My platoon commander said, “Sir, the operations officer told me not to follow your orders and not to return fire if fired upon the patrol, that they are all our saudara (relations by virtue of them being Muslims).” 

- Somalia (Chapter 56 - World food programme)

COMMENT | The quote that opens this review happens towards the end of Major D Swami Gwekanandam’s (henceforth the major) career in the crucible, which was Somalia.

The quote exemplifies “the orang kita” mentality, which crept into the armed services and demonstrates how destructive this agenda is to the Malaysian security forces. The fact that it came from a convert is even more depressing.

Readers will discover this and much more in a memoir which can only be described as Dickensian in its portrayal of social order and Kubrickian in its depiction of warfare and military dysfunction.

This is a politically incorrect memoir. The major not only highlights the systemic racial dysfunction in the army but also does not spare himself from scrutiny. Being a good officer does not mean you are a civilised man.