Up Close & Personal: PTD & PDRM

That's me on the stage on Mes Night. The function began at 8.30 pm and ended at 11pm, after which the dance floor was open. I just joined in for `poco-poco`, a very famouse Indonesian dance with steps similar to aerobics, had a slow dance with a malay guy and just sat down and watched happily while the rest enjoyed the fast dances and ' dangdut'. After that, we could proceed to the Mes Corner upstairs(like a lounge with a bar, 32 inch TV, karaoke lounge, snooker room, carom and dart board) where we were allowed to enjoy ourselves all night long. After 12.30am, i returned to my room to pack my stuff as we were to leave the next morning at 8.30am. Then, my roommate, Thila and I went to the Mes Corner. There I played carom for more than an hour, strummed a tune on a guitar, sang a few songs on karaoke, learned a bit of snooker and threw a few darts, and left at 5.30am. By then, the initial group of over 40 was reduced in number. My roomate & I were the only girls around with about 6 other guys. Ha ha.. I don't think i have enjoyed myself that way in my whole life! If there's one other thing i have learnt in this course besides discipline, teamwork and following orders, it is how to let my hair down and enjoy myself!:-)

An Unforgettable Night

The senior officer in the force requested us, the Indian community of 5 to put up an Indian performance on the Mes Night, and so we had to. Innitially, 2 the girl on my right, Shan, an Jacob, on my left were supposed to sing while Thila & Alan (the tallest) were to dance to our song, in 2 days' practice. Before practice, in the karaoke lounge, i sang Edelweiss just for fun, and to my surprise, received many compliments, and was encouraged to sing the Tamil song. On the Mes Night, Jacob had a terrible soar throat an completely lost his voice. This left Shan and I to a duet. I never really thought much of my voice, and I have never sang a tamil song in a duet in public before, but decided to go for it for the experience. Thila and Alan danced with so much flexibility and energy, just like the hero and heroine in a tamil movie, to the fast beat song called 'Kathal Pisase'. Jacob became our technician..in his whispers..he he.. My university friends must be really shocked to hear this as they never heard me speak a word of tamil, and here am I singing a hot tamil song on stage, ha ha:-P. I think it would not be too much to say that the vibrant dance was the most entertaining performance that night, to the extent of the VIP getting up and shaking hands with us right after our performance! We were really worried about making a fool of ourselves, but thank God, all went well.

Mes Night in the PDRM Banquet Hall

My batch is the 1st to experience a Mes Night. According to tradition since the British colonisation, the Mes Night was organized to celebrate success and victory. The police force organize this dinner in conjunction with our completion of the police module and the certificate giving ceremony. The dresscode is Mes Kit (aka monkey jacket), formally known as No. 1. The suit was specially tailored for us and costs RM 500. It's a 3 piece suit, consisting of a black, fitting cheongsam with songket collar, a songket girdle style belt and the white monkey jacket. The ceremony included a the carrying of the police flag, accompanied by 2 bagpipers. After that, a decanter was passed to each other 2 fill our glasses with 'wine'( something like the taking of communion) followed by a toast to the King and to the police force (with the national anthem and police song in the background). Truly, I have never felt so proud of being an Administrative & Diplomatic Officer! Being seated at the banqueting table in the presence of the VVIPS, hearing the bagpipers playing a royal tune, dining like fine ladies & gentlemen, i just felt totally honoured to be there. I do not know when I will get the opportunity to wear my No. 1 again..Even if my RM 500 suit were to be worn for just once, it was worth it. The experience was priceless:-)

FRU in Action!

FRU in Action! The Federal Reserve Unit came to the police college to show us a demonstration of how they disperse crowds to maintain public order. It was just awesome! The way the unit moved strategically according to command, their agility in their complete uniform weighing 30kg, their strength and commitment. They started off with a thundering warning by the commander using a hailer : "Bersurai sekarang atau kekerasan akan digunakan", followed by water cannon, and hitting with the 'baton' and the last resort would fire (which they have not used to now). I took the chance to pose with one of the officer's shield.:-)

Vector SP 1

Can't imagine me with a gun? Here I am with Vector SP 1:-). That picture was taken during our practice and there is great responsibility in handling weapons as it involves lives. Being a leftie, i found it a little difficult or slow in following instructions in switching hands etc..A few others and I had to do push-ups as punishment for failing to strictly follow orders. I was talking to a police officer and he said that he was literally walloped by his officer while training for pointing the gun the wrong way. Btw, i was punishd 4 looking at the gun 4 a few seconds when askd 2 put it down. I didn't do it on purpose, i jst felt a voice in a distance after being deafened briefly by the bullet explosion. However, to a large extent, i do agree with physical punishment in weapon training coz it tames the mind to remember, & when live bullets and lives r involved, u can't afford to take chances. The weight of the gun caused my feeble hand to shiver, but i passed the test nonetheless, and for that at least, I am satisfied.

Symbols of Honour

I never knew that the buttons on the police uniform were not sewn but had to be self assembled, nor that the marching shoes were embedded with studs at the sole. It's a must to wear the uniform completely and correctly. It was amazing; the amount of progress my platoon made with 2 hours under the sun! Innitially, we were like scattered sheep but managed to march in unison, to say the least and listen to commands:-) I made some mistakes here and there but the commander corrected me gently and with respect, to my surprise and gratitude. I thought I would be embarassed in public, being in the front row, knowing my own weaknesses in marching, but there was kindness:-). I know that in the army, i must brace myself up 4 'torture', but let me enjoy the police force while I can. I admire the police officers' discipline and am priviledged to experience it for a week.I feel honoured 2 hv d opportunity 2 wear the police uniform in the Royal Malaysian Police College! My uniform is oversized, though:-( Lectures r informative n entertaining:-). There's nothing more refreshing to a thirsty mind than an excellent speech. The top officers just hv that X-factor.

