CONSTABLE Rakman Saban had been in the force for only two years. Attached to the Seventh Battalion of the Police Field Force (PFF) -- now General Operations Force, Rakman and his colleagues were waiting at a helicopter landing point in a field in Padang Senai in Kedah for a change of shift.

They were to replace the 12th Battalion at a post along the Malaysian-Thai border and were waiting for a Royal Malaysian Air Force Nuri helicopter to bring their sister battalion members that day in June, 1978.

Just as the Nuri appeared, there was a sudden burst of gunfire as communist rebels shot at the Seventh Battalion members and the Nuri.

Rakman and his colleagues dived for cover among some bushes and tried to find the source of the gunfire.
"We could not see them but we were ordered to fire in the direction of where the communists were believed to be."

Several minutes went by before the order to stop firing was given. The communists had stopped firing and escaped.

The helicopter then managed to land safely, but smoke could be seen coming from its tail.

A quick check showed that the helicopter had been hit, but only in the tail. It was able to continue its journey, taking the Seventh Battalion to its post, albeit with the thick black smoke still billowing from the tail.

The Seventh Battalion was credited with having saved the day for the helicopter and the PFF members in it as the quick response to the communist fire was believed to have scared off the rebels.

However, PFF superiors decided that the Seventh Battalion would be brought back from their jungle post the very next day.

This time, as the Nuri approached the landing point, PFF members inside it fired their weapons into the surrounding area in case any communists were hiding there.

The change of shift this time went on without a hitch.

For his part in the incident and his service in the force, Rakman was awarded two medals -- the Bentara Pasukan Polis in 1999 and the Pingat Jasa Kebaktian in 2006.

Rakman now holds the rank of sub-inspector and is attached to the Federal police Commercial Crime Investigation Department.

He was born on Dec 17, 1957 in Johol, Negri Sembilan and joined the force on May 16, 1976.

He is married to housewife Sawiyah Abd Latiff and has four children aged between 20 and 26.