The mid 1960s saw Malaysia and Singapore embroiled in the middle of a confrontation (Konfrontasi) with Indonesia, which led to incursions by Indonesian guerillas into Singapore and Malaysia. One of the most infamous incursions was the Kota Tinggi incident, which led to the deaths of eight soldiers after an ambush. Peter Chan brings us his recollections of the incident.

It was the crack Indonesian paratroopers from the “KKI”, an elite Guards unit from Jakarta which was sent on this mission. The Malaysian police post at Kota Tinggi were alerted of the parachute-landing and the nearest infantry garrison to Kota Tinggi was 2 SIR in Singapore. 1SIR at that time was deployed to the Sabah border with Indonesia.

One platoon of 2SIR was sent inside the jungles of Kota Tingi. For those who have ventured into Kota Tinggi (which I did as a child and as a teenager), it has a waterfall as the key attraction. The killing zone was north of the waterfall.

Read the thrilling two-parter on Good Morning Yesterday, here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).

Tags: Ulu Pandan Heritage Trail, Kota Tinggi incident, Konfrontasi