A Night with the Traffic Police

Today, i had the once in a lifetime experience of being a traffic enforcer in Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL. I managed to stop 4 motorcyclists without a valid license / roadtax.. One particular offender had a P license and his g/f was his pillion rider. Ha ha..he smiled sheepishly..like a child caught stealing a biscuit from a cookie jar while I inspected his identifications.. The whole experience was cool:-) Btw, i think you can spot me as the smallest in the picture:-P

1 Night with the Traffic Police

Today, i had the once in a lifetime experience of being a traffic enforcer in Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL, from 10pm till 2am. I managed to stop 4 motorcyclists without a valid license / roadtax.. One particular offender had a P license and his g/f was his pillion rider. Ha ha..he smiled sheepishly..like a child caught stealing a biscuit from a cookie jar while I inspected his identifications.. The whole experience was cool:-) Btw, i think you can spot me as the smallest in the picture:-P

Discipline is all that matters

That's me in the marching uniform:-) I never knew that the buttons were not sewn but had to be self assembled, nor that the marching shoes were embedded with 'nails' at the sole. It's a must to wear the uniform completely and correctly. It was amazing; the amount of progress my platoon made with 2 hours under the sun! Innitially, we were like scattered sheep but managed to march in unison and listen to commands:-) I made some mistakes here and there but the commander corrected me gently and with respect, to my surprise and gratitude. I thought I would be embarassed in public, being in the front row, knowing my own weaknesses in marching, but there was kindness:-) I admire the police officers discipline and am priviledged to experience it for a week.

1st Day in Uniform

I feel honoured 2 hv d opportunity 2 wear the police uniform in the Royal Malaysian Police College! My uniform is oversized, though:-( Lectures r informative n entertaining:-). There's nothing more refreshing to a thirsty mind than an excellent speech. The top officers just hv that X-factor.

The way, the truth and the life

I remember mentioning in one of my previous posts that I got some insights about the way, the truth and the light which night-walking through the jungle in Bukit Cherakah in the mid January. While I was enjoying the night-view of God's creations, here are a few points that came to my mind on the trail.

The Way
In the dark, everything appears more dangerous than it really is. On our night-walk, all participants were asked to dress in dark navy and no lights of any kind were permitted. The only light was the star-lit sky, and the only thing we could really see was probably each other's shoes, if it was white. Up to now, I do not know who was the kind boy in front of me who held my hand evey now and then to guide me up the diffult paths. Coming back to darkness, the paths looked really dangerous and every step seemed to be a huge risks. Our guides in front warned us in advance to keep to the left or to the right, to avoid falling into the deep lake. Back then, it looked as if with one wrong move, I would drown for sure! (being a non-swimmer). Well, it's true that the paths were rather adventurous and could cause harm if we side-tracked, but it sure wasn't THAT dangerous, in the morning light. Apparently, we had ample space to keep safe. All I needed to do was to follow the right way, and I would be safe.

That's the way with life too. As I looked back into my past, I realized that there were many times that I allowed darkness to trick me into believing the hopelessness of my situations, instead of seeing in the light. Now, when I look at it in the light, with God as my guide, it wasn't THAT bad after all. All I needed was to follow the Way.

Sometimes, the truth is to trust
During the night walk, I learnt the meaning of trust in a more practical way. Some of the paths were really steep and slippery, but our leader in front warned us before we reached. I listened to the leader's voice and took his words for it. I also learned to trust the stranger (team-mate) in front of me for it was the only choice I had. For some reason or other, in my personal life, I have always tried to rely on myself for experience has taught me not to place my trust in man (although also I do strongly believe in teamwork). However, in the dark, all of us needed one another. When the paths got really slippery and we were in the swamp up to our waist, to my rescue, the Malay guy in front of me would hold my hand and say, " I think you need help,"and all 4o of us, as pairs, would make it through together as a team. At one spot, a huge tree trunk was in the way, and my legs weren't long enough to climb over it. Once again, the I heard the familiar phrase, "I think you need help" and he carried me safely to the other side. Even as I was going through this whole journey, I felt convicted in my heart for not fully taking Christ at his Word, which never changes, at various points in my life. Jesus is the Shepherd that guides us and we hear His voice. He is the Truth, but I felt ashamed at being able to fully trust the words of a human, but not my Saviour, and I apologized to God.

The Light
Every once in a while on the trail, the guide from the jungle (if he passes by) would shine his bright torch across the surrounding area for a few brief moments to give us a rough idea of where we might be. Along the path, I was also captivated by the beautiful fireflies and other lumminant leaves (or insects, i don't know) which made the look like it was simply glowing in the dark. However, in advance, the forest guide had already warned us not to touch or follow anything that attracted us in any way. It could be dangerous, the said. We were also warned not to heed any 'unknown voices' or speak to 'unknown people' if we encountered such on our way, for such situations had resulted in people getting lost in the past. We could, however trust the starlight in the skies and and lights of our guide's torch, which guaranteed credibility.

It's the same with life, isn't it? Not all that glitters is gold. Evil does not necessarily only take the form of darkness. Deception can be involved, but the true Light will reveal all deception and lead the way.

More than just a walk
All in all, the night-walk through the Cherakah woods left me feeling great when we finally found our way out around 2 in the wee hours of the morning. I felt stronger and more confident about my physical strength to go through the woods in the dark, for several hours, and the risks that surrounded it. A closeness with my team-mates also began to develop. But best of all, I felt that as I walked, Jesus was holding my hand by my side.

Take care and have a nice day! God bless you:)