THE UNSUNG HERO

Jungle walk in 1953 at the Malayan/Thai border

2011-12-19T23:42:00.000+08:00

‘Sometime in 1953, a Press Officer and I were assigned to cover a patrol by the Jungle Field Force on the Malayan/Thailand border. Arriving at Tanah Merah, in the state of Kelantan, we were glad to hear the Jungle Field Force, in cooperation with the police, had been combing the border for Communist terrorists and their camps.

‘From a Malayan Railway coach we changed to a Thai train to proceed to the Thai town of Sungai Padi. Apart from my photographic material and equipment I was weighed down by a kitbag containing four days’ ration, clothing and arms weighing about 70 lb. We embarked on an endless walk, although later it was confirmed to be only 10 miles – through padi fields and undergrowth.

‘We camped in the open. The only water available was from the padi fields. That night was memorable for its oppressive warmth and the waves of mosquitoes stinging and humming us to very tired sleep. Early next morning we started for the hills for a combing of the border for Communist terrorists and their camps. We did about 15 miles day journey and camped out another night in the jungle. The next day we went back to Tanah Merah.’

INFORMATION DEPT'S 14-MILE JUNGLE WALK TO PHOTOGRAPH SIR ANTHONY EDEN

2011-12-19T23:11:00.000+08:00

A report from a 1955 Information Department monthly report describes Mr Wong's mission to document the visit of Sir Anthony Eden, then Foreign Secretary but later the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Kuala Lumpur-born Micahel Wong Swee Lin, a Dept of Information cameraman in Kuala Lumpur, walked 14 miles through the jungle to photograph Sir Anthony Eden’s visit to a jungle fort.

The trek is here described in his own words:-

‘The brief visit to the Federation and Singapore by the British Foreign Secretary (Sir Anthony Eden) and Lady Eden after the SEATO Conference at Bangkok, was extensively covered by both the English and vernacular Press. As a photographer attached to the Federation Information Services, I had the fine opportunity of photographying these VIPs on a number of occasions. One trip was to a jungle fort – ‘Fort Langkap’ (one of the many establishment in the Federation), which is in the state of Negri Sembilan.
‘The head of our Press Division told me I would be required to walk to the fort (the name of the particular fort at that time was still ‘top secret’) as the helicopter laid on earlier was not available. The walk, I was further told, would be about 14 miles there and back and would take about two and half hours each way through the jungle.
‘A suit of jungle green and matching boots supplied to me previously came in handy. Having rendered myself as mobile as possible I bade farewell to my wife in the early hours on the morning of February 28, 1955 and with a Malayan Film Unit cameraman, left Kuala Lumpur or Seremban (some 42 miles away) by car and then proceeded to a small town named Tanjong Ipoh, 20 miles from Seremban, where we met the official party. This consisted of the British Advisior, Negeri Sembilan; the District Officer, Kuala Pilah; the Protector of Aborigines, Negeri Sembilan; the Officer-in-Charge Polce Operations, Kuala Pilah, and a police escort of 15 men. We all proceeded to another kampong (village) by Land Rover – a further 6 miles – until we reached a point where Land Rovers couldn’t go.
‘The forst stage of our walk started at about noon. Although it was then only seven miles to the fort the walk seemed endless. The first 20 minutes were agony as far as I was concerned. We encountered two very steep hills. My equipment weighed 15lb and being inexperienced in this type of climbing, I gasped for breath while trying to keep up the pace. While doing so a small insect flew into my mouth. At this stage another member of the party fainted (through exhaustion). We managed to revive him and after a short rest were able to proceed.
‘Leeches kept attacking us. They sucked blood and then dropped off, leaving minute holes with blood oozing out. They penetrate socks and even jungle boots. Around us was the incessant screech of jungle insects and birds and the soung of waterfalls or running water. The atmosphere seemed most eerie.
‘The jungle paths were gloomy but shady yet I sweated profusively. We waded through shallow streams and crossed rivers over improvised bridges made of felled trees, which were most slippery and difficult to cross. We also waded through a foot-deep swamp for at leats a mile with deep ravine on one side. This mud-wading was most fatiguing. It was not until 2.30 p.m., nearly 2 ½ hours’ walk, that the Fort loomed in sight.
‘I could see many aborigines happily bathing in the stream, near the fort and others busily cultivating crops. They had carefree and contented looks.
‘I was extremely tired but when served with a cup of tea it seemed never in my life had tasted anything so delicious!
‘Towards 3.20 p.m. the moaning sound of the helicopters bringing Sir Anthony Eden and party could be heard. They hovered into view and safely landed. The distinguished figure of the Foreign Secretary stepped out and, while my camera clicked, he spoke to the men on duty at the Fort – police, members of the 3rd Police Field Force; Royal Engineer sappers and staff of the Protector of the Aborigines Office. He had a friendly smile for all.
‘He watched the aborigines planting grass on the Fort’s new airstrip and keenly examined the traditional blowpipes and darts – and saw an aborigine use a blowpipe.
‘After about half an hour’s stay Sir Anthony Ece and party left ... We wasted no time in starting our journey back. Naturally the return was more tedious. But we plodded on and at last saw the Land Rovers. At Seremban our transport was waiting. Once on board I soon fell into deep sleep and awoke to find that we had arrived in Kuala Lumpur.’

