Army’s first Sandhurst cadet dies at 100

Abdul ‘Alan’ Manan Abas celebrated his 100th birthday on Nov 1, 2023. On the right is his wife, Ellen Mary Ryan.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s first military cadet to undergo training at the British royal military academy at Sandhurst has died at the age of 100.

Retired major Abdul Manan Abas died in his sleep at the Woodrose home for the aged in Ampang, Selangor.

His close friend, retired major-general Zulkiflee Mazlan, said Manan failed to respond when a care-giver tried to wake him at about 6.30am. Manan, known to friends as Alan, had celebrated his 100th birthday with pomp and splendour in November.

Zulkiflee recalled how often Manan counted his blessings for his longevity after surviving many life-threatening episodes during his military career.

He said Manan’s remains were taken to the Masjid Khalid Al-Walid near the defence ministry for prayers before burial with full military honours, at the Raudhatul Sakinah Muslim cemetery at Perdana Camp in Sungai Besi.

Manan is survived by his Irish wife, Ellen Mary Ryan @ Ainun Abdullah, with whom he had three sons – Norman, Nordin (deceased) and Allan.

Manan and his best friend, retired captain ‘Robert’ Shukor Chik, were sent to London in 1949 as Malaya’s first cadets to undergo training at Sandhurst.

He retired on Oct 31, 1969 as the camp commandant at the defence ministry after serving in the Royal Malay Regiment.

Manan had the distinction of earning the British Military Cross on Aug 11, 1954, after he commanded a reconnaissance platoon to eliminate the Communist Party of Malaya’s Sempalit branch near Raub, Pahang.

The award was presented by the then British high commissioner, Sir Donald MacGillivray, on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.

Manan was born in Teluk Penyamun near Asam Jawa in Selangor. In his later years, he lived in Hulu Klang, Ampang.

He studied at the Anglo-Chinese School in Klang during the Japanese occupation of Malaya, and worked for the Japanese administration as a surveyor and helped plan an airport at Port Swettenham.

After the war, Manan was advised by military veteran Frank Sheppard (later Mubin Sheppard, who was Malaya’s first National Archives director) in 1947 to join the army.

Manan’s fluency in English saw his meteoric rise from a private to sergeant, and eventually as an officer.

Seventy-five years ago, he and Shukor were summoned to the 12th Brigade headquarters in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, where the visiting chief of imperial general staff, Field Marshal Sir William Slim, ordered them to leave for Sandhurst immediately.

It was in England that Manan met Ellen, who was teaching at Godwin Girls College at Cliftonville in Margate.