In 1984 I was an OCS instructor at the old Safti Pasir Laba
camp.
One platoon from I believe Bravo coy was in-the-field conducting a
junior term cadet navigation test, a pre-requisite to Ex. Lancer.
In this test cadets move from checkpoint to checkpoint using map,
compass, one or none, given bearing and distance, then perform
certain tests at each station before navigating to the next
station. Timing between checkpoints was also recorded, so cadets
basically ran. Cadets perform this test independently. In those
days the test area was in LCK area. It was normal for cadets to be
running around passing each other along the entire exercise/test
area which was probably 3 sq km in size.
At the end of the day which was around 1830 hrs all cadets formed
up at main station and head count was conducted. One man short.
Missing man's last known checkpoint ascertained, and several cadets
noted they had last seen missing man running off in a certain
direction. This direction was counter to the correct direction to
the man's required checkpoint.
Since it was dark and platoon had been in the field all day, the
platoon returned to camp for dinner while instructors used their
land rovers to search for missing man.
Around 2100 hrs some of the instructors returned to camp saying
they combed the area and the direction missing man last seen headed
with no sight of him. They reported the missing man to HQ. HQ
turned out all available instructors, requisitioned all available
vehicles and everyone returned to the training area to look again
for the missing cadet. By day break he was still MIA and everyone
was getting somewhat concerned. Some villagers in the LCK area were
said to be reporting seeing a soldier running around their
properties but running away when approached.
CO cancelled all training for those coys in camp and the entire OCS
conducted a massive search through the area, including all
reservoirs, roads, farms, reservoirs, etc. By late in afternoon,
Mindef requisitioned choppers and turned out an ops SIR unit to
join in the search, which was conducted day and night. Even the
drains and culverts were searched day and night.
By the second night everyone was wondering what could have happened
to the cadet, and the rumours of his running around and avoiding
the search parties led to speculation he had gone crazy. A couple
of WO's and the CSM were rumoured to have consulted with a bomoh.
The Bomoh had apparently pointed to a gnarled and twisted tree
close to the last checkpoint he was seen at and said that a bad
spirit in the tree had possessed the cadet, and if he could not be
found by the end of the third day, he would be dead.
The search continued through the third day by air and by land with
hundreds of men combing all possible territory, hiding locations,
ponds, reservoirs, etc...still no sign of the cadet. Everyone was a
little spooked by the rumours and even as we checked the drains and
other possible shelter areas on the night shift we thought at any
minute he might jump out at us.
On the morning of the fourth day a chopper spotted something
floating in a small pond and radioed for the nearest search team to
go to the area. It was the cadet. He was floating face down in the
pond, his SBO still fully attached. He was pulled from the pond by
two officers. He was an only son.
Strangely enough, the compass which was still attached with black
shoelace to his SBO was set to the right bearing to the checkpoint
he should have run to, instead he had run in the opposite direction
and had ended up in a pond several km away from the checkpoint, the
distance of which was known to him from his prior checkpoint, and
had been less than 1 click. The pond he was found in had been
searched several times during the three day manhunt. Cause of death
was drowning, the cadet was not a swimmer.
****
Don't have any first hand Tekong experiences and can say I have
been over virtually every piece of ground and swamp on the original
island. One section a friend of mine led did have one man who did
turn into a zombie one night after they had passed through one of
the local burial areas, and I did spend some time with this soldier
who was one of the platoon's best. He said he had urinated and felt
cold then couldn't remember anything further till the next
day.
Can't say I'm a believer in the spirit world, and these events may
be readily explained, but they do send a chill up your spine when
you recall them in the middle of the night in the middle of
nowhere.