So, so you think you can picture

2011-02-26T15:43:00.000+08:00

Isn't it time for young Malaysians to reflect on the yesteryears' people who gave their lives to ensure that Malaysians remain united. If only we don't question each other's rights and sinerety, and if only we understand the feelings and aspirations of our forefathers, in their pursuit to create Malaysia.

A lifetime dedicated to documenting OneMalaysia

2010-08-31T17:11:00.001+08:00

Michael Wong Swee Lin was born in Kuala Lumpur on October 3, 1926. His father was with the telecommunications department in Rasah, Kuala Kubu, Selangor area. His mother’s family lived in Kepong. When his father was transferred to Muda Hulu to Tapah Road, Ipoh, Wong studied at the Government English School and the Anderson School, Ipoh. (January 1, 1933 – December 12, 1938. When the Japanese occupied Malaya, Wong worked with the Tokyo Bus Company (January 1, 1939 - December 12, 1941, as a clerk, in charge of petrol for the company’s consumption.

When the British returned, he was employed as a temporary English teacher at a public Chinese school at Rasa from July 1, 1946 to December 31, 1946 earning $130 a month. Wong then taught English at Xu Hua Chinese School from January 1, 1947 to May 30, 1948, earning about $140 a month.

Joined the Department of Public Relations as a temporary clerk, earning $120 a month from August 26, 1948 to end of 1949 and was employed as a State Clerical Officer after passing a special examination. He was then appointed as Photographer in 1950 with the Public Relations Department after passing a special photography examination conducted by the government. During that time he had to support 8 people – his grandmother, mother, four sisters and two brothers.

The True Spirit of Merdeka

2010-08-31T12:34:00.002+08:00

Every August 31 is Malaysia's birthday. And the media would definitely publish and air all those classic photographs of the past. But do they acknowledge the people who had worked painstakingly to capture those moments? It is sad that all the big guns in the Malaysian Press do not acknowledge the contributions of senior photographers who had documented all those old pictures of Malaya. What they only do was to post the source as theirs when in actual fact were captured by former Information Department photographers.

Long ago during the early days after Malaysia's Independence, the Information Department staffs were the most handy of all people in disseminating information about the country to rural folks. They used to put up shows on big screens in the remotest area of Malaysia informing the people about the country's development Green Book and Red Book Plans, conveying important messages pertaining to the Communists threat, or merely airing old films for free entertainment.

There were also incidents when their comrades from other department, for instance, the Filem Negara unit, were killed in accidents or murdered by bandits, in line of duty. And most of the photographs we are viewing now take no credit of these people who had sacrificed their very own life to get the job done.

