4111193 Officer Cadet Yaacob was the head tukang karut dikir barat who popularised the dikir song wa bule teraju tigo in Sebatang Karah, Port Dickson. He was popularly known as Yaacob Besi a gentleman from Melor, Kelantan. He was not commissioned and I last heard he was with MAS as Training Director or may be in a similar position like that,I don’t know.
He marched like an iron man. As a six footer, tough and handsome but carrying a fiery temper. Probably he was not commissioned due to his abrupt temper manifested at the wrong time,at the wrong place and to the wrong people.This “defective” behavior then fell under the head of military attitude.
Kelantanese cadets generally were hot tempered and clanish like Irishmen. RMC was the best place then to pick up a fight for whatever reasons but mostly related to egocentric clashes.There was a code of non-disclosure about the fight practised among the cadets not to reveal about the fight. If you were unlucky and get caught it would mean an immediate summary dismissal from the college. Finito. He joined another hot tempered Kelantanese 4111189 Officer Cadet Tuan Hamzah who eventually joined the Royal Malay Regiment. Another hot tempered cadet was an air force Officer Cadet Mohd Sakri from Rantau Panjang who spoke in a complete and unintelligible Kelantanese dialect and a rarified english or kelateglish. He is now in Bangkok as a textile merchant.
Another Kelantanese was Officer Cadet Nik Mohd Nor an extremely fiery Kelantanese who threw a pair of wrongly sized boot in front of all cadets assembled to collect their newly issued boots. He shouted “Cih Nate”. This incident was probably recorded by the instructor. He was not commissioned for unsuitable military attitude.
Our great P.Ramlee wannabe was Officer Cadet Mohd Akhir from Kedah who was not commissioned and later joined the Civil Service after graduating in economics with honours second upper from the University of Malaya.The song nak dara rindu had made him a popular star at RMC. Another RMC casualty who had an unsuitable military attitude and was not commissioned.I remember him as a cadet who introduced the Tivoli Bar to me and inducting me to the world of bar hostesses at BB Park.
Another colourful character was Officer Cadet Shariff from Perlis a playboy who introduced me to the world of student nurses at KL General Hospital Staff Nurses Student Hostel. He was not commissioned but rejoined later under different intake and was commissioned into the Royal Malay Regiment. He had probably corrected his wrong military attitude.I last met him in 2006 at Mindef lobbying and selling used helicopters to the Army Air Corps.I heard he was not successful in the deal and is now a dealer in insecticide ! What a flexible and versatile arm trader shifting from fighting enemies to fighting insects.
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