KOTA KINABALU – Many of the former Sabah Border Scouts have returned to their villages from Camp PPH in Keningau. Only a few have now stayed on here.
Retired sergeant Mailam Tumubul pulled out his fingers and started counting, trying to recall how many of his fellow border scout colleagues are still alive.
The 78-year-old Murut was once a member of Sabah’s legendary paramilitary unit, the Border Scouts, a unit established by the British at the height of the Malaysia-Indonesia confrontation.
He has already lost touch with all of his friends who had left the camp along Jalan Airport in Keningau, a district in the interior of Sabah, where they had been last stationed before the Border Scouts were disbanded.
Mailam is one of the few left in that camp, and it has been his home for the last 28 years.
“As few as eight of us are still here,” he said during a special visit to the camp by The Vibes.
He said that his colleague, lance corporal Limam Angkalal, passed away last year and would be 76 today if he was still alive.
“Limam’s family are still here. Just last week, I saw his wife at their house. Their children are still around.
“But the wife will return to Nabawan, their village,” said Mailam, adding that most of the children would prefer to stay at the camp as they are working in Keningau town.
He said relocating back to their village would be a problem as the distance and road conditions make it difficult for them to go to work.
Joining the Border Scouts
Mailam joined the border scouts in 1966, and without any military training was thrown into camps near Sabah’s border with Kalimantan, Indonesia.
“We had no training but were immediately sent. Only when we arrived at the base camp near the border were we given training on firearms.
“We were rushed in for fear of the Indonesian army infiltration. We were using carbines and subsequently Armalites,” said Mailam, adding that he was also in charge of communications and radio equipment.
The Border Scouts corps was first established in mid-September 1963 under Section 22 of Laws of British North Borneo, 1953.
They were formed to stop the infiltration of the Tentera Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian National Army, or TNI) who were trying to invade Sabah, then known as North Borneo, during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation or the Borneo confrontation.
Men from the Murut ethnic group were mostly recruited by the British, largely for their knowledge of the forests and tracks of Sabah.
The roles of Border Scouts among others involved intelligence gathering of enemy positions and radioing in for military support.
They had been stationed in numerous security posts such as in Kg Bantul, Kg Saliliran, Kg Kabu, Kg Long Pa Sia, Kg Meligan, Kg Pensiangan, Kg Pengalungan, and Kg Sapulut near the border.
The unit had been successful in the campaign to ward off the TNI army throughout the violent confrontation, which lasted three years, six months, three weeks, and one day, between 1963 and 1966.
The conflict stemmed from Indonesia’s opposition to the formation of Malaysia.
After this, the Border Scouts were reassigned to special duties such as being stationed on islands to prevent the infiltration of migrants from the Philippines, escorting VIPs during elections, manning road blocks, and tracking criminals.
They were disbanded in 1986.
Facing eviction
Camp PPH in Keningau has been the home for many former Border Scouts members since the 1990s.
However, the land was handed over to be placed under the police force soon after they settled in the 18.2ha land.
A police flat was supposed to be built on the land, but that would mean that the Border Scouts would have to move out.
There have been attempts to have the former Border Scouts evicted, but they did not budge and stayed on.
Mailam, who had moved into his quarters in 1993, said the authorities have been silent since he and his colleagues demanded that they be allowed to stay on in 2014.
“There had been no new attempts since then. But I was told the police are not pursuing it for the time being,” he said. – The Vibes, September 19, 2021
This is the second part of The Vibes’ coverage on the plight of the Sabah Border Scouts. The earlier related story is here, while part three is here
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