Special Forces

One squadron (up to 64 men in total in its four patrol troops) from the UK based 22 Special Air Service deployed to Borneo in early 1963 in the aftermath of the Brunei Revolt to gather information in the border area about Indonesian infiltration. There was a special forces presence until the end of the campaign. Of course faced with a border of 971 miles they could not be everywhere and at this time 22 SAS had only three squadrons, although there was also the Special Boat Service (SBS) that had two sections based in Singapore. Tactical HQ of 22 SAS deployed to Kuching in 1964 to take control of all special forces. The special forces shortage was exacerbated by the need for them in South Arabia, in many ways a far more demanding task in challenging conditions against a cunning and aggressive opponent.

The solution was to create new units for Borneo. The first to be employed in Borneo was the Guards Independent Parachute Company, which already existed as the pathfinder force of 16th Parachute Brigade. Next the Gurkha Independent Parachute Company was raised. Sections of the Special Boat Service were also used, but it seems mostly for amphibious tasks. Finally Parachute Regiment battalions formed patrol companies (C in the 2nd and D in the 3rd). The situation eased in 1965 when the Australian and New Zealand government agreed that their forces could be used in Borneo, enabling Australian SAS and New Zealand Ranger squadrons to rotate through Borneo.

Special forces activities were probably mostly covert reconnaissance and surveillance by 4 man patrols. However, some larger scale raiding missions took place including amphibious ones by the SBS. Once Claret operations were authorised most special forces missions were inside Kalimantan, although they conducted operations over the border before Claret from about early 1964

Haji Ahmad Said bin Hamdan

The Director-General Haji Ahmad Said bin Hamdan was the man that would finally put an end to the corruption that has been dogging the Malaysian mainstream political parties. However, since his appointment, he has been criticized for being highly-skewed and biased towards the governing party i.e. UMNO and reacting negatively towards the opposition party, Parti Rakyat Malaysia. Many controversial and corruption cases involving UMNO politicians had been swept under the carpet while trivial cases involving Pakatan Rakyat Malaysian given endless hours of investigations.

He was criticized for having made insensitive remarks in the mainstream media when his pilot son attached with Malaysian Airlines Ahmad Shauqi, was arrested in Adelaide International Airport for smuggling child pornography, including rape video. He reportedly played down the matter saying that such videos could be easily found in men's handphones. Instead of looking at the matter on a serious note, the general public was shocked by his view on the matter and the case was widely discussed in blogs around the world. Many have questioned the stupidity of the government to put a man who can't even educate his son, to be in charge of the most important commission in Malaysia. Haji Ahmad Said bin Hamdan has however remained defiant despite the widespread criticisms.