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A NEW BEGINNING
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FIFTEEN
From then on, the official ceremonial sword would no longer be Wilkinson but a handier,
and more affordable one from Thailand. Arrangements had been made with the official
photographers to take a commemorative photograph of each cadet receiving his commission
and sword from the President. In keeping with the times, they were black and white.
Incredibly, no provisions had been made to provide a copy to the new officers, though
they could order one from the photographers. Some had the gumption to arrange with the
accredited photographers or their friends to take family group photographs with the Istana
as the backdrop during the cocktails or after the dinner.
Mr. Lee Kuan Yew’s speech contained a bombshell. He announced that on this very day, in
London, the British Government had stated that by the middle-70s, Britain would want to
leave its bases in Singapore and Malaysia. In fact, Britain accelerated the pull-out to 1971
and substitute their local presence with defence assistance in the form of mobile forces sent
by air and sea. Mr. Lee proceeded to chart out a schedule by which time Singapore would
need to “build all the sinews we can so that we will not just be passengers in any defence
alliance.” But his main concern was to challenge the First Batch to find within themselves
the military qualities that distinguished tough soldiers from the weak. He talked about how
many Commonwealth troops had been worth one Imperial Japanese Army soldier during the
battle for Malaya in the last war. He seared the minds of the new officers with the rhetorical
question: “What is the conversion rate between the various armed forces?” He challenged
them to demonstrate the qualities of leadership that would establish Singapore’s reputation
as a hardy and well organised people and participate in the transformation of a “rootless
society of migrant stock into a closely knit community determined to dig our toes in into
our own corner of Asia.” It was an abrupt immersion into the core issues of their avocation
for the First Batch.
Cocktails followed, and once again 2LT Kwan Yue Yeong was the toast of the occasion. The
new officers had deposited their peak caps and scrolls on a table provided for the purpose
and excitedly attached their swords to their belts as instructed to do. Now, they mixed self-
consciously with members of Singapore’s social elite and its senior-most political leadership.
The wives of the two or three new officers and parents, siblings or girlfriends were mostly
shy and tended toward monosyllabic responses to polite ice-breakers the VIPs offered them.
The eclectic social mix represented by the First Batch was hardly likely to elicit brilliant
cocktail or dinner-table conversation. It was enough that they were present at a grand and
momentous event at the most exclusive address in the country and their representatives had
qualified to gain them entry into it, however briefly. For many, it was the sole opportunity of
a lifetime. After about half an hour of cocktails, dinner was announced and everybody went
to their tables. The detailed seating plans had been posted in the Istana foyer so the seating
was quickly settled. The new officers had to fumble around getting their swords out of the
way as they sat. Dinner was universally pronounced excellent, given that not many could say
that their dinners to date had been accompanied by music from a military band and a velvety-
voiced choir singing local favourites.