MAKING SOLDIERS OF MEN

On 1 Apr 38 years ago, the Singapore Armed Forces Boys' School (SAFBS) welcomed its first batch of 50 boys. PIONEER speaks to Major (MAJ) (Retired) Jamil Amin, the first Officer Commanding (OC) of the school's Combat Wing, on being a mentor to the boys.

It has been nearly four decades since his appointment as OC of the SAFBS, but MAJ (Rtd) Jamil still has a razor-sharp memory when it comes to how his former students are doing.

He rattles off their names effortlessly and his face lights up with a smile each time he shares how they have gone on to become successful leaders, entrepreneurs and businessmen.

Set up in 1975, the SAFBS provided boys aged 12 to 16 with vocational training to become technical tradesmen in the SAF. Registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE), the school's curriculum differed from the mainstream as it provided not just academic classes at the secondary level, but military and vocational training as well.

Instructors and guardians

Even though he was only 29 years old and a bachelor at that time, MAJ (Rtd) Jamil said he treated the boys like his children. "They were mischievous and to me, they were like monkeys in a barrel. They were scared of me because I was the disciplinary figure. But when I was around, they felt assured because they knew that nobody was going to bully them!"

Despite the strict discipline enforced, the boys grew close to MAJ (Rtd) Jamil and the officers and non-commissioned officers who saw to their training, education and daily needs.

Playing the roles of both instructor and guardian, the group of senior officers, education officers and Operationally Ready National Servicemen taught the boys to be responsible and disciplined. For example, they encouraged the boys to save a portion of their monthly allowance.

"These were impressionable boys. Properly motivated, they could achieve what seemed impossible," said the 67-year-old MAJ (Rtd) Jamil, who manages the Singapore office of an Australian property investment firm.

Today, many of the boys from the first batch are senior warrant officers in the SAF; a number are businessmen in the logistics and services sectors and many have put their children through university.

One of them is Staff Sergeant (Rtd) Segaran Rajoo, the cohort's best trainee. The 53-year-old said of his former OC: "MAJ (Rtd) Jamil participated with us in all field training, range practices and parades. During route marches and field camps, he walked with us and stayed in the field with us. He even visited us at night in our barracks to ensure that we were comfortable... He was a classic SAF officer."

Finding a family

When the school had its first speech day, recounted MAJ (Rtd) Jamil, many proud parents spoke of how their sons had changed to become more responsible. "Some of them came from broken homes but they found a family in the SAFBS," said MAJ (Rtd) Jamil, who is regularly invited to the gatherings that the first batch of SAFBS boys organises.

Word of the school's positive influence spread like wildfire and 400 joined the next year, partly persuaded by the recruitment film Starting Point (currently stored in the National Archives) that MAJ (Rtd) Jamil helped produce together with MOE.

The 23-minute documentary showcased the training that the boys would go through - from basic military skills to weapons handling that would develop their self-confidence and equip them with skills for a career in the SAF.

The making of the film was a highlight of his time in the SAFBS, said the father of two. He spoke fondly of his students' enthusiasm as they rallied together to showcase military training like river-crossing.

He left after 18 months for a military course at the School of Advanced Training for Officers (later renamed and known today as the Army Officers' Advanced School). Captain (Rtd) Hong Seng Mak, famously known as "Tiger Hong" for his strict disciplinary style and no-nonsense approach to managing soldiers, then took over as OC.

In his 25 years in the SAF, MAJ (Rtd) Jamil, who retired in 1994, has taken on many roles. They include being a jungle warfare training instructor to British troops at Kota Tinggi during the Vietnam War and being deployed as Singapore's consul to Medan when he was seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But it is memories of his time in the SAFBS that remain the strongest.

"It was something totally new to us. We got boys from different walks of life and many were considered street kids, yet they came and found strength in one another. Their enthusiasm really kept you alive; it made you feel that there would be a tomorrow because young people always have something that they want to do."

"We got boys from different walks of life and many were considered street kids, yet they came and found strength in one another."
- MAJ (Rtd) Jamil