Memoirs of a Warrior

I don't think I have ever met Pehin Datu Penglima Colonel (R) Abdul Jalil before. Yet when I met him at the hotel greeting and welcoming us, the Brunei delegation to the OIC COMSTECH meeting, I was at ease. He certainly made us feel very welcome and the Embassy staff looked after us very well. I was with him when we attended the official dinner hosted by the Prime Minister on the first night. And he hosted the dinner for us on the next night.

During the conversation, we discovered that he had actually penned his memoir. According to him, he wrote the book much earlier - during the leave period just prior to his retirement. However he published and printed the book when he was in Pakistan. He sold some and he gave away some. I was lucky enough to have gotten a copy personally signed by him which he gave during the dinner.

The book is indeed interesting. Pehin Datu Penglima was Commander of the Royal Brunei Navy when he retired. He was trained at Royal Naval Staff College at Dartmouth and Royal College of Defence Studies. His book outlined his life from the beginning and then his training and his career in the Navy. It is indeed an interesting book as this is probably the only book I know that was written by someone in the armed forces about his life in the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.

I wish this was widely available so that it can also provide a direction to other senior officers to start writing and making their information available to the public.