Melaka - 2D 1N

It must have been more than a year since I last visited the historic Malaysian town of Melaka. During the years 2000 to 2005 we often visit Melaka every 3 or 4 months, usually to shop, makan and golf. My friend Bill had an apartment in Kampong Enam, near Gajah Berang, which is about 5 minutes by car to town. We had such good memories staying in the 5th storey apartment then. One of my friends told me that he couldn't sleep well in his own house after he returned from the Melaka apartment, because there were no more mosquitoes buzzing around his ears at night. We also missed the 6pm mass at St Peter's Church, the oldest Catholic church in Malaysia (1710).

So, on 10 Mar 2009, Grace and I took a drive to our favourite hideaway, with my friend KC and wife, starting at 6.30am and reaching the Singapore Immigration Check Point by 7am. Traffic on a week day was a breeze, and the immigration officer who checked our passports even smiled. Like a true blue Singaporean I had filled up my petrol tank the night before, with expensive petrol for fear of being caught with less than 3/4 tank full at the border. My friend Ah Loong who crosses the border twice a week told me he didn't bother about this rule. He goes in 1/4 full and comes back - full tank. "The guards don't check wan - they are too busy looking for escaped terrorist, Mas Selamat, even if you are caught the first time, they'll give you a friendly warning." How comforting - nice guards they are, still, it's better not test their friendliness to the limit.

Going through the new Johore Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex was quite easy although the road to the complex seemed endless. By 7.30am we were already on the Skudai expressway heading towards the North-South Highway. The first stop was Simpang Renggam town to savour the Bak Kut Teh. We managed to find the shop but it was closed for the day. The owner of this shop, seeing us so desperate for Bak Kut Teh breakfast, suggested that we patronise his competitor a few streets away. This we did, and we were not disappointed.

The drive on the N-S Highway was very pleasant as long as we kept to the speed limit of 110 kph, we had been warned of the many speed traps throughout the Highway. True enough when I spotted the warning flashing headlights of on-coming vehicles, I slowed down as it was a signal of a Police speed trap ahead. As we passed through the Police road block a few kilometres later, we felt good when we were waved through while a few other drivers who chose to ignore the warnings were detained.

At about 10.15am, some 3 hours after leaving Johor Bahru, we turned off the Highway at Ayer Keroh into Melaka town. I noticed many new buildings, and improvements to the buzzing town. The historic landmarks were still there, the red Dutch Christ Church, St Pauls' Hill, Mahkota Parade, St Peter's Church, Cheng Hoon Teng Temple and Tan Kim Hock building. The new Dataran Pahlawan mega mall, next to the old St Francis Institution, was already in operation and attracting lots of shoppers.

Our second makan place was the famous beef noodle and Melaka coffee at a coffee shop in Jalan Merdeka. After a quick meal, we drove to St John's Fort and the Portugese settlement. Next, we went to Chinatown in Jalan Bunga Raya and Little India at Jalan Bendahara. A visit to Melaka would not be complete without paying respects to Madam Kings' an old fashioned 4-storey shopping centre, where we bought a few household items. After a slow drive around the town to familiarise ourselves with the traffic flow, we checked into the Equatorial Hotel for a short rest, then we were on our feet again to window shop at the new Pahlawan mega mall which was just next to the hotel.

Time went by quickly, and our stomachs began to complain again - but 5.30pm was still early for dinner, so we decided to take a walk along the banks of the Melaka River. It was a very pleasant walk along the boardwalks amidst the cool fragrant smell of the afternoon breeze. The noxious smell of the old Melaka river was gone, the river now had marine life and plants on its banks. River taxis for tourists ply the length of the river. This was a pleasant change from the smelly mud-filled river of not so long ago.