I hate to see these big guns running the show without even a small credit to the Unsung Heroes. Perhap true to the phrase, 'Old photographers do not diminish, they're only out of frame.'

People like the Large Format print companies, many of them, are 'hungry' of any hint of old photographs of the Royalty or prominent leaders, and get them treated and printed for exhibitions but pay no respect to the people who caught those moments on film. They even reproduce the prints on canvas for show at their gallery or for other people to purchase at hansome prices. They are actually the cannibals. I'd like to smack their pretty faces, but the law forbid.

So come Merdeka Day, these cannibals are the real victors, bagging home big profits, out of the true spirit of the people who had dedicated their whole life documenting the historic moments of the past. And these cannibals are the same people who are contributing the many pictures at exhibitions around the country, the Merdeka Stadium, National Art Gallery, in publications and etc.

Happy Independence Day

2010-08-30T23:59:00.002+08:00

Happy Merdeka Day to Mr Wong Swee Lin.

Greetings

2010-05-14T01:49:00.000+08:00

This blog is dedicated to Malaysians and those who have memories about Malaysia, especially during the early days of nationhood or prior to independence. As you read comments in this page, you will be able to browse through pictures of old Malaysia, especially taken by senior photographers who had served several establishments from 1940-s to 1970s.

You may send comments or photographs to share with other fellow viewers. This blog will publish around 500 to 700 pictures from time to time together with captions and reviews relating to the photographs.

Some of us Malaysians may have never seen the pictures before due to sensivity or some other reasons, but few actually understood the pains endured by the people who captured those historic moments.

Some big media group had even bylined and copyrighted the pictures as theirs but in actual fact were taken by other people. Hence, this blog will publish the names of people who had actually snapped the photographs, as a tribute to them.

Humble Mr Wong Swee Lin

2010-05-14T01:38:00.000+08:00

Now at the age of 83, he has a lot to tell to young Malaysians. He saw and documented the nation at near birth and infancy. He saw and documented the nation struggling and rising. He sacrificed his youth documenting moments of history. He left his family vigil waiting for him to return from dangerous assignments. He suffered ailments due to drinking water from swamps and streams. He sacrificed his life to tell history behind the lens of his countless cameras.

He had walked quite a distance in this life journey. And he would like to share these fruitful moments with you.

Contribution of a life time ...

2010-05-14T01:14:00.000+08:00

His photographs had been and will be published more than a thousand times. Every time we celebrate the Independence Day, the media will publish all these pictures again and again. Business enterprises, large-format picture printers, photo treatment companies will repeatedly claim credits as well as reaping cash of the pictures they use but the original artist remains uncredited.

For a senior person like Wong Swee Lin, he doesn't mind this. Because all the sweat, tears and blood that he had shed during his service were partly for the love of his work, and greatly for the love of his nation. It was him and his fellow comrades, whether still alive or had passed awy, who documented the birth of 1Malaysia. And they did all the work not merely for money for the pay was too low, but the risk ... so huge.

Time is running out

2010-05-12T18:54:00.000+08:00

From Wong Swee Lin work

But the going is really slow. Suggest to the PM for Mr Wong Swee Lin be awarded a datukship.

From Wong Swee Lin work

Help make a patriot savaours his life history and contributions by awarding him with a datukship. He deserves more than that. He risked his life to document Malaysian history.

Senior photographers don't fade away ....

2009-09-15T18:08:00.010+08:00

They are just out of frame. But the memories of their work will remain in the minds and the hearts of many generations.

We tend to forget about the contributions of senior photographers, especially from the Information Department.

During the old days they had to fulfill work where other people dared not to go. Some of the pictures taken by them were distributed to the respective mainstream and commercial media organisations such as the Malay Mail, Utusan Melayu and the New Straits Times. Most often the pictures were credited to the Information Department without mentioning of the names of the original photographers.

Wong Swee Lin's works can still be retrieved from the Information Department library. All of his works are marked and coded with SL (Swee Lin).

