Uncle John
Uncles
Everyone of us has uncles. Your parents' brothers are uncles. Like most of you I have many uncles. From dad's side, there are 5 boys so I have 4 uncles and from mum's there are 4 boys, that is another 4 uncles. Mum has another 4 sisters who when they got married brought me another 4 uncles. So too dad has 4 sisters and they gave me 4 more uncles.
If this is a school mathematics question, they may ask how many times do I have to call out to all my uncles and aunties during a meal before I can start to eat my own meal if there were one big party together? In traditional Chinese custom, we address each uncle and aunt in Chinese 1st uncle or 2nd aunt for example and we could differentiate in Chinese if the uncle or aunt is a brother/sister or in-law in a single word.
This could be part of the reason that today's children do not do that and some parents could not understand why and at times got frustrated that when they told their children to "call uncle" and the children ignore them. There are no more big family gatherings all the time. It also does not mean that big families would gather together in this busy world. The reason why big families gathered each weekends in the old days was because grandmothers were around. Mothers and grandmothers are the ones, the fabric that holds a family together.
Now I am here to tell you about uncles. All uncles have their personal traits, characteristics and idiosyncrasies. Some are funny and I like funny people. Who doesn't. I have a very special uncle who is not a brother of my mum or dad. He is the husband of my auntie Eng, dad's eldest sister.
Uncle John
I was very young when I first met Uncle John. Too young to know where he came from or what he did. He is just this tall, handsome and rugged guy who smokes cigarettes and later mostly a pipe. I saw him may be one or twice a year. To me, he looked like Roger Moore in The Saint as Simon Templar. He's got this charming, wicked smile that twinkles at the end of his lips. I was thinking you can't ever be angry with him because he is often smiling.
As I grew older, I began to pay attention to stories about uncle John heard mostly from my grandmother or my aunt. On a few lucky occasions I got the stories direct from him. I learned his full name is Christopher John Jalleh. Though he is Malaysian, he is not Chinese, Malay or Indian. He is probably Eurasian. Whenever he visited Singapore, he would stay for quite some time. He would spent most time resting especially on his first few days. I remember that he used to call me "kwee" on purpose instead of my correct Chinese name of "Hwee".
You see, he drove a long way here all the way from Kroh, Perak. Kroh is now known as Pengkalan Hulu, a town in Northern Perak. It shares the border with the state of Kedah and Thailand. The nearest town in Thailand from there is Betong on Yala Province. Uncle John drove a huge Holden. He have at times brought us gifts including carved tables in the large boot of his car and other Thai or Malaysian niceties including foodstuffs. He always left his peak cap near the windscreen of the car and police and customs people would salute him as he drove past. You see his peak cap has embroidery on it so he was of a certain rank.
The ASP
You see, Uncle John was an Assistant Superintendent of Police. At the time, Malaysia was in a state of emergency as the communists led by Chin Peng, leader of the MCP (Malaya Communist Party) who was born in Perak were waging guerrilla warfare against the British and Commonwealth forces to establish a independent communist state. Chin Peng waged a campaign against Malaya and later Malaysia after 1963 before signing a peace accord with the Malaysian government in 1989. The communists hid in the jungles and conducted guerrilla warfare. Jungle fights are the jobs of soldiers but hey some leaders decided this is internal security and so the police had to do it and in the jungles you have to wear green.
Here is my beloved uncle John whom I highly respect.
The Communists
Tall, slim, tan and rugged but always smiling and unassuming. He loves to joke. It was only when I was much older do I understand the reasons for his demeanour. You see, uncle John led his men into the jungles of Malaysia to flush out and fight the communists insurgency. He will probably be in the jungles for three months at a stretch and after the tour of duty back to base camp and then repeat that routine. In a dangerous job like that, you never knew if you would return.
He saw death and injuries to his men. Colleagues and staffs torn asunder by booby traps in the jungles. Legs chopped off. Guts and intestines spilled out. He has carried them in his arms, holding them, preserving them to keep them alive. Some made it others don't. He probably had to bring bad news to their families. When one sees death at close range, your perspective in life changes.
Orang Asli
Uncle John survived all these. He even told me once that he could not swim and he crossed many rivers using coconuts with ropes. He and his men were chased by elephants before and once encountered a tiger. He survived all that too. But the Orang Asli, the sons of the soil (indigenous people) were his friends, good friends. They knew the jungle so well. Probably uncle John would have brought modern things for his Orang Asli friends because the Orang Asli friends would give him wild honey with chunks of honeycombs still in them when he brought it to us.
Sometimes he brought us interesting stuffs such a the thorns of porcupine like this picture or tiny snakes preserved in jars. When I brought them to primary school I became very popular with the teachers as well as the students. Uncle John made me famous and popular.
The Orang Asli gave him blowpipes, elephant molars and all the strangest stuffs. The Orang Asli were a vital component of national security for Malaysia. With their help, the Malaya/Malaysian army was able to defeat the communist insurgents.
Uncle John did not just got through such gruelling terrains, enemies and animals and survived. He has even dealt with and survived the supernatural. He used to tell me that in the jungle there are spirits and the mountains have their mountain spirits. They caused you to get lost even with your experience in topology. In one particular incident, they were moving round and round in circles only to realise that when they looked up, they saw what appeared to be a giant spirit standing and they were going around between its legs.
I can't recall exactly if it were the bomoh or the Orang Asli who taught them that in such cases, they have to remove their pants or something else before they could walk through. Funny but interesting. He said it was real and not a joke. As he would sometimes share some ghost stories or "kwee" stories, he said it was common for old houses in Malaysia to be haunted or have spirits. At times, he could see or hear them.
Uncle John was highly respected by his men. A great leader would never asked his men to do things that he himself would not. He led by example. A great leader loves and cares for his men. This in turn earns respect and loyalty. In later years, I remembered Uncle John was often accompanied by a person we called "Boon". Boon is obviously Thai but because they were at the Thai/Malaysia border, many Thais and Malaysians have crossed marriages and so on and he worked as one of my uncle's trusted men so he must have been born Thai but is Malaysian.
Boon was a soft-spoken person, gentle and well mannered and just like uncle John smiles often. It has been so many years since I last saw uncle John or Boon. He never returned to Singapore after auntie has gone on to a better place. Auntie Eng doted on me when I was young and I do miss her. Uncle John's daughter Katherine who is my beloved cousin and her family lives in the USA.
I remembered uncle John can be quite a rascal. He has always live his life on his own terms and he is a very brave man. Here, you will see my beloved uncle John as he is now recently with Boon. Uncle John was of course once Boon's boss but they are still very good friends now. I see great friendship and camaraderie and I see Uncle John has not lost that wicked twinkle of a smile.
Uncle John must be around early 80s today.
I truly wish uncle John good health and happiness always! I miss him and his amazing stories.
Nobody reading this article and in fact all Malaysians and Singaporeans alike should forget our debt of gratitude to these men like my uncle John and his men. If they had not fought the communists or if the communists had won, they would have taken Malaysia and then march onto Singapore. These are people who risks their lives and gave of themselves so that we continue to have the freedom to live our lives! Salute!!
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