Melaka has a long Nonya Baba, also known as Peranakan culture, history and tradition shown in its architecture, language and food. One cannot go away without tasting the famous Nonya cuisine. So we dropped by the Bull's Eye restaurant situated near the Renaissance Hotel for a taste of Nonya food. We had a pleasant meal in this little restaurant which had a few old antique pieces, an old typewriter, an electric hair curler and an ancient Singer Sewing Machine.. My friend told me that the Singer Sewing machine was a Russian product not British as I had thought.

Having satisfied the hunger, we now need to satisfy our shopping appetite, and how could we not go to the famous Makhota Parade, the first modern shopping mall built around 1995. By 9.30pm, our body started complaining of tiredness even though our wallets were still half full. Time to head back to the Hotel, but we still need to pass by the Newton food centre and the famous Bee Bee pineapple tart shop for nostalgic updates. Too tired for other night activities we hit the sack to be ready for an early start the next morning.

Next morning at about 8.30am, we drove out for breakfast at the famous local Tim Sum tea house at Jalan Hang Lekir. The old Tanjong Kling Mosque built in 1748 was just opposite this eating house. This old fashioned tim sum tea house was quite well patronised by local Melakans and the "large pau" was juicy and delicious. Jonker street,which is round the corner, is a must for visitors to Melaka. Here you will find many quaint antique and curio shops to browse around. About 100 metres from the tim sum tea house, we walked past the famous Cheng Hoon Teng Chinese temple built in 1645. The ladies shopped for batik and souvenirs while I managed to shoot a few pictures around Jonker Walk, it was very pituresque, with the Chinese New Year decorations spanning the sidewalks. I would have liked to drop by the famous Aik Cheong coffee shop where a large variety of Aik Cheong coffee blends were available, unfortunately it was not open for business at such early hours like 9.30 am.

The scorching heat was starting to get unbearable so we decided to head back to the shopping mall to do our last minute shopping before checking out of the hotel by 12 noon. Grace also had to see her old friend Elan the tailor at Jonker walk.

After checking out - were we ready to leave Melaka for home? no, we couldn't leave Melaka as yet. How could we leave without tasting the famous Hainanese chicken rice balls. After all, we still need to have lunch, so back to Jonker area to eat the Hainanese chicken rice balls. I spoke Hainanese dialect to the boss of the original stall, and we were like long lost brothers after a few words. If I had spoken to him earlier, I am sure he would've given us more balls. So fully satisfied and as the Peranakans would say "sudah Puas Hati dan Kam Guan ", we were ready to leave Melaka town, but we promised that we would be back.

We left Melaka at about 2pm taking the direct road to Muar as an alternative to the Highway. Muar was about an hour by road and the traffic was very good and road conditions had improved tremendously over the last few years. The drive was scenic and stress free. At Muar I drove round the town to get our orientation right before stopping for a bowl of Cheng Tng and Peanut Soup at the street vendor stall. We also stopped at a typical coffee shop to get our afternoon coffee fix. Grace had the famous Muar Otak in mind, but where to find leh? Never fear - always go back to the famous bible quotation from Mathew 7:7 "ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you". So we asked, and we sought and we knocked and lo and behold, we were shown to the Otak door step by a kind Mr Chua in his sparkling Benz. I knew that I could not leave Muar if we did not get the Otaks. Like good neighbours, we dug deep into our wallets for the last ringgits to help the Malaysian economy. We bought about half of the Otak in the freezer, and Jason, the shop owner's son, not only gave us a discount but also a thermal box to fill the otaks in.

Happy with the otak deal, we left the shop - this time for home, as a big storm was brewing in the darkened sky. I decided to take the Highway this time as driving on kampong roads in the heavy rain might not be easy. Within 15 minutes, and on reaching the Highway, the heavens opened up with a big splatter, the heaviest shower I had seen for a long time. Visibility was down to less than 100 metres, even with tail lights on we could hardly make out the blurred object of the vehicle ahead. Having driven in similar conditions before, and with new tyres, I wasn't at all worried as long as I kept at a steady pace and stayed way clear of the vehicle in front. It was stressful driving in the blinding rain, and when I heard the ladies whispering the Hail Marys, I decided to stop at a rest area until the rain stopped. So we waited it out until the rain was reduced to a tiny patter before continuing all the way to the Second Link - Tuas and Home by 7pm.

