Encountering Living History

It’s not every day that one encounters living history. At least, it certainly seemed to me as I drove down with a very special 1st KL BB guest to our Band Camp, held over the 16-18 of November. Even as we journeyed down from Shah Alam, he was busily pointing out various landmarks along the Federal Highway and vividly relating to me “how things were like” almost 50 years ago, just as Malaysia celebrated its very first Independence Day.

It was around August that I first came across Mr. S.Y. Shim in an article published in The Sun newspaper. The newspaper article featured Mr. Shim’s story as one of the people who was actually in Merdeka Stadium when Tunku Abdul Rahman rallied the nation with cries of “Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!”

What really caught my attention, though, was that the 75-year-old Mr. Shim was at the Merdeka Stadium as a 22-year-old Lieutenant of the 1st KL BB! Now, I have always known that the 1st KL BB Band had participated in the very first Merdeka parade… but here was someone who was actually there! Not only was he actually there, in fact, Lieutenant Shim was the one who led 1st KL’s 60 Boys aged 15-18 in the Merdeka Parade’s march off!

Fascinated, I arranged to get in touch with him and to invite him over for our Band Camp so that he could share with the current BB members about his experiences in BB and especially during that first Merdeka celebration. Several telephone calls and bouts of amateur detective work later, I managed to get in touch with Mr. Shim, who very graciously agreed to come and speak with our Boys.

Mr. Shim, as I came to learn, joined 1st KL BB as an Officer shortly after the Company’s inception in 1954, after becoming a Christian in the Methodist Boys’ School, KL. During his service with 1st KL BB, he was also one of the pioneers involved in the formation of other Kuala Lumpur-based BB Companies such as 2nd KL and 3rd KL. (Incidentally, when Mr. Shim was an Officer, Mr. Tung Kam Seng – another KL Wesley stalwart, pioneer 1st KL BB member and former Captain – was only a young Sergeant! This anecdote, really helped some of us place Mr. Shim historically!). Shortly after his service as a BB Officer, Mr. Shim then joined the civil service and, in the course of his duties, he travelled the world to various countries.

As we pulled into Jalan Wesley, Mr. Shim was amazed to see all the changes that have occurred over the 40 years since he last visited the MBS primary and secondary school, as well as the many changes that have occurred to the Church Sanctuary. It was astonishing for me to imagine along with Mr. Shim’s stories of how “this used to be nothing” or “this looked different” more than 40 years ago.

Then, it was time for Mr. Shim to talk with our Boys. We opted for a simple question-and-answer “talk show” format, which I moderated. That way, we could keep things more informal and cosy.

Obviously, the first question on everyone’s minds was “What was it like on that Merdeka morning?”

According to Mr. Shim, 1st KL was “given the honour of being the first band after the Royal Police Marching Band to lead the march off. The rest of the groups like the Scouts and Red Crescent societies were positioned much further away. Officers and Boys had to assemble at the Merdeka Stadium car park at 5am. Everyone was excited, even though it was so early in the morning. The march began after Tunku Abdul Rahman declared Malaysia’s Independence and we marched through the route before finally dispersing at Jalan Raja Laut.”

As the Boys warmed up to Mr. Shim, they started asking him all sorts of questions. Some asked about what kinds of instruments were used in the Band back then. To this, Mr. Shim replied that today’s 1st KL Boys are certainly far more blessed with a full Brass Band instrument range. Back then, all the Boys had were side drums, a bass drum, bugles and flutes. Not only that, today’s 1st KL Boys had the benefit of being trained to read musical notation, while back then – all songs had to be memorized.

Another question asked was why Mr. Shim had joined the BB and was so active in it. To this, Mr. Shim merely replied, “Because it’s a Christian organization!” He then went on to elaborate that he was active in the BB because he felt believed that it was so important for a person to have strong character traits – like self-discipline. In fact, Mr. Shim believed that many of the successes we will enjoy in life, many of the troubles we will overcome, and many of the temptations we will resist is due to the fact that we have strong character traits.

Others asked about what BB was like in the 1950s. To everyone’s surprise, BB met only for several hours, without many other activities. A typical meeting day would include Band Practice for 2-3 hours, a short time for discussions (a time for Members and Officers to hang out, catch up and counsel each other) and, if there was additional time, they would do Drill. What a contrast to the vast line up of 1st KL activities today!

There were many other questions asked, but as time drew to a close, Lieutenant Leong Soo Ming asked a final question that captured everyone’s attention: What was the 1st KL Girls Brigade like in the 1950s? Ever the gentleman, Mr. Shim replied that the GB members then were certainly very nice, simple girls… one of whom, in fact, he eventually married!

At this last question, I asked Mr. Shim to share with us a few last thoughts. Assenting, Mr. Shim stood up and reiterated on how vital it was for BB members to nurture strong character traits within themselves. Being self-disciplined, for example, is a vital trait that many pioneer 1st KL Boys took with them when they went on later to become successful people in various fields and industries. “Thus,” he said, “the programmes of 1st KL and Boys’ Brigade are geared to develop the character of its members… In fact, that’s why we started the Band – it was a good way to develop discipline.”

At the end of his sharing, Deputy Captain Yee Mun Theam came forward and presented a small token of our appreciation for the time Mr. Shim had graciously taken to speak with us. Then, we took a few pictures together before I drove Mr. Shim back to Shah Alam.

As I drove him back to Shah Alam, I thought about how very glad I was to have met Mr. S.Y. Shim. I learned so much just from talking with him. More than that, however, I was greatly inspired to hear his stories. His stories reminded me of the long tradition that the 1st KL BB stands for – in nurturing the Characters of our Boys and developing them into Leaders, all in the context of an unbroken Brotherhood that spans years and generations.

These thoughts played around in my mind as I thanked Mr. Shim for his time once again. As I waved goodbye to him and drove back home, I smiled to myself and hoped that I would also one day leave a legacy like that of Mr. S.Y. Shim.

- LT WONG GIOK LEIGH

[An online copy of the original The Sun article can be found here]