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303 INFANTRY BATTALION | |
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| The unit with an elephant as mascot "Aduka" | |
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INTRODUCTION
The 303 Infantry Battalion (Bn Inf 303) consists of mostly volunteer soldiers (Askar Wataniah). Based in Kem temenggor, their duties included guarding the man-made dam of Temenggor Lake, securing the East-West highway, and enforcing night curfew on this highway. The communist threat at that time (1988) was still present but the activity was low. Still, old booby-traps and mines exist in many parts of the jungle. (The curfew had now been lifted; after the surrender of the Communist Party of Malaya). 
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WILD ELEPHANTS' PLAYGROUND If anyone would remember a visit to Kem Temenggor would be 'elephants'. This part of the primary tropical rain-forest was frequently visited by herds of wild elephants especially during the dry season where grass and young shoots and young leaves were scarce deeper in the jungle. The area around the lake provides water and the rivers were a favourite playground of the elephants. 
The mascot of this unit was an old male bull elephant who had made his presence permanent at the camp. He was too old to travel with his herd, and since food was readily available at the camp, he had decided to stay put. His name is 'Aduka' and he liked to eat bread! Left-over bread would be given to him, and he gulped them down by the loaves! 
An incident I could not forget was when I was chased by a young wild elephant when I got too near to photograph the herd. Elephants are very proctective of their young ones. I managed to run and he gave up when I got outside their threatened perimeter. 
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FISHING Temenggor Lake is an angler's paradise. The lake stretches 80km from North to South, covering 15,200 hectares. It is a man-made lake. It was created when a rock-filled dam was built in 1974, creating a hugh lake out of the mountains. The dam also generates electricity for the Northern region of the country. Gigawatts of power flow in the power transmission lines over the camp daily, but interestingly, this base camp had no electricity supply. The cost of building a step-down transformer at this level to supply electricity to the camp was too high. It was more economical to use a generator, which was switched on only at night or when special requirements warranted it.  In 1979 the Fisheries Department introduced a variety of fish; toman 
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THE JUNGLE The lake is in the midst of a tropical rain-forest. This jungle is the home to thousands of species of animals in Malaysia. Commonly seen animals were bears, civet-cats, elephants and wild-boars. Saw a slow loris once. Deeper in the jungles the tigers roam. On one night out camping by a river, an experienced soldier called me to back away from the river and come back towards the camp-site. He had detected the presence of a tiger by the smell (according to him foul-smelling like rotten meat coming from the tiger's mouth). Sure enough the next morning, tiger paw marks were present nearby our camp-site. (See picture below)  This is a hoof-print of a seladang, a hugh and shy animal.  Travelling by boat on one of the river tributaries of the lake. 
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THE ORANG ASLI The aborigines (orang asli) of Malaysia lived in these parts of the forest. They belonged to the 'Temiar' tribes, who are nomads with no permanent place to stay. They stayed in bamboo houses floating on the river, or by the river, on the hills as well as on top of trees (tufts of bamboo). They trapped animals and fish for food and sold some at the nearby towns for cash. Other sellable products from the jungle were rattan, petai and bamboo. The cash they received was used to buy salt and tobacco. It is interesting to watch an orang-asli trade at the market with the middle-man buyer. The deal will usually be completed when the buyer threw in an extra item, such as a loaf of sweet bread, or some toys for the orang-asli kids. Money had no real value to them because there was more than enough food sourced from the jungle for them to eat and they had no bills to pay. Floating orang-asli house on the river.  The Government had built permanent houses in many villages in the jungle in these parts of the forest in an effort to make them more permanent dwellers; to provide education for their children and better health care accessibility. Unfortunately, the orang-asli prefered not to stay in these nice wood and concrete houses the Govt. built (where the walls have no gaps for ventilation). Instead they liked their bamboo houses better (with better ventilation and natural light filtering in). So who got to stay in these nice wood and concrete houses? Answer: their chicken, goats and dogs. Nice place to lock them up at night away from the marauding tigers! Orang-asli bamboo house on the hill (left). Note the well-built sturdy house on the right.  |
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ARMY ACTIVITIES The presence of the military in these parts is so influential that many creatures of the forest had adopted the military way of life. See this lizard doing 'chin-ups' (picture below). It's probably the only photograph in the world (genuine, my guarantee).  Food supply being air-lifted to soldiers deeper in the jungle nearer towards the border with Thailand.  This page is dedicated to a friend, Capt Sarwan who lost his life in a helicopter crash here. |
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TEMENGGOR LAKE IS ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC TODAY, WHY NOT GO FOR A VISIT - SEE THE PERAK STATE TOURISM LINK The bridge linking Banding Island in the middle of the lake. There is a rest-house here on the island that you can stay for the night.  |
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RELATED LINKS Malaysian Armed Forces Medical & Dental Corps Malaysian Armed Forces Perak State Tourism BACK TO My Army Days ----> 303 Infantry Battalion ----> 8 Ranger Airborne MY MAIN PAGE | |
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