17 JULY 2023
Last Thursday, 13 Jul 2023, the FMC PD Budak Boys together with the OPA gave a presentation to the RMC Director of Studies, teachers and the military staff officers in RMC on the history of the FMC / RMC since its roots in 1952 to its days in the current camp in Bukit Belimbing. The presentation was held at the RMC Auditorium.
Present was the RMC Director of Studies, 40 RMC teachers and 15 military staff officers; 20 other teachers could not be present since they had to be in the classes with the Puteras. The RMC Commandant could not be present since he and his wife are still in Medina, Saudi Arabia after performing the “haj” on 29 Jun 2023. Nonetheless he has given his consent for us to give the briefing. He was represented by Lt Kol Rashidane bin Radzi Rasalingam, the RMC Director of Training, OP (B Coy; 1998-2001).
Present from the OPA were the OPA President, the Honorary Secretary I, two Committee members and three other OPs.
Present from the FMC PD Budak Boys were the FMC PD Budak Boys Chairman and seven other OPs, the most senior being OP Mohd Muslim bin Ayob, (Det Coy; 1954-1958).
After the Welcoming Address by Lt Kol Rashidane on behalf of the RMC Commandant, OP Abd Halim bin Abd Murad (D Coy; 1961-1964), took over the rostrum to “MC” the programme in the auditorium.
First to make the presentation was OP Nawawi bin Mat Desa, (F Coy; 1959-1961), covering the background and the early history of FMC in Port Dickson (1952-1961); followed by OP Zainal Mokhtar bin Mohd Yunus, (B Coy; 1961-1962) covering the period after FMC moved to Sungai Besi camp in 1961 until FMC was bestowed with the royal title and designated as RMC in Dec 1966; OP Ahmad Fadzil bin Mohd Samsuddin, (E Coy; 1967-1970) covered the period after FMC became RMC in 1967 till 1980, when the intake into Form I was introduced; OP Asfani bin Musa, (D Coy; 1986-1990) covered the period 1980 to 1998, when the Putera Division was left on its own in Sungai Besi; followed by OP Khairul Azmi bin Khairuddin, (E Coy; 1997-2000) covering the period when the Putera Division became RMC on its own in 1999 until the year 2013 when RMC moved to Bukit Belimbing camp; and lastly OP Tajudin bin Yahya, (A/B Coy; 1960-1963) covering the period when RMC was re-located to the Bukit Belimbing camp in 2013 until to-date.
OP Tajudin was not in RMC Bukit Belimbing per se, but his grandson, OP Iasser bin Eris Jemadi was there, (B Coy; 2021-2022). His son, OP Elias Jemadi, not the father of OP Iasser, was in RMC Sungai Besi, (B Coy; 1982-1986). Thus three generations of OP Tajudin were in RMC – one in Port Dickson, one in Sungai Besi and another in Bukit Belimbing.
After the above presentations, OP Mohd Radzi, the BB Chairman summed-up the history of the FMC/RMC, stressing on the importance on the academic excellence to be achieved by the Puteras and the important role of the teachers. OP Baharuddin, the OPA President touched on the history of the OPA, its association with RMC and the continued “being in touch” between the OPs and their former RMC teachers.
Encik Rashid, the RMC Director of Studies concluded the programme by thanking the OPA and the FMC PD Budak Boys group for making the presentation and looked forward to the continued support of the OPA with the RMC teaching staff and the Puteras.
Encik Rashid was born in Raub, Pahang on 21 Oct 1966, the year that FMC was bestowed the royal title. He had his secondary schooling in SM Mahmud, Raub, Pahang. At the university level, Masters in Business Administration from MAHSA and Bachelor in Education Management from UPSI; and attended various diploma courses within and outside the country. Started his career in the teaching profession as a teacher in SMK Taman Fajar, Sandakan, Sabah; and later was in the Education Department, WP Kuala Lumpur. He was Assistant Director with the School Inspectorate, Ministry of Education before being posted to RMC as the Director of Studies on 1 Feb 2023.
After the presentation, the OPA hosted the lunch for those attending the presentation, held at the “Gazebo” by the lake overlooking the Mines Golf course; and the FMC PD Budak Boys group hosted the “durians”.
All in all, it was a good and worthy presentation – good attendance; good presentation – nobody slept; good lunch – “nasi tomato”; with “ayam masak merah” and “daging masak hitam”, “dalcha” and “papadom” with beautiful “durians” as the grand finale.
The programme was indeed a historic day for RMC and the OPA – such presentation for the teachers was never held since FMC was founded, 70 years ago. Out of the 40 teachers who attended the presentation, 10 have been in RMC for a period of over 20 years; 8 over 10 years; 12 over 5 years; 7 less than 5 years and 3 just joined RMC. Out of the 40, 28 were lady teachers and 12 were male teachers.
In 2019, we did give a presentation on the early history of FMC in Port Dickson to the Forn IV Puteras in RMC. We were supposed to continue with the programme annually but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the programme could not be held since.
Our thanks to Lt Kol Rasidane and his staff for all the arrangements and preparations and to all the presenters in making the programme a real success. The RMC motto, “SERVE to LEAD” well demonstrated!
Report By
OP NAWAWI BIN MAT DESA (F Coy; 1959-1961)
