DOWN MEMORY LANE: 1980 : LUMUT NAVAL BASE, LUMUT, PERAK

HJ ZULHEIMY MAAMOR

25 JUNE 2024

Lumut, Perak is a coastal town and mukim in Manjung District, Perak, situated about 84 km southwest of the state capital city of Ipoh, 12 km from the town of Sitiawan.

It is the main gateway to Pangkor Island before established Marina Island Pangkor as second gateway. From the little-known fishing town, Lumut is now a home base of the Royal Malaysian Navy and the site of the biggest naval shipbuilder in Malaysia, Boustead. 

I was among the first group of Royal Malaysian Navy recruits who received training at the newly operational Naval Base in Lumut on 15 January 1980.

LUMUT NAVAL BASE

LUMUT, PERAK

15 JANUARY 1980

Intake 139/80 made a mark in the history of the Royal Malaysian Navy as the first group of recruits to be trained at the RMN base in KD Pelandok, Lumut, Perak. Previously, recruit training was conducted in Sembawang, Singapore.

Lumut Naval Base is a Royal Malaysian Navy base in Lumut, Perak about 214 km from Kuala Lumpur. It is Malaysia's largest naval base. It has served as RMN HQ since 9 September 1984. 

The idea of having Naval facilities in Malaysian soils came from the first Malaysian to be appointed as Chief of Naval Staff IN 1967, Commodore Datuk K. Thanabalasingam. Not until 1969 did the Government decided that firm plan should be mad for the building of naval base in Peninsula Malaysia. 

A German consulting firm F.H. KOCKS KG was appointed and a detailed feasibility study for the construction of naval base completed in 1972. 

Lumut was chosen as the location of the TLDM base because the land of 1,800 acres is very suitable from the point of view of geology, defense and the depth of the sea which is very suitable for a naval base.

"Naval Study Team" was formed consisting of 2 TLDM officers at that time, namely Commander V. Ramachandran as Head of Operations and Planning and Lt. Cdr. T.A. Scully as Engineering Officer.

Approval was given by the Government and construction work began in January 1973.

Another German firm appointed to study and build the TLDM Shipyard in Lumut is Thyssen Rheinstahl Technik who will collaborate with F.H. KOCKS KG.

The first group of young started their training here on January 14, 1980, which was the intake of 139/80.

This group completed training on 26 June 1980 and was the first group to complete the training at Lumut Naval Base.

TAN SRI K. THANABALASINGAM

The first batch of RMN recruits arrived at RMN Base on 14 January 1980.












Seamanship

The Admin Block as today

Background : the Drill Shed & Parade Ground under construction

The Parade Ground Today 

Lumut Base Jetty still under Construction

Lumut Base Jetty as today

The Bachelor's Barrack

The Married Quarters

Masjid An-Nur, Lumut Naval Base

Intake 139/80 - The first batch to be trained at Lumut Naval Base, Lumut, Perak

The first batch of women recruits to be trained at Lumut Naval Base, 1981

Communication School where I was trained as a Naval Communicator

Background: Lumut Base Jetty still under construction

'Bukit Kamal' is the name of a hill that is particularly popular among Navy recruits in Lumut. Gunnery Instructor Mohd Kamal, who was a drill instructor at KD Pelandok at the time, used to utilize this hill to punish recruits who made mistakes by having them run up and down it multiple times, and the recruits named this hill after him. 

Auditorium M.Sidek Shabudin,next to KD Pelandok Parade Ground, Lumut, Perak. This hall is named after the late Commander of Sea Region 1, the late N400090 Commodore Mohamed Sidek Shabudin, who died on April 28, 1979.

Commodore Mohd Sidek Shabudin has also been the head of the Royal Malaysian Navy Base Project in Lumut, Perak. But fate determines everything. The late Commodore Mohd Sidek Shabudin did not have a chance to see the development of the Lumut Naval Base, where he was the project leader.

Lapangsasar Abdul Samad, located at Pengkalan TLDM Lumut, Perak, is named after ABRM Abdul Samad bin Suliman, a crew member of KD Sri Selangor who was killed in action in battle with the Indonesian Commando Corps (KKO) during the Confrontation on July 24, 1964.

When this Lapangsasar was inaugurated, I could not find the exact date because it it can't be found in a google search or reference books. As far as I remember, this shooting range was opened when I was still a recruit in 1980 because I was from the first batch of TLDM recruits (Intake 139/80) in Lumut, Perak.

My friends and I have a lot of wonderful, enduring recollections of Lumut from our first arrival in January 1980. Indeed, experiences with my friends going through recruit training provide us with a lot of bittersweet memories that we will never forget. Our friends who have gone to meet their creator are in our prayers. Al Fatihah.

1980 - SITIAWAN, PERAK

Next to Lumut town is Sitiawan, a mukim and town in Manjung District, Perak. A quintessential small town with a large Chinese population, a town where in the early 80's, my friends and I often used to relax and have fun after work and weekends before the existence of the new town of Seri Manjung.The existence and rapid development of Bandar Seri Manjung have caused Sitiawan to become increasingly marginalized.

Hj Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, K.L

27 June 2024 : 20 Zulhijjah 1445H; 12.49 a.m