WHILE Sarawak is best known for its Warriors of the yesteryears, little is known about two Sarawak “unsung heroes” and their epic battle against 100 Communist Terrorists (CTS). This is the story of Kelabit Sgt Ngelinuh Bala and PC Itim anak Bijam, an Iban of the brave Sarawak Police Field Force (SPFF) are among only six Sarawakians who won the Nation’s highest award–the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (SP).
Both are Sarawak’s last and only SP survivors. On that fateful day on April 29, 1972 Sgt Ngalinuh was tasked to lead a squad of six PFF personnel escorting three Public Works Department (PWD) staff to deliver a large quantity of dynamite by lorry to a location in Mubal along the Oya road, 60 kilometres away from Sibu. In an exclusive interview, Sgt Ngalinuh spoke of that fateful day. “It was about 1 p.m. and we had left with the three PWD staff with a large cache of explosives in their lorry from their Department at Mile 14 and were heading for the Mubal quarry at Mile 54.”
“Two of the PWD staff sat upfront with their driver while we sat in the rear with the explosives. Approximately two-thirds of the way into the journey we came under attack and were hit by a hail of bullets and grenades.”
Several days before the ambush, the CTs had dug a large trench and two other hideouts in the hillside and were well prepared for the ambush. The CTs had the upper hand because they had inside information on the route the convoy was going to take. Members of the North Kalimantan Communist Party (NKCP) thought that they could easily eliminate the small number of personnel and get away with a massive cache of dynamite.
If they succeeded, it would be a big blow to the security forces and major victory as the explosives could be used in future clandestine operations. Ngalinuh who was a 32-year-old non-commissioned officer recalled the CTs had a commanding position on a hill by the roadside located in front of the “killing zone”. Coming under a hail of bullets, Sgt Ngalinuh and the others scrambled out of their vehicle and took cover behind a PWD bulldozer parked by the roadside.
As the battle began Ngalinuh and Constable Itim mounted a counter-attack. Itim said that after he scanned the hillside, they located the source of the enemy gun-fire and together with his commanding officer, managed to avoid enemy fire and crawled within 15 meters from the CTs’ position. Ngalinuh added: “Our strategy was that when I inched forward, Itim would cover me by firing at the enemy, and similarly I would cover Itim when he progressed and took cover.”
In a pincer movement, both men closed in on the enemy position while the CTs tried their best to snipe at the duo for more than four hours. In the meanwhile, the other four PFF personnel who were trapped behind the bulldozer with the three PWDE personnel also took pot shots at the enemy. At about 6 p.m., a platoon of PFF personnel, who were patrolling the area on foot, heard the shootings and arrived at the scene of the ambush.
Together with the reinforcements, Sgt. Ngalinuh, Itim and the PFF consolidated themselves and continued to push towards the enemy position. By this time Ngalinuh had killed only one CT. Even with the PFF platoon of about 20 men joining in the gunfight, the CTs, with their superior number, refused to give up. The enemy then divided themselves into three sections: One group was hiding in the main trench and two other groups in subsidiary ambush positions. One bullet from a sniper managed to find Ngalinuh who was shot in the right thigh.
Despite a serious injury, the PFF stormed the CTs’ position and they finally fled with several slightly injured members leaving a trail of blood. Three CTs surrendered while others who were wounded and had no time to escape gave up. A search of the CTs’ hideout produced some important documents containing information about CT activities in the area.
That night, the injured Ngalinuh and his band of men, the injured and surrendered CTs, dug in at the site of their victorious battle. It was a matter of time before the reinforcements from Sibu would arrive, and they could take chances that the enemy group would return and try to save their comrades. The following morning, the captured and injured CTs were handed to military reinforcements. On reflection, PFF said that the target of the ambush was to capture the large cached of dynamite which was more useful to them than a few dead policemen and civilian staffs.
“If they had fired directly at the lorry with its load of dynamite or thrown a grenade under the vehicle it would have blown everyone in it sky high,” said a police source. Miri-based Itim anak Bijam who was promoted to corporal suffered permanent ear damage because he had fired continuously at the enemy.
In a telephone conversation with Itim’s daughter Lily, she joked: “It was bad when I was a young girl in 1972 but now it’s worse and he can hardly hear so it quite difficult to interview him on phone.” Several years ago the New Sarawak Tribune arranged for a private donation of RM10,000 to both Ngalinuh and Itim from former Inspector General of Police Tun Haniff Omar under whom they had served. Both received the SP from the Yang Dipertuan Agong on July 6, 1972.
On July 1,1983 Ngalinuh was promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major; and to the rank of Sub- Inspector on January 1, 1991, a rank he held for four years until his retirement. In his Letter of Commendation to Ngalinuh in 1972, IGP Tun Mohammed Salleh bin Ismail, had this to say to our two heroes: “Pasokan Polis Di-Raja Malaysia berasa megah di-atas keberanian luar biasa yang telah Enche pamirkan di-kala sa-kumpulan kechil eskot di-mana Enche ada-lah sa-orang menganggotainya pada 29 APRIL 1972 di-Batu 51, Jalan Ulu Oya.
Semangat keperwiraan Enche bukan sahaja telah menyelamatkan nyawa pekerja2 JKR dan rakan2 seperjuangan Enche bahkan juga telah berjaya mengusir musoh2 tersebut dari kawasan pertemporan dan seterus-nya membunoh dan menchederakan beberapa orang daripada mereka. Sebilangan senjata2 dan dokumen2 juga dapat diperolehi.
Sesunggoh-nya keberanian dan semangat keperwiraan Enche yang tidak ada tolok banding- nya itu akan tetap terchatit di-dalm lambaran sejarah Polis Di-Raja Malaysia” Translation: “The Royal Malaysian Police Department is proud of the extraordinary courage that you has exhibited in the small group of escorts in which you was a member of a group on April 29, 1972 at Batu 51, Jalan Ulu Oya. Your courage not only saved the lives of JKR employees and your friends but also managed to evict the enemies from the area and you have succeeded in killing and capturing some of them.
A number of weapons and documents were also obtained during the melee. Your incomparable bravery and heroism will remain in the heart of the history of the Royal Malaysian Police.”
For their gallantry, Ngalinuh and Itim received a monthly honorarium of RM300 per month until recently when it was raised to RM2,000 per month. Sarawak has four other SP recipients, two of whom were awarded the medals posthumously and two others who have recently died. Sarawak Ranger warrant officer Lenggu anak China was killed in an ambush at Kanowit in January 20, 1971 and Trooper Rasli bin Buang from Kampung Buntal in Sarawak who was killed at Sungei Siput in Perak in July 1971.
The two others were Sarawak Ranger Warrant Officer Datuk Kanang anak Langkau, the only Malaysian to win two bravery awards, the SP and PGB, and PFF Inspector Reggie anak Deli in an incident in Bintulu in 1973. Kanang won both his awards in a major incident against CTs –the first at Fort Legap in Perak on June 1, 1979—Sarawak’s annual “Gawai Dayak” New Year—where he killed five CTs. He was awarded the PGB for his action.
In another incident in Tanah Hitam, Perak on February 19, 1980 Kanang risked his life to save his colleagues and in the process was shot three times but he managed to survive. He remained in a coma for two months before he recovered and returned to work. He died after a heart attack at the age of 67 in 2013.
