Teacher Soldier Diplomat. Story of Navalite.

(to read article click: thenavalbase.blogspot.com)

Born in 1949, Mejar Singh Gill alias Major Singh Gill arrived in Singapore as a 6 year- old in 1955, from a very humble family background.  His father, without any formal educational, came to Singapore in 1950 where he joined the British Naval Police Force as a Police Constable. Mejar grew up with his large family of 7 siblings in the Naval Base, among the large community of over 400 Sikh families then constituting the Naval Police Force.  He was the third eldest in his family, with two sisters older than him. His father, being rather conservative and having plans then of eventually returning to Punjab, chose not to send his elder two daughters to school, being quite content with them mastering Gurmukhi (Punjabi script) and being proficient in the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh Scripture) but quite happy to send Mejar to an English School, followed by the other siblings later.

This was the period of significant changes in the region, and Singapore in particular, which impacted everyone’s life including Mejar’s.

“I did my initial primary education at the Admiralty Asian School within the Naval Base where we sang the British National Anthem ‘God Save the Queen’ daily. When Singapore attained self-government in 1959, we were transferred to Naval Base Secondary School, a newly built school located just outside the perimeter of the Naval Base. Our national anthem, Majulah Singapura replaced ‘God Save the Queen’. Four years later we were singing another national anthem, Negara Ku when Singapore merged with Malaysia in September 1963.

Mejar Singh Gill: Weapon presentation ceremony for recruits, 1974 – Source: Supplied

“What seemed to be interesting times, soon changed into turbulent times. Singapore’s merger with Malaysia was fraught with difficulties both within and from outside. Not only did Indonesia announce its policy of Konfrontasi (Confrontation) against Malaysia, there were also the racial riots of 1964. Not long after, we woke up on the morning of 9 Aug 1965 to see our Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew emotionally announcing the separation of Singapore from Malaysia to become sovereign nation, and we all reverted to singing Majulah Singapura all over again.

Immediately after obtaining his Senior Cambridge Certificate in 1965, and given his family’s financial situation, with the younger siblings already going to school, Mejar applied for and got selected as a trainee teacher. He taught at West Hill Primary School in the morning session and attended classes at the Teachers’ Training College at Patterson Road for three afternoons a week, as was the arrangement those days.

But the ongoing developments in the region in the 1960s were to further change Mejar’s life. Instead of pursuing a teaching career, he soon found himself serving in the Armed Forces instead. Other than the Indonesian Confrontation, the Vietnam War was still raging and there were fears of the ‘domino effect’ on the non-communist states, including tiny Singapore. Hence, the emphasis on defence and the reliance on a conscript army rather than a regular army to defend Singapore.

Mejar Singh Gill: Instructor at Officer Cadet School, Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute, 1982 – Photo: Supplied

CALL UP TO SERVE

The first inkling of conscription being introduced in Singapore came in November 1966 when the Government announced that all newly appointed government and statutory board officers, subject to physical fitness, would have to do a stint of full time national service.

“When I became a trainee teacher, I was already anticipating being called for some form of military training but did not know where, when and how I will be involved. Things moved rather fast in 1967 when new legislation was tabled to amend the National Service Ordinance (which had originally been passed by the British in 1952),” he said.

On 21 Feb 1967 (which coincidently was his 18^th birthday), PM Lee made the announcement of the introduction of national service, and in March 1967 the National Service (Amendment) Bill was formally passed in parliament.  Soon after, small select groups of civil servants as well as students of institutions of higher learning under 30 years of age started receiving call up notices. A few days later, Mejar was one of over 9,000 18-year-old Singaporeans who received the enlistment notices, or pink cards, instructing us to register for NS at Central Manpower Base (CMPB) in Kallang.

“I did not just get one call-up notice but four! I happened to fall under all four categories of Singaporeans liable for national service during those early days of national service; namely young 18 year old, new citizens, students of higher learning and new civil servants.

“In my case, I was 18 years old who had only recently become a naturalised citizen, was a new civil servant and was a student at Teachers Training College, which was then designated as an institution of higher learning. So even if I had tried to get deferment, which I had no desire to do so, there was little possibility for me succeeding as I fell into all four categories of persons liable for national service then,” he said.

On 9 Aug 1967, he proudly joined fellow Singaporeans in the Republic’s second National Day Parade. The attention of all was on the marching uniform contingents, especially the one from SAFTI. Mejar was in the Teachers Training College Contingent. In subsequent years, after he enlisted into the Army on 21 Aug 1967, he too had a few opportunities to both participate in the participating contingents as well as be involved in some way or another in the organisational set up of the National Day Parades.

During his 30 years in the army, Mejar held various command, staff and instructional posts. In addition to commanding a Reserve Battalion, he also served in key staff roles at division level as well as in the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF). At the instructional level, he commanded companies training non-commissioned officers (NCOs) as well as Officer Cadets. His last post was that of Directing Staff at the Singapore Command and Staff College.

During his stint in the Army, he had the opportunity to train in several countries. In particular, he specialised in jungle training, where he underwent training at the renowned British Jungle Warfare School in Ulu Tiram, Malaysia; the Counter Insurgency & Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) in Vairengte, Assam, India, as well as in the jungles of Brunei, Thailand and Taiwan. He also underwent various other forms of training in other countries such as Hawaii, US as well as Australia and New Zealand as well as participated in joint exercises with foreign armies.

Mejar Singh Gill receiving the State Flag from former Minister for Defence of Singapore Mr Lee Boon Yang, for UNIKOM (United Nations Iraq/Kuwait Observation Mission in 1995. Photo: Supplied.

Singapore, despite its small size, has played a very active role as a responsible member of the United Nations (UN). It has contributed in various fields, including humanitarian missions and peacekeeping operations. Mejar headed one such mission during his military career, which left him with ‘great memories being involved in such a noble cause’. 

He led the 5^th SAF UNIKOM (United Nations Iraq/Kuwait Observation Mission) Team overseeing peacekeeping at the Kuwait/Iraq border.

Mejar Singh Gill: Serving at Kuwait/Iraqi Border under the UN Peacekeeping Mission, 1995 – Source: Supplied

During his 30 years of service in the SAF, Mejar said that stands out as one of the most meaningful and insightful assignments he had undertaken in his military career. His greatest satisfaction was the opportunity to visit the Baba Nanak Shrine (also referred to as Tomb of Bahlol among the Arabs) in Karkh District of Baghdad which was still intact then.

Mejar joined the SAF with “O” levels but was fortunate that it gave him the opportunity to upgrade himself with a tertiary education. While serving the SAF, he did his “A” levels on a part-time basis and was awarded a scholarship to pursue studies at National University of Singapore (NUS) where he obtained a BA (Hons) in 1986.

After serving 30 years in the SAF and having attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he decided to retire prematurely at the age of 47 at the end of 1996, when he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). 

Article By  Asia Samachar (25 December 2021) Soldier and Diplomat URL https://asiasamachar.com  

(to be continued).  In Pt 2 Read Mejar's  'major' roles in:  Evacuation of Singaporeans from Cambodia in 1997; Silkair Crash; 1998 Riots in Indonesia including the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia and the Nepal Earthquake in 2015.