his was a period of upheaval, and the V.I. was an unwitting victim.
When the Japanese occupied Malaya for almost four years, Scouting activities
followed the other activities of the V.I. into a temporary eclipse. The
Japanese aimed to ensure that ‘the minds of future generations of Malai
trained from the start to follow the lines of Shin Chitsujo (New Order) and
discard Western ideas and habits’, a maxim stated in the Syonan Sinbun
6 May 2603. English schools, such as the V.I., were either not allowed to
operate at all or were re-opened as Japanese Schools. Certainly Scouting activities,
seen as having an Imperial British Military heritage, could not take place.
Just when Malaya was in the throes of recovery from that war, another kind of battle sprang up in its place. Arguably, no other national political event so closely affected the Scouts as did the Malayan Emergency. Noel Barber, in his gripping War Of The Running Dogs, had this to say about those years of insecurity:
"...more and more reports of murders and atrocities were reaching police stations up and down the country. On the Senai Estate near Johore Bahru - within easy driving distance of the palace belonging to the Sultan who so enjoyed his dancing girls - ten men lay in wait for a Chinese head labourer and pumped fifteen bullets into him. In Pahang, a family was burned alive in a house. At Taiping, not far from Sungei Siput, a Chinese contractor was murdered. There seemed no pattern - except perhaps one: to make sure that the people of Malaya realized from the start that this was a war of terror none could escape..."
It was these contexts that the Scouts had to grapple with in order to rise to an enviable standard of Scouting efficiency, and live up to the hopes of Lord Baden-Powell.
WARTIME IN MALAYA
Without a doubt, war wreaks physical and psychological
devastation upon its victims. Yet, the Scout Promise, especially the first tenet -
"On my honour, I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and
Country..." - was never forgotten by the V.I. Scout. ASM Leong Hong
Teck was a Colonel in the Chinese Army fighting in Burma. After the War,
he was promoted to an important post in the Canton Government. ASM Rajion
b. Hakim was in the Red Cross section of the F.M.S.V.F. (Federated Malay
States Volunteer Forces) Light Battery Section. ASM Ismail b. Mohd Ali (see
A Gallery of Scouting Greats), while at Cambridge
University on a Queen’s Scholarship, was a regular voice over the BBC radio
during the War. Upon return to Malaya, he joined the Malayan Civil Service.
PL Chang Sow Khong was an Artillery Sergeant with the Australian Army, fighting
in New Guinea and the Philippines and was later attached to General Douglas
McArthur’s headquarters as an Intelligence Officer. Bun Tsan Chuan was a
member of the F.M.S.F.V. Field Ambulance Section. His distinguished services
during the Malayan Campaign won him the Military Medal. The 1946
Victorian notes that apart from these names, there was a host of
others who served creditably during the Dai Toa Senso (Great East Asian War)
"which space prevented it from recording. Everyone of them has a good
word to say for Scouting and its usefulness".
Unfortunately, not everyone lived to tell the tale. The V.I. Scouts lost its formidable SM Mr G.C. Tacchi, who became a victim of the infamous Burma-Siam Death Railway. SM Mr Tacchi was a Lieutenant with the Federated Malay States Voluntary Forces, but was captured as a prisoner of war. He died on 16 June 1943. Today, the Scouts and the School at large can remember his deeds by viewing the V.I. War Memorial Plaque which was unveiled by Sir Anthony Eden during the opening of the V.I. Library on 17 March 1949. Included on that war memorial, besides SM Mr Tacchi, is the name of Lieutenant George Barber, one of the early Scout Masters of the V.I. in 1911/ 1912.
Left in ruins was much of the fine heritage built up by the
V.I. Scouts over 31 years of existence. One very palpable loss was the destruction
of the Scout Room. Since 1929, the Scouts had called the furthest classroom on
the upper level of the wing nearest the V.I. swimming pool their abode. After
the Japanese occupation, little or nothing was left of the patrol cupboards,
camping equipment and books that formerly adorned that cosy room. Fortunately,
the Scouts did not have to wait long after the War before another room was
allocated to them. On 20 January 1949, the School approved their use of the
former Cadet Armoury (on the corner of the School near the side entrance) as
the new Scout Room. It was to become their abode for 8 years, until early
1967 when they moved to the Jaga’s Hut opposite the V.I.O.B.A. building.
Another setback from the War was that there were no uniforms available.
When uniforms were finally obtained in 1947, the Scouts had to pay for them,
unlike the pre-war period where the uniforms were supplied for free. This
posed new challenges for the economy and thrift of the Boys, especially as
the years immediately following the War were years of rife poverty; after
all, the thousands of Banana money currency were now obsolete. So, in 1950,
for example, the Cubs did work by selling chocolates and Rovers collected
money by organising bicycle parks during football matches.
