Blokeman watched the Life Story episode featuring Lieutenant Adnan Saidi, which inspired him to ponder about the Battle of Pasir Panjang, the Malay Regiment and their place in Singapore history.

The story of LTA Adnan and the Malay Regiment fascinates me, partly because it’s a heroic tale so close to home and also partly because so much of the story is lost. We don’t know the history of any of the other men. The only one having a human face seems to be LTA Adnan himself, making a comprehensive on-the-ground look of the unit in the vein of Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers impossible….

What we do know is the actual Battle of Pasir Panjang itself, mostly because that battle was part of the larger Battle of Singapore and it was the last line of defence for the Alexandra Military Hospital. The Malay Regiment is just a footnote in that larger story, which really makes their sacrifice even more tragic.

Read Blokeman’s comprehensive post. (Excuse the first few paragraphs about the actress who played Lt Adnan’s wife. His candour about her prefaces a highly articulate response to Lt Adnan’s life story.)