Meet unsung heroes behind Special Branch’s ‘F Team’

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Police personnel re-enact a scene of F Team operation in conjunction with the National Day 2017 celebration recently. — Bernama photo

KUALA LUMPUR: For ardent fans of Hollywood action movies, the 1980s television serial remake entitled ‘A-Team’ about members of the United States Army Special Forces, highlighted a group which brought society’s bad elements to book.

How many of us are aware that more than four decades ago, our very own ‘F Team’ was set up to topple subversive elements which posed a threat to the country?

And that the ‘F Team’ operated so covertly for over 20 years that the public only knew of its existence when the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) revealed its existence late last year?

An internet search revealed the ‘F team’ had covertly operated for 24 years before it was dissolved in 1995. Its existence was only exposed by the PDRM last December, after more than 45 years since inception in March 1971.

Staying true to its motto, ‘Only The Brave’, there was only one task for the members of the Bukit Aman Special Branch department’s elite squad – to bring down subversive elements brought by the Communist Party of Malaya (CMP) and the North Kalimantan Communist Party.

Kamaruddin Hashim, 68, affectionately known as ‘Kenny’ to squad members, said the bonding among the men was very strong despite coming from different backgrounds.

The original member of the team said he could never forget the day when he lost a best friend, identified only as Ah Hon, whom he deemed as a brother although the man was once a member of a communist party.

“His final words, ‘Please look after my son, boss’, still lingers in my ears even though it happened 39 years ago.

“I will never forget that day…he was shot thrice in the right ribs while attempting to stop an insurgent from approaching the van that we were travelling in,” he said in a voice choking in emotion as he recalled the battle against the communists on Oct 3, 1978.

At the time, both of them were assigned to intercept a food delivery truck headed for the Armed Work Force (AWF) members in a Tapah forest.

Subsequently, Kamaruddin said he and two other ‘F Team’ members had to put up over a 30-minute fight against nine communist insurgents.

The battle was witness to the gunning down of the 10th AWF leader, who was also CMP Fifth Combat Unit chief, known only as ‘Monte’, and his wife, he recalled.

However, Kamaruddin said he could not fulfill Ah Hon’s wish as the latter’s wife had taken the couple’s year-old son to her hometown and lost touch ever since.

The veteran policeman said he met Ah Hon, also known as ‘Batman’, for the first time in a Pahang forest when the man was still a communist.

“He was tasked with collecting letters that were left by an underground movement in a tree trunk, which was called the ‘dead letter box’.

“I was hiding atop a five-foot high tree when ‘Batman’ came to collect the letters. At that juncture, I jumped over the man to apprehend him before taking him to the headquarters,” he

said, adding that Ah Hon had worked with the F Team in the covert operation for two years until he breathed his last at age 25.

The story of the battle was staged to the public, including 92 of 164 original members of the ‘F Team’, via an eight-minute pantomime by PDRM personnel at the Dataran Merdeka last Thursday, in conjunction with the National Day 2017 celebrations.

The performance at the event was heart-rending, to say the least, rendering many in the audience to break down in tears.

According to the PDRM website, among the most-talked about major operations of the elite squad were the Kelong Operation (1976), Kelah Operation (1982) and the Taloong Operation (1988). — Bernama