SIBU: The yearning to see the world has literally taken former British army staff sergeant Sahari bin Ubu, 70, around the globe.
SHARING EXPERIENCE: Sahari wearing his British Army uniform poses for BAT at his house in Kpg Nangka in Sibu. — Photo by Chimon Upon
He served in the British Army for 22 years from 1962 until his retirement in 1984.
He had served in various countries, including Germany, Singapore and Malta where he met his wife, Lucy Ludgarda deBatista, who passed away two years ago.
They got married in 1970 and the couple has three children – two sons and a daughter.
“I was also posted to Vietnam during the Vietnam War, from 1965 to 1967.
“But I was not involved in the war directly, but more of playing a supporting role in the Royal Signal Corps in the British Army,” recalled Sahari to BAT at his house in Kampung Nangka in Sibu.
While still in school, the young Sahari was already intrigued with the idea of travelling around the world.
After completing his Form Three education at Sacred Heart Secondary School here in 1957, he went to Brunei to hunt for jobs where he met a British engineer whom he confided to about his wild dream.
“He told me an opportunity on how to achieve my dream by joining the British army. He also assisted me to apply for a British passport through the British Embassy in Brunei,” Sahari reminisced.
After taking the initial step, he decided to return to Sibu to get the fund that he needed badly.
“I worked for a while with Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation (Sesco) and did odd jobs such as repairing generator sets,” he recalled.
After getting enough funds, he bade farewell to his family and travelled to Singapore.
“From Singapore, we flew to England by Comet 4 plane owned by the British Air Overseas Corporation (BAOC).
“We landed in England and l was immediately sent to Catterick Camp in Yorkshire.
“I was trained for a year, specialising in signal,” he added. His first posting was in Germany and the second posting was in Singapore, and then to Malta.
He was back again to Germany, then to England and back again to Germany again until he retired in 1984.
“My most memorable experience while in the army was when I was deployed to the American base at Camp Long Nokta in Thailand. The camp was located near the border with Laos where bombings into Vietnam were carried out,” said Sahari.
And during the Falklands War, he assisted the British through their base camp in Germany.
“I never got involved in direct combat with the enemies as I was in the signal corps which provided information to other troops,” recalled Sahari.
Soon after his retirement, he was appointed as penghulu for the Melanau community of Kampung Nangka.
“I was appointed as a penghulu after the term of my predecessor Carol Abang Dris expired about seven years ago,” added Sahari.
As if to show that he was not kidding about his sojourn in various countries round the world, he called his son Michael who works as an air steward with Malaysia Airlines.
And indeed his son seems to have ‘exotic’ features which clearly showed that he is of mixed parentage.
Sahari was seemingly very glad that he finally broke his silence to tell the world of his wondering experiences of seeing the world.