Walking down memory lane ...

2009-09-02T17:27:00.004+08:00

During the Emergency period prior to Independence, instructions to assignments were delivered at Royal Air Force normally as early as 6.00 a.m – destination and duration unknown, usually a day period but sometimes for as long as two weeks. Missions were to cover story of VIPs at destinations to be told only upon arrival. Wong and friends were transported either by helicopter or Cessna Aircraft. Destinations normally were jungle forts in rural areas, remote villages or small towns where the VIPs would hold meetings; engage in talks with local leaders; address the people about important government policies and strategies; discuss with government officials on security; or for merely social visits. The VIPs whom Michael had accompanied included the British High Commissioner, Sir Edward Gent, Sir Henry Gurney, Sir Gerald Templer, Sir Donald Mac Guilvrey and other foreign dignitaries.

During employment with the Department of Public Relations (English time), initially as temporary clerk since August 26, 1948, among duties were to receive visitors at the Department and guide them to meet the appropriate officers; farm out letters and documents to the appropriate sections as he was sitting at the first table of the Department’s main entrance. This kept him busy visiting the various sections and made him popular among staffs at the Department. He also had to look after all the books at the library and documents received by the Department. Eventually an English lady from the British Council came to teach him (for three months) on how to index and file the books using the decimal classification system. Even today some of the old books still being kept at the Information Department were classified by him as his handwriting on the index slips can still be found on the books.

In 1949, after seating for an examination, he became State Clerical Officer and continued with the same tasks he did at the Public Relations Department.

In 1950 he was appointed as Photographer after completing the necessary tests. He was keen in photography that he even undertook photography assignments when he was still a clerk with the Public Relations Department. Moreover the post of Photographer was under Technical classification, which had a higher salary scheme. Eventually, when he was officially designated as Photographer, the Department employed a librarian and a clerk to look after the library.

Career in Photography
As a photographer with the PR Department, he was always on call round the clock. Assignments were delegated to him at odd hours. Wong and comrades were supplied with a ‘Speed Graphic’ camera that required 5” x 4” sheet film – a kind of single sheet films or a patch of R2 sheets, of eight exposures. In occasions when in-door assignments or when there is not enough sunlight he would have to use flash bulbs and equipped with flash bulb equipment to light up the bulbs and get them synchronized with the shutter of the camera. The bulbs were in three sizes that were marked with numbers 5, 11 and 22. The latter was the biggest specially used for capturing image in large space areas.

During those days, photographers with the PR Department had to process the films themselves select the negatives to be printed and delivered to local and foreign media, free-of-charge.

Brushing With Death
On one occasion an assignment to cover the Sultan of Pahang’s visit to Kuala Lipis was cancelled because of security reason. He was traveling with three others comprising of Malayan Film Unit cameraman Osman Shamsuddin, Radio Malaya officer Salleh Ahir and the driver. As they were already at the place of coverage, they had to leave Kuala Lipis to Kuala Lumpur. One of them was a bad traveler. They traveled the road from Kuala Lipis which passed through Raub via the Gap at Kuala Kubu Baru and to Kuala Lumpur instead of the normal Raub-Bentong and Kuala Lumpur. The roads those days were narrow and could cater for one way passage only, with many curves to mind.

After passing the Gap about a few miles away they had to stop awhile at a spot to allow the bad traveler to let out and enable them to ease and answer the call of nature, as there were no public toilet at the time. After a few minutes spending near the bushes, they continued their journey and met with the late Sir Henry Gurney with his envoy who was then traveling in the opposite direction towards the Gap and the Fraser’s Hill. Wong and friends were familiar faces at the King’s House where they usually met up with Henry Gurney. The envoy greeted and waved at the media group.

It was on that fatal night in Kuala Lumpur that Wong heard of the bad news from the radio, about the assassination of Sir Henry Gurney. The communist terrorists had sprayed bullets on Sir Henry Gurney’s envoy. He died on the spot but his wife and the driver were spared.

