The Struggle Of British Malaya Veterans Continues

By Wan Shahara Ahmad Ghazali KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) -- The sacrifices of veteran soldiers who served under the British-Malaya army during the pre and early post independence period are appreciated by the Malaysian government. In fact, under the 2013 Budget, the government had allocated a handsome reward for the 224,000 Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) non-pensionable veterans with a one off payment worth RM1,000 (US$329) disbursed since November 2012. Since the establishment of the Veteran Affairs Department (VAD) in 2001, the veteran definition has been extended to encompass the non-permanent members of the armed forces service. Now, even volunteers conscripted into the armed forces, members of the Force 136, members of the British Army who served in Malaya/Malaysia or Singapore and members of the Sarawak Rangers who ended their service in dignity. THE BRITISH-MALAYA VETERANS Although members of the British-Malaysia force do not enjoy pension payments, due to the recognition as Armed Forces Veterans, they enjoy a number of benefits under the Welfare, Education and Medical Assistance Scheme. The assistance that these veterans mostly yearn for is the form of medical and hospitalisation benefits (free) especially when looking at the fact many of these veterans are frail with most of them in their 70s and 90s. Lately, the government had extended the 1Malaysia Non-pensionable Veterans' Assistance (SVTB1M) to widows of veterans. Life has been tough for many of the widows following the demise of their husbands, noted the President of the Ex-British Malaysia Soldiers' Association, Che Onn Neamat, 72. The veteran urged the widows to come forward to claim the SVTB1M at VAD offices nationwide. PENSION WILL BE HELPFUL As for the record, the association wants to attract the prime minister's attention in approving a pension scheme to assist these British-Malaya veterans in completing their vestiges of life. These veterans had served on the frontlines of Malaya and Singapore before their regiment was disbanded, therefore many of these veterans could not complete the required 21 years of service to qualify for pension payments. Some like Che Onn, who had technical skills as he was attached to the mechanical division, managed to land decent job but it was not the case for low ranking members who had to endure hardships to earn a living. "We have sacrificed a lot during our younger days especially during the Japanese Occupation, the Indonesian Confrontation and the Emergency. "However, now in the last vestiges of our life many of us are facing difficulties with some still having to work to make ends meet," he lamented adding that pensions for these small group of veterans would not cause the government much. Therefore, Che Onn hoped that the government would decide on the pensions to these veterans as soon as possible as almost every month there is a veteran passing away due to old age. HELPING THE SICK In fact, members of the British-Malaya army who had served in the Commonwealth nations are entitled for annual grants from a voluntary body known as the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL). Unfortunately, since the British Malaya regiment was disbanded in 1971, no efforts have been undertaken to track down and assist ex-veterans in applying for the RCEL grant. Thus they have been totally neglected. Hence in May 2009, Che Onn and 10 of his ex-colleagues decided to form an association for the welfare of their compatriots and they started tracking keeping track of former members of the British-Malaya army personnel. And within four years of its establishment, the association has managed to keep track of more than 1000 ex-British-Malaya soldiers including their widows, bringing new hope for the veterans and their dependents who are now in their golden years, with many ravaged by health problems or bedridden. RECOGNISED BY RCEL The association's biggest achievement is in convincing RCEL to approve 413 welfare grants worth RM676,946 (US$222,716) for the poor and sick veterans. The earnest efforts also earned the association recognition from RCEL as the official body looking after the welfare of British-Malaya veterans. The recognition came during RCEL's 31 convention in Malta last year represented by a delegation of 1,700 members from 46 Commonwealth nations including Malaysia represented by Che Onn. "In that convention, Malaysia was praised for its welfare aid to veterans unlike many of the third world nations," said Che Onn. RCEL has agreed to convene the next convention in 2016 in Kuala Lumpur and the following one in 2021, in Cape Town, South Africa celebrating RCEL's 100th anniversary. LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS Nevertheless, due to their advancing age, Che Onn and other office bearers of the association - Joseph Scully, 68, Mohamad Isro Jabar, 73, and Abdul Jabar Mukibat, 72, fear that they may not be able to run the association. In fact Che Onn recently suffered a heart attack while on the way to RCEL's headquarters in London last month. Thus they are calling upon young volunteers to help the association advocate the fate of the members and widows in the future. Touching on the 13th General Election on May 5, Che Onn expressed that;" Never mind about age or political leanings, that is a personal choice, what is important is that they exercise their rights as voters," he said lamenting on those who take their voting rights lightly. Nevertheless, he hoped that the younger generation would appreciate the good life, peace and harmony that they enjoy today, which are possible because of the sacrifices of the older generation including the veterans. -- BERNAMA