It was a busy, joyous and eventful 2D 1N escapade to Melaka and we vowed to do it again.

Robber fly - Asilidae

I've enough of dragons and damsels after shooting them for the past month; it gets boring after a while, mainly because there aren't that many species around. I keep seeing the same species all the time. This tells me that it's time for a change...

So I started hunting for robber flies. Robber flies belong to the family of Asilidae and there are over 5000 species around the world. My first encounter with robber flies happened on the very first forest outing with my close up lens and made a few macro shots of the fly. I was immediately fascinated and amazed at the details and beauty of this fly. However, after the initial encounter, I'd not seen another one for 6 months. Last week, while I was out shooting dragon flies in the forested area, I chanced upon the robber fly resting on a small twig. Wow she was a delightful subject, resting quietly on a dry twig and allowing me to photograph her from different angles. She was about 13mm long, head to tail, a real beauty, great big purple eyes, with a sharp proboscis, a hairy beard and a long abdomen. I also noticed the strong spiky legs built to grab their prey in flight.

In the next few outings, I was able to spot robber flies every time, in fact it is quite easy to spot them if you know where to look. I always remember the bible teaching " Keep asking and it will be given to you, keep searching and you will find, keep knocking and the door will be opened to you. " Mathew 7:7. On any day I can locate 3-5 robber flies at different locations within an hour. Again all of them are of the same species and measure about 8 - 15 mm long. One day while I was trying to macro focus on the fly resting on a dry twig, she disappeared from view for a microsecond and returned to the same spot immediately, but brought her dinner along. She had left the twig momentarily and grabbed a flying insect and returned to the same place.

Robber flies, also known as assassin flies, are known for their fast flight, excellent vision, and able to catch their prey in flight. They perch on low branches, logs, stones or on the ground and they rush out to catch their prey in flight, inject saliva containing toxic digestive enzyme to paralyze their prey and liquefy the insides. Once the tissues are liquefied the flies suck their prey dry, leaving the dry carcass still hanging on their proboscis. What an awesome predator- fortunately they are lone hunters, I wouldn't want to meet a nest of them, they may suck me dry.. ugh ugh.

This morning I went to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, a dense forested area where I used to trek and mountain bike a few years ago. While there were all kinds of insects and spiders along the track, I was specifically searching for robber flies, looking at places where they will perch, and squinting my eyes in the shadows of the foliage to look for 15mm insects resting on twigs. Within 15 minutes, I spotted my first robber fly, I was jumping with excitement because this fly was huge, it was twice the size that I had mentally envisioned, what a find ! it was the same species but only a lot larger at 30mm long. I spent some time taking the shots I needed. Ten minutes later, along the bike track I spotted another big one resting on a branch at eye level. This time she was too fast for me, she took off before I could get my gear to take a shot at her. I've found a new location for the big uns. Now to search for other species as well.

Watch out robber flies, I'm coming for you at other locations - but not the same species, please.

Damselflies

For the past two weeks I've been shooting nothing but damselflies, just to get away from tiger beetles for a while. These damselflies are beautiful elegant and adorable insects belonging to the sub-order Zygoptera of the Odonata order of which dragonflies are also part.

Dragonflies (sub-order Anisoptera) are a more familiar sight as they are larger and more visible, while damsels are a lot smaller, needle-like with lengths of about 20-50mm. I started hunting for them at the waters of the Chinese Garden and later at the Botanical Gardens and the McRitchie Reservoir. Damselflies hover and fly above the water along the banks of ponds and streams, places where they feed, mate and lay their eggs. The two species that I encounter are the blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) and the colourful emerald damselfly (Ceriagrion cerinorubellum). Another common damselfly is the midget size pygmy wisp which is about 20mm long.