But material things do not make a Troop – it is the people who do. Casting aside the gloom of the devastation around them, the V.I. Scouts rallied to rebuild themselves. Efforts commenced on 15 June 1946. With great luck, they were blessed with the continuing services of Mr Lim Eng Thye, who had been a Scout Master of the V.I. since the late 1920’s and was now a District Scout Master. Also in charge was SM Fong Chu Chai. Former DSM Mr Goh Keng Kwee left for Pasar Road School in 1946. By the end of that first year, there were already around 70 boys in the V.I. movement including about a dozen old Scouts – Siew Nim Chee being one of them (see A Gallery of Scouting Greats). By then, most of the Scouts were on their way to the Second Class badge. The following year, 1947, saw the School increasing its enrolment from 450 boys to 800 boys, and consequently the V.I. Scout movement doubled in number from 70 boys to 150 boys. Most of them, by the end of the year, were already preparing for their Second Class tests. The V.I. Scouting movement was back in business!
REORGANISING THE TROOPS
When the V.I. Scouts resumed activities in mid 1946, they functioned as just one Troop – First Selangor. Only in 1947, as the numbers swelled and as boys improved in efficiency, was it feasible to reorganise the V.I. Scouts into the two Troops – First and Second Selangor – plus a new Troop, called Fourth Selangor. In 1949, the district’s name changed to Kuala Lumpur, and hence the V.I. Scouts had new names – First, Second and Fourth Kuala Lumpur Scout Groups. It was also in 1949 that the V.I. Scouts shed their appellation of ‘Troops’, and were to be henceforth known as ‘Groups’ because in each of First, Second or Fourth KL, there existed three cohorts of members namely Boy Scouts, Senior Scouts and Rovers. The Seniors was new section of the V.I. Scouts (and Malaya too), as before the war, all Malayan Scouts were known as Boy Scouts. For the first time too, the V.I. had a Rover Crew. Each of these cohorts was called a ‘Troop’ (except the Rovers, who constituted a ‘Crew’) which combined as the ‘Groups’ of First, Second and Fourth KL. To strengthen the functioning of the Groups and to improve coordination, Group Council meetings were initiated in June 1950. The Group Council comprised of the various Scout Masters and met once a month.
The split in 1947 was made possible by the burgeoning number of boys in the V.I. Scouts movement, 150 in that year. Just as in 1933, the split in 1947 was motivated by the belief that Scout could get more attention if they worked in smaller Troops. However, the existence of three Troops offering the same Scouting exposure may have been a little too much choice, so in early 1951, Fourth KL formed an Air Scout patrol in the Group. In June 1951, the entire Group was converted into an Air Scout Group, with one of the main foci being air activities such as air flights. However, this arrangement did not last for long, and in 1955, particularly due to a shortage of members, Fourth KL ceased to exist and was amalgamated with First KL.
An explanation of the different Troops (or ‘sections’ in each Group) is in order. The Rover Crew consisted of Scouts who had finished with Boy Scouting and Senioring, and were now in a position to engage in more challenging activities or to lead the Troops. The first Crew started in First KL, but in 1951, there was a Crew in each of First and Second KL. But this was short-lived and in 1952, the two Crews merged into the First KL Crew, which itself disappeared around 1953. Nonetheless, the existence of the Rover Crew was beneficial for the other V.I. Troops because with their experience, some of the Rovers were appointed as ASM’s of the various Troops. There were, in total, 14 Rovers in 1949, 32 in 1950, 41 in 1951 and 18 in 1952. Meanwhile, around 1950 (possibly before then, but no hard evidence exists), the V.I. Scouts recommenced Cub Packs as part of their Scout Groups. Unlike the V.I. Cub Packs of the 1920’s, the post-War Cubs were not V.I. students. Rather, the First KL, Second KL and Fourth KL had ‘extended branches’ in Batu Road School. Nonetheless, the Cub Masters of these packs were often drawn from among the V.I. teachers.