Wong was saddened by the news as he and friends had met Henry Gurney that day, just before the incident happened. He was astonished to find out later that the late High Commissioner was murdered right at the spot where the media group had stopped to answer the call of nature! Wong and friends then presumed that the bandits may have been hiding in ambush while they were busy ‘conducting businesses’ in the bushes.

Because of the incident, Tras, a village just after the Gap before Raub, was evacuated and the residents were relocated to another area to allow the British and local forces to storm and hunt for the bandits.

Wong had encountered with many critical moments especially being shot at by the communist terrorists. He and friends were shot at while traveling from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in an armoured train together with British officers and the African Rifles Unit. The bandits ambushed the train at Layang-Layang in Johor. They laid flat on the floor while the bandits riddled the train with bullets. On another occasion, Wong, while traveling with Public Relations officers from Tangkak to Segamat, were ambushed by bandits but did not hurt anyone.

In another incident, Wong and reporters from Utusan Melayu, Straits Times and Radio Malaya were attacked by communist bandits while traveling from Raub to Tras to cover the evacuation operations of the Tras village. Wong and friends were shot at and thrown with hand grenades. Luckily they were traveling in an armoured car which was equipped with special roof netting that expelled away the grenades that were thrown to the vehicle. Immediately after reaching Tras, Wong and friends received many calls from the police and superiors in Kuala Lumpur who came to know about the fatal incident and were worried about their safety.

Hard Jungle Bashing Time
During the Emergency, all assignments were pre-delegated to the Information Department photographers at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Base on the very moment before departure. The officials were grouped at 6.00 am in the morning and they had to sign a special form that stated the ‘RAF cannot be taken responsibility of any misfortune that would happen during the course of traveling.’ The government officials designated to fly with the RAF would jokingly say that the form was a kind of ‘death certificate’ and it was literally true as their safety was at stake because they had to go to dangerous zones where bandits were known to be roaming at large and ambushing in dark forests.

During such assignments, officials were not allowed to bring any food on board. They were only given with minimum rations at the assigned destinations. In many occasions they did not know the duration they had to spend to cover the assignments that left loved ones worried at home. Among the assignments were to cover the visits by British High Commissions or VIPs from overseas. The medium of transport to such remote areas were by air, normally on helicopters and small air planes like the Cessna, Beavers and Pioneers of the RAF. They would fly to faraway destinations like jungle forts, aborigines’ settlements, villages, small towns and army camps all over Malaya to meet the people, government officers and the army and security officers.

As no own food were allowed during traveling and at the designated destinations, Wong had to feed on whatever that were supplied to him. Sometimes he was out of any food, in the middle of nowhere in the dark jungles of Malaya. On one occasion onboard an armoured train, he was offered with some sandwiches for lunch by Sir Gerald Templer.

At nights, Wong would sleep at Orang Asli settlements, jungle forts, or military camps in the middle of jungles all over Malaya. He had encamped in the jungles in Malaya (peninsula) from south to north and even the bordering areas in Thailand.

Sometimes, upon reaching destinations, Wong had to go on foot for several miles, 10 to 15 miles a day, through paddy fields, swamps, streams, rivers, and thick jungles together with the army and field force. In many occasions when out of supply, Wong had to consume water from the paddy fields, streams and rivers and there was not a time when he and friends would be cautious to even care of the bacteria that they may have taken in their body system. They had no chance to be that cautious because it was merely for survival.

They were supplied with food from airdrops once in every four days. Among their rations included biscuits, corned butter, jams, cheese and chocolates. They had to rely on the wireless officer who would radio to base camps of their positions to enable helicopters to locate them for food airdrops. During those days, the ‘heaviest’ of men were the wireless officer, as he had to carry heavy radio communication equipments.

