20 JUNE 2023
Today on 20 Jun 1961, 62 years ago, the new FMC Camp in Sungai Besi was officially declared opened by KDYMM Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, the 4th Yang DiPertuan Agong. The parade was held at the parade ground of the new FMC camp.
200 acres was set aside for the new home of the College. Construction for the new camp started in January 1959. By the end of 1960, the new camp was ready. The RM7 million camp was the pride of the nation then.
FMC began to move its main body from the FMC camp in Port Dickson to its new camp in Sungai Besi on 22 Apr 1961 with the end of the first term of schooling. The Budak Boys left for home for their first term school holidays for the last time from Port Dickson and from the Seremban railway station. They reported back to FMC after the first term holidays to the new camp in Sungai Besi and from the Kuala Lumpur railway station, on 14 May 1961.
On parade were 85 Officer Cadets (Regular Intake 04 and Regular Intake 05) and 240 Boys from the eight companies. Present were DYMM Sultan Salahuddin Abd Aziz Shah, Sultan of Selangor, Tunku Abd Rahman Putra AlHaj, Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya, Dato’ Abd Razak bin Hussein, Deputy Prime Minister / Minister of Defence and Lt Gen Sir Rodney Moore, the Chief of Staff, Federation Armed Forces. Also present were the ambassadors and dignitaries from the Commonwealth countries, the Defence Attaches and senior officers from the Malayan Army. Navy and Air Force.
After the parade and the reception that followed at the Dewan Tun Templer, their Majesties, accompanied by their Royal Highnesses, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff, Federation Armed Forces toured the College.
The opening of the new FMC camp in Sungai Besi marked a new era for the College, The Boys’ Wing buildings were on one small hill; no wooden barracks but two accommodation blocks, one for A, B, C and D Companies and the other for E, F, G and H Companies. There was no sea nearby but a disused mining pool converted into a man-made lake to view from the hill. The classrooms, library, the dining hall and the canteen were all on the same hill as the two accommodation blocks. As such there was not much walking to be done daily although the parade square and the guard house were quite some distance away.
We longed for the Port Dickson camp and the sea !
Written By
OP Nawawi Mat Desa
(F Coy; 1959-1961)
20 Jun 2023