SCOUT MASTERS - SKILLED, DEVOTED AND INSPIRATIONAL
Between the founding of the V.I. Scouts in 1910 and the present day, there has never been such a large number of Scout Masters to staff the movement each year. There was of course the District Scout Master (DSM) who was in charge of overseeing all the V.I. Troops. Then came the Scout Masters, who, from 1950, were in charge of a particular Troop within each Scout Group. Scouting efficiency was quickly learned and mastered by the boys as a result of this specialisation and division of roles.
he also provided constant support and encouragement. Evidence of progress
during his tenure abounds: the V.I. produced the first post-war King Scout
for Kuala Lumpur in 1950; K Yogarajah was the sole representative of
Selangor to the 1951 World Scout Jamboree in Austria, an event which Mr
Payne also attended. (See 
Aid when the class was revived in early May 1948. Scouts who had progressed
through the ranks to become Senior members of the Troops were entrusted with
ASM positions. Later, when the Rover Troops were formed, the ASM’s were drawn
from among the Rovers, as has been mentioned. And just as before the War,
some old Scouts, after finishing their studies at the V.I., returned to take
up Scout Master positions in the Troop such as Mr D.G. Piyasena, Mr Wong Peng
Kong and Mr Chin Peng Lam. Mr Wong Peng Kong was the Troop Leader of the Fourth
Selangor Troop in 1948. Even though he held a job outside the V.I., he returned
as the Scout Master for the Seniors of First KL in 1952. He was later credited
for motivating many First KL Scouts to become Pengakap Raja, particularly in
the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, when he also held the post of Assistant
District Commissioner. Mr Chin Peng Lam was another redoubtable stalwart in
the V.I. Scout movement during the early to mid 1950’s. Under him, as Ooi Boon
Teck (former First KL ASM) recalls, ‘Second KL outshone First KL’. A member of
Fourth KL during his days as a V.I. School boy, Mr Chin then took up the
position of First KL ASM in 1951, before moving to become SM of Second KL
in 1952. He was the youngest ever Woodbadge holder in Malaya then (the Woodbadge
is the official qualification as a Scout Master). Under Mr Chin, Second KL
achieved much success (see 
and 1951, the Scouts served as messenger corps for the Government. As
well, the scouts visited the New Villages to popularise Scouting there.
A plan of Sir Harold Briggs and Sir Henry Gurney, the New Village plan
relocated squatters (often Chinese) from the fringe of the jungles to
clusters of guarded areas closer to the towns, where occupants were
allocated plots of soil for agriculture and residence to promote their
loyalty to the land. To reinforce this sense of loyalty, the Scout
Headquarters must have felt it appropriate that the villagers also had
activities like Scouting to occupy their time with. Another contribution
of the V.I. Scouts to their nation came when, in 1952, Khong Kim Kong,
a former Second KL ASM (1950-1951), was selected as an officer cadet
of the embryonic Federation Regiment. Chosen by General Templer, he was
one of a dozen of Malaya's best youths (dubbed the "Super
Twelve" by the press) who were sent for training at the Royal
Military College at Sandhurst, so that they could serve their homeland
as future officers. Sir Gerald Templer, the High Commissioner of Malaya
from 1952 to 1954, took much interest in the talents of the local boys.
In fact he often visited Schools including the V.I. in 1953 – and he
even visited the V.I. Scouts during camps! 
Port Dickson, Malacca, Pangkor, Langkawi, Penang and Singapore. In 1952,
the Second KL Scouts made a visit to Singapore, going there by sea.
Tung Song was the vessel which took Mr Chin Peng Lam and 20 other
boys from Port Swettenham (now Port Klang) there. Commencing with a train
ride from KL to the port on 26 December, the trip kept the boys away from
home for 11 days. From Port Swettenham, the vessel took them to Pulau
Brani, off the main island of Singapore, where it unloaded tin ore.
There, the group took a motor boat to Clifford Pier after which they
journeyed to Sands House (the Scout Headquarters of Singapore) by bus.
They returned to KL by land. In 1954, another sea adventure was undertaken,
this time by the First KL Scouts. Sailing on the S.S. Jalagopal,
the Scouts went to Penang. They visited the island and then hit the trail
to Langkawi Island via Alor Setar. Nonetheless, such long distance travels,
such as to Fraser’s Hill and Cameron Highlands, only became more frequent
in the mid 1950’s because before then, the epoch saw massive security risks
posed by the Emergency.
Tiow. Later that year, two Air Scouts had an opportunity to fly to
Penang and back, in a Dakota. Then in 1953, the Group was permitted by
the Commanding Officer of the Royal Air Force (KL Unit) to visit the
aerodrome (the present Malaysian Air Force base at Jalan Lapangan
Terbang at Jalan Sungai Besi) from time to time. The Commanding Officer
also allowed them to study the different types of aircraft and engines
under the guidance of R.A.F. officers like the Airport Manager. Such
permission granted to the V.I. Scouts was indeed significant, as there
was tight security on defence centres and strategic ammunition in
those days of the Emergency. 
Kamarul ‘Blue Panther’ Ariffin (see 
Chik’s Great Adventure, its main stars were the Second KL
Scouts. The role of Chik was filled by Raja Iskandar Shah. Other
Scouts in the show were S. Arunasalam (playing a boy inspired by Chik
to join the Scouts), M. Shanmughalingam (see 