Wong and comrades had to wade through streams and swamps and were regularly ‘bitten’ by leeches in spite of wearing boots and heavy stockings. He used to sleep in the jungles and wearing the same wet clothes for days without taking any bath. He had rubbed his body with mosquito repellant to ensure not to surrender to malaria but the crickets made so much noise that he sometimes could not close his eyes. But the crickets were the only music that accompanied his nights in the jungle and that made him think more of the loved ones left behind in Kuala Lumpur. The sound from the crickets and the thought of attacks from wild animals and the communist terrorists made him spent sleepless nights in the jungles. When the birds started to chirp in the mornings, it was the signal of relief as he knew that he had survived the dangers that were lurking in the jungle. It also meant that he had to continue his journey and start packing up to check out from the ‘Million Star Hotel’, leaving no trace behind to avoid from being tailed by the communist terrorists.

The army patrol unit together with the media officers would continue walking the next morning at odd hours – 5.00 am to 6.00 am – and spend the next trail for another 10 to 15 miles journey. They used to walk while carrying heavy food stuffs, clothing and photography equipments as rations were airdropped once in every 4 day period. The usual path were streams, rivers and swamps and Wong had spent his nights encamped in the jungles all over Malaya or put up at Longhouses, or in tents at Field Force and Army Base camps.

Wong had walked the jungles, traveled in armoured cars and train coaches, and flew all over the country to document moments of the nation’s history. He spent many hours of dangerous traveling in a train from Gemas to Kuala Krai. He had boarded the HMS Alert from Singapore for a 10 days journey assignment to Kota Bharu with stopovers at various places and islands like Mersing, Pulau Tioman, Pekan, Kuantan, Pulau Perhentian, Dungun, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Baru and the Redang Island. He spent days at oil rigs in Sabah and Sarawak and stayed onboard. He had also documented pictures of deep sea fishing while spending time with fishermen from Pangkor Island.

Fondest Memories with Tun Razak
Wong had accompanied the premiers of Malaysia - Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak and Tun Hussein Onn. He had fondest memories with Malaysian royal families while photographing them in numerous functions and occasions. Of all these moments, the most fondest ones were when he accompanied Tun Razak to the remotest areas in Malaysia to cover the Rancangan Luar Bandar which was the brainchild of the late ‘Bapak Pembangunan.’ Wong had documented most of the second Malaysian prmier’s visits all over the country.

Wong was assigned to cover and document Tun Razak’s visits and meetings. He photographed all the moments where Tun Razak went. He had the chance to travel to the remotest area where no vehicles could reach and the late prime minister was seen persistent in all his endeavours. He savoured all these moments in his photographs and would explain how difficult it was to pass through red muddy paths, narrow roads and crossed rivers and streams over many mediocre bridges.

This was the period when he and other media friends had to do a lot of walking as the late second premier had done so to visit the rakyats to ensure that the living conditions of the Malaysian people could improve. He documented the legacy of Tun Razak in his picture albums.

Wong had also sailed in the rivers together with Tun Razak to visit the remote areas in Pahang and Perak – from the base of Gunung Tahan and Kuala Lipis, Temerloh, Pekan to Slim River and to through the mouth of many rivers in the Peninsula.

Memory Lane
Wong has fondest memories when he was a boy. When studying at the Government English School in Tapah, he stayed with his parents and maternal grandmother together with eight brothers and sisters.

He used to tell about the moments when his grandmother used to walk with him school and would fetch him to return home. He had his time swimming in the river as there was no public swimming pool at the time. He had his time playing football, hockey and rounders or taking part in athletic events and the ramous sack-race, three-legged race, relay race, egg and spoon race and the tug-of-war.

The Lost City - Wong Swee Lin's Experience

2009-09-02T16:00:00.004+08:00

From THE UNSUNG HERO / Wira Tak Terdendang

Read insights of Wong Swee Lin's experience when he participated in documenting Stewart Wavell's search for a list of Malayan mysteries.

Catch them right here, as details of the adventure will be re-written in this blog. Coming soon. Getting permission from publisher, or perhaps no need permission as copywright may have expired.