All that changed in a split second, in January 1984, when the defence and home ministries summoned the four to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah before dusk that very day.
Their mission was to act as the aide-de-camp (ADC) to Timbalan Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Ja’afar Tuanku Abdul Rahman, and welcome his arrival that evening for the state banquet hosted by the Sabah governor.
Tuanku Ja’afar – Negeri Sembilan’s Yang di-Pertuan Besar – was tasked with chairing the Ruler’s conference as the acting king in the eleventh hour, in place of the then king Sultan Ahmad Shah Sultan Abu Bakar from Pahang, who had suddenly taken ill and was unable to attend.
The four men were the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s (RMAF) Col Soon Lian Cheng, the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) Captain Arasaratnam Kasinater, the Army’s Colonel Hanif Taib, and the police’s Assistant Commissioner Mohd Jamil Mohd Hassan.
Recalling the episode, Soon, 84, said he was shocked to receive the call from one of his superiors at the defence ministry in Kuala Lumpur.
“At that time, I was serving as the senior air staff officer in Kuching, Sarawak.
“I rushed to my staff quarters, packed all the necessary ceremonial uniforms and dashed off to the airport to catch a Malaysia Airlines flight to Kota Kinabalu, that afternoon,” said Soon.
It was the same for Arasaratnam, Hanif and Jamil who were all serving in Kuala Lumpur.
Asked why they were chosen for the task, Soon said that except for the King, the other eight sultans at that time had ADCs with ranks junior to colonel.
“From what I learnt, we four were the only available more senior officers at the time.
“The King, or an acting one, was at that time served by four ADCs – one each from the navy, army, air force and police – with the rank of colonel or equivalent.
“We thought that the assignment was just a short, temporary one to cover the ruler’s conference.
“It turned out, Sultan Ahmad Shah had to recuperate for three months before returning to serve as the King and we, therefore, had to accompany Tuanku Ja’afar for his official duties as acting King.
“It included attending the funeral of the Perak Sultan, Sultan Idris Shah Sultan Iskandar Shah who died on Jan 31, 1984.
“Nevertheless, we are perhaps the shortest serving ADCs to a Malaysian acting King. We returned to our normal duties after the three-month tenure,” said Soon, who retired after 38 years as a brigadier-general.
Soon was reminiscing about the episode at a high-tea reunion with Arasaratnam at the Royal Lake Club, along with fellow retirees.
“We lost touch with Hanif (retired as brigadier-general) and Jamil (retired as senior assistant commissioner) after so many decades. It would have been wonderful if the four of us could have reunited,” said Soon.
Soon credited Arasaratnam, who was then the Armed Forces cricket chairman, for thrusting him into the sport.
“Arasaratnam, whom I had met for the very first time, vehemently complained to me that the RMAF always shied away from participating in the tri-services tournament with the army and navy.
“He challenged me to raise a team the following year, which I did. Of course, we got hammered by the army and navy in the initial years.
“Today, however, the RMAF is a mainstay for the armed forces and national teams for men and women,” said Soon, who also introduced a “General Soon Trophy” annual match between the RMAF and Sarawak teams.
Arasaratnam, who retired after 29 years as a commodore (now first-admiral), flew from Dubai, UAE, where he now lives with his daughter.
“I was serving as the RMN operations commander at the defence ministry when summoned for the ADC task.
“Although a very short stint, serving the acting King was out of the ordinary as we not only attended high-level, prestigious ceremonies but even simple family holidays with His Majesty,” said Arasaratnam, 85, who migrated to Sydney, Australia in 1993 before moving to Auckland, New Zealand in 2004.
“I took up law and later accountancy to serve some private entities in both those countries. With age catching up, I have fully retired and live a quiet life in Dubai,” said Arasaratnam.
Present at the reunion were former RMN officers First-Admiral (Rtd) Nicholas Eugene Peterson and Captain (Rtd) Cheah Pee Cheng.
Others included former Bank Rakyat managing director Abu Mansor Basir, defence consultant Amir Dastan, former Bernama editor SN Rajan, lawyer Sham Sunder Lakhiani and Dutch logistics expert Jeannot Reijnders.