against communist insurgents, some could only wail when their husbands came out of the truck or helicopter, no longer in a perfect physical condition, or worse still, in a coffin.Sharing her experience of being a wife to a Very Able Troopers (VAT 69) commando, Siti Patimah Harun (pic), 63, said that during that era, whenever her husband was involved in an operation in the jungle, she spent many sleepless nights worrying about him as communication was limited.

“He wouldn’t tell me how long it would take; he would just say he had to go on an operation (against the communist insurgents). So I just had to wait and pray for his safe return.



“Every time we heard the sound of a police truck or a helicopter approaching the barracks, we, the wives of VAT 69 commandos, would rush out to the tarmac because we knew our husbands had returned,” she said here recently.

She, however, said that when the helicopter or ambulance arrived without a siren, the wives would cling to each other with tears in their eyes knowing that the vehicle was carrying the body belonging to one of their husbands.



For her, the most unforgettable moment was when her husband Baharuddin Ahmad Junan, 73, was involved in Operation Bamboo II on the Malaysia-Thailand border in 1978 to eradicate the threat of the Malayan Communist Party.



She said she was six-month pregnant with her second child when her husband was called in for the operation.



“He had gone for a week and I was feeding my first child in our barracks in Ipoh when a policeman came and told me that my husband was injured in the line of duty and was receiving treatment at the Penang Hospital.



“When I got to the hospital, I was shocked to see my husband with 28 stitches on the head and a broken arm,” she said, adding she was always proud of him and his job.



For Siti Hanipah Omar, 59, living as the wife of a VAT 69 commando, especially in the post-independence communist insurgency era required strength and self-sufficiency to cope with any situation at any time.



She said her marriage was just two weeks old when her husband Basrah Jali was called in for a three-week operation in 1982.



“I cried day and night because I had no one here. I came from Dengkil, Selangor and after three days of marriage, I followed my husband to live in a barrack in Tanjung Rambutan.



“Although my husband said it was a three-week operation, it broke my heart when he told me to learn to take care of myself as he wasn’t sure whether or not he would return,” she said.



But Siti Hanipah said she never entertained thoughts of asking him to change his job as she was proud of what he was doing. — Bernama

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/08/27/wives-stand-by-their-c...