PETALING JAYA: A group of women who formed the first batch of Royal Malaysian Navy female recruits met for the first time in three years on Sunday.
They were trained as cadets in their first year and midshipman in their second year before being commissioned as navy officers on May 22, 1982.
Mary Koh, who was in the first intake for women, said the esprit de corps in the Armed Forces has extended beyond race and religion, and it has survived the test of time.
She said their lasting camaraderie was built through tough military training and overcoming difficult times together, while serving the country.
“There was 14 of us in the first intake, with four non-Malay recruits. We just blended without prejudice, (regardless of) colour or religion,” she added.
“Not once was there any conflict in terms of differences in our faith and race while we trained for two years. We have maintained that until today.”
Koh said they managed to keep the harmony and bond between them since they started serving in 1980, adding that their training was difficult and they only had each other to lean on and work together as a team.
“It was tough training then. Everybody needed to cooperate and work with one another to survive and complete the training,” she said.
“We had so much fun despite the tough training, our esprit de corps was great and no one had arguments on anything. We just worked with each other until we graduated.
“Now, we hardly meet. Only on WhatsApp chat. So, when we meet, it’s like we do not have enough time with one another because we talk about our days together and of course, our families.
“So, a day is not enough to catch up with one another. But it’s good enough to get a glimpse of everybody’s life.”
Koh said the first women officers in the navy were actually a test case to gauge if they could hold their own.
“We were tested if we could survive in the military. All 14 of us did. We went through two years of really tough training.
“We cannot meet often and we only met up once before this after leaving the service. We’ve been together for 42 years now, which is a very long time and we still have our special bond.
“One of our members recently passed away and we felt like it was time for us to meet again because we are all in our 60s,” she said.
The main purpose of the event was to reflect and reminisce their past. Of the 14, 11 made it for the reunion.
