The young policeman was a member of a Special Branch team patrolling the waters off Kudat, northern Sabah, when they received a tip-off that pirates had just attacked and robbed fishing boats near Pulau Balambangan.
The pirates were now on the prowl for other victims. The police speedboat, disguised as a fishing vessel, set off to hunt them down and bring them in.
Murugasen described for FMT what happened next.
“We eventually spotted the pirate ship, and it came alongside us – a defenceless fishing boat, they thought.
“I had my M16 rifle ready. My heart was pounding as it was clear they were armed too.
“They finally realised we were policemen but it was too late for them to react.
“I fired my weapon and shot dead three pirates.”
Although they were criminals, he said, it wasn’t easy living with the thought that he had killed someone, never mind three people.
He was given an award, the first of many, in recognition of his bravery.
Born in Perak to rubber estate workers, he had joined the police expecting to serve near to home. It was not to be.
When he was posted to Sabah in 1982, he arrived knowing only what he had been told: that Sabah was backward and its people unfriendly. He admits he really didn’t want to go.
“I was 20 and fresh from my Police Field Force training in Perak. When we arrived, the first thing our superiors told us was to respect local customs and not offend anyone, or people might put a black magic hex on us. We rookies new to Sabah were genuinely concerned.”
He had also heard about the state’s coastal waters where piracy was rampant, suggesting tough and hazardous work for the police. That part at least turned out to be true.
“I had never really been away from home before, and I didn’t have any relatives here so I was depressed.”
He was even more homesick and dejected when he was posted to pirate-infested Pulau Adal, off Semporna.
“It was hard,” Murugasen said. “We lived in the jungle, existing on rations and water from streams and wells. We were always on guard for potential attacks.
“The only outside contact we had was with our base on the mainland. We couldn’t speak to our families for nearly six months.”
Now 57, it all seems ages ago. His initial forebodings are long gone and he has developed a deep affection for Sabah.
He’s retired and intends to stay in the state with his Kadazan wife, Nanny, and their three children.
It was the people that truly made him fall in love with Sabah. There are over 30 different tribes, each one with its own colourful culture, traditions, festivals and customs, and they fascinated him.
From the start the locals were always willing to accept him into their communities despite him being an outsider.
Sabah is known as the Land Below the Wind as it is located below the typhoon belt. Compared to its neighbours it is a place of relative geophysical calm, which seems to be reflected in its people.
He firmly believes that Sabahans set a great example to the rest of Malaysia, especially now when the country is stressing the importance of racial and religious harmony.
“With Merdeka Day followed soon by Malaysia Day, West Malaysians should look to Sabah as an example of how people of different races and religions can live together in peace and harmony,” he says.
He recalls a family wedding. The bride was marrying a Muslim from Perak and his family and friends had come to Sabah for the wedding celebrations.
“Everyone was having noisy fun at the party that evening when suddenly the music stopped and the host announced, ‘Our friends from the peninsula now wish to perform their prayers.’
“He asked non-Muslim guests to quiet down until the prayers were over. Everyone happily complied. After so long here, I am still learning new things about respect and tolerance from these wonderful people.”
However, he fears that these values are being eroded due to foreign influence.
“Certain elements are trying to disrupt the harmony here and I’ll be heartbroken if they succeed.”
But the way Sivanesan Murugasen tells it, the peaceable people of his beloved Land Below the Wind should be able to weather whatever storms may be on the horizon.