{
  "id": 4325502,
  "title": "Harga dan luka tersembunyi di sebalik keamanan Malaysia",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/30/harga-dan-luka-tersembunyi-di-sebalik-keamanan-malaysia",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-30T01:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2026/08/30/harga-dan-luka-tersembunyi-di-sebalik-keamanan-malaysia"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Malaysia's security, once thought to be unbreakable, reveals hidden costs and wounds. Before turning 21, Mejar Salehuddin Abd Muttalib (B) witnessed firsthand how easily the nation's safety could crumble. The call of \"Merdeka!\" marking the end of colonial rule seemed to herald a secure future, but the struggle for safety was far from over. Following years of inter-ethnic skirmishes and communist rebellions, Salehuddin joined the Royal Malaysian Army in 1967 and was posted to the Reconnaissance Unit in Port Dickson in April 1969. Just a month later, the May 13 riots erupted. At the age of 20, Salehuddin was sent to Kuala Lumpur to handle the gruesome sight of overturned vehicles. This experience was vastly different from his upbringing in Buntong, Perak, where the only Malay family in a predominantly Indian area helped him develop friendships despite the ethnic divide. The trio of cricket, football, and chess brought him close to his neighbors, even teaching him a bit of Tamil. The regime included members of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Eurasian communities serving together. However, after the May 13 tragedy, Salehuddin struggled to accept how ethnic differences could quickly turn neighbors into enemies. \"We should live in a world of peace and harmony. We don't need all that,\" he said to FMT Lifestyle at 77 years old. As the young people built their future, Salehuddin faced the dangers of ethnic clashes and armed rebellion. He had little time to ponder on these experiences as he was soon dispatched to the northern frontier of Malaysia to fight communist threats. In 1971, he joined the Special Services Group of the Army, which eventually took him to Sarawak East as a military intelligence officer. In 1972, 15 soldiers were killed in a clash in Lundu, Sarawak. During a raid on a communist camp later, Salehuddin found a photograph of a communist member holding a stolen weapon from a fallen soldier. For the communists, the weapon might be a trophy of victory, but for Salehuddin, it symbolized the loss of 15 lives too early - children who would never return home, and fathers leaving their children behind to grow up without them. However, Salehuddin later saw another side to the communist members - not just savagery but also a shared cause. For nearly two years, he lived with a former communist who helped him with difficult operations. Gradually, the label of enemy faded, and Salehuddin began to see them as ordinary people. Their struggle was not his own, but he understood they acted based on their beliefs. In warfare, the line between right and wrong is often blurred, especially on the opposing side who often share the same hopes and fears. Salehuddin displayed a photograph of a communist commander Fam Tze Heung and his pregnant wife Hooi Yin, whom he was tasked to capture during Operation Teliti II, one of his biggest assignments in life. Fam was the commander of Unit 330 of the North Kalimantan People's Volunteer Force (Paraku), while his pregnant wife served as the unit's treasurer. Salehuddin entered the Sarawak jungle with several former communist members, including those who had recently surrendered a few days earlier and were at risk of returning to their cause. Over 10 days, they navigated the jungle to reach the presumed meeting spot of Fam and his wife. However, the well-planned operation did not go as expected when shots rang out. Shot by Salehuddin, Fam and his wife were killed. This mission dealt a significant blow to the Paraku movement, and Salehuddin was awarded the Bravery Medal in 1973. Yet, he could never forget what happened to Fam and his wife. Every time he saw a pregnant woman, his thoughts often returned to the unborn child in the couple's womb, indifferent to which side they belonged to. Salehuddin later suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before leaving the army in 1983. Besides the biggest mission of his life, Salehuddin had many other experiences that haunted him. Several years after leaving the army, a stranger approached him and asked, \"Are you Salehuddin?\" When he replied yes, the man said, \"You killed my father.\" The man was a communist, and Salehuddin quickly recognized his name. \"So I tell him, 'That's my duty,'\" he said. Today, Salehuddin does not regret his service to the nation, but he hopes the sacrifices of those who once served in Sarawak are never forgotten. When asked about the meaning of security for him, he recalled the diverse multicultural society of his childhood. \"Security for me is when Malays, Chinese, and Indians can sit together, just like we did back then,\" he said. According to him, Malaysia still has \"a lot of room for improvement\" to restore the harmony it once knew. His message to the younger generation is clear.",
  "summary": "Daripada rusuhan 13 Mei hingga ke belantara Sarawak, perjalanan Mejar Salehuddin Abd Muttalib (B) memperlihatkan kesan berpanjangan ditanggung mereka yang mempertahankan negara.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Harga dan luka tersembunyi di sebalik keamanan Malaysia",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/30/harga-dan-luka-tersembunyi-di-sebalik-keamanan-malaysia-4328705",
        "published": "2026-08-30T01:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}