One of the pleasures of shooting damselflies is the ability to observe their behaviour through the macro lens while waiting for the right moment to click the shutter. In one instance while I was observing the damsel, she disappeared for a split second and returned to the same stem with a small moth in its mouth, devouring it instantly in seconds. This is live action seen through macro lens.

Another common sight along the water's edge is the mating wheel of the damselflies. The mating behaviour is quite different from other insects. The male fly has two sets of genitalia. One located at the abdomen tip and the other called the secondary genitalia located at the underside of the second segment behind the head. Before mating the male will transfer its sperm to the secondary genitalia. During mating the male will clasp the female by the neck with its anal appendages to form a tandem position and both will fly around attached to each other. Eventually they will stop at a plant where the female will curl her abdomen tip to reach the male's secondary genitalia to form the Valentine's heart-shaped wheel position. The wheel position will last for up to 15 minutes for sperm transfer to take place.

When I told my friend that the mating lasts for about 15 minutes, he said that in his next life, he would want to be a male damselfly, disclosing his less than satisfactory current mating duration.

After mating the damselflies will fly in tandem to a suitable plant just below the water level to lay her eggs. These eggs will hatch into nymphs and stay in the water for a few years feeding on small aquatic animals. When they are ready, the nymphs will climb out of the water on a stem and moult into little beautiful damselflies. The damselflies have a fairly short land life of about 4-8 weeks compared to years as nymphs under water. What a pity; beautiful creatures they are.

Tiger Beetle Mania

I can't wait to get back to my insect hunting walks after returning from a golfing trip to Kota Kinabalu. Although nursing sore elbows, I set off with my heavy Sigma 150mm macro and tripod to the woods nearby, hoping for new finds. And lo and behold I spotted my first tiger beetle, darting along the gravel path. At first I hardly notice the sudden swift movement of the tiger as I walked along, because my eyes are always three metres ahead to scan for insects. The tiger does not scare easy, it only runs when your foot is nearly on top of them. What a beauty, as I strained my eyes on the beetle, not daring to take my sight off it as it camouflaged so well with the colour of the gravel.

This specie of tiger beetle, the Cicindelidae Aurulenta, although quite common in the parks, is very difficult to spot. It is said to be the fastest insect on the ground. If you take your eyes off it for a micro second, when it decides to take off your eyes cannot follow where it stops. I've been back to the same spot several times and these beetles are territorial insects; they seem to welcome my presence as they don't consider me a predator. I have been watching its movements for a while and have seen how quick it grabs hold of an insect, lounging at it and crushing its prey with its strong mandibles. I suppose it is because of this ferocity and stealth that it is called the tiger beetle.

After watching the tiger for a while I can approach it with my macro lens to within 30 cm. However, I've not been able to get a good frame of the tiger as it is at ground level. Shooting the tiger requires me to lie on the stomach with elbows resting on the gravel to get a reasonable clear side view shot. If the tiger senses your presence she will show you her bottom and Kenny Nair, may even send a jet of fart at you. I've seen something bluish from her posterior as she shows her stuff.


Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright
In the Forests of the Night
What Immortal Hand or Eye
Could Frame Thy Fearful Symmetry?

W Blake

I dream of capturing the tiger standing proudly on a rock with its outstretched front long legs, looking up to the sky like a howling wolf at night, what a beauty it would be. No such luck yet, but I believe I will snap that photo one day when I know the tiger's habits better.

Kota Kinabalu

I was invited to a golfing holiday in Kota Kinabalu, a place I had always wanted to visit especially for the purpose of climbing Mt Kinabalu, the highest mountain in the region. I used all my persuasive language to get blessings from my wife to go there with the golfers for 5 days.

Kota Kinabalu, a two hour flying time from Singapore, is a growing capital of Sabah. It is very scenic, you cannot be too far from the jungle or the mountains and you are just next to the unpolluted waters of the ocean. It's a paradise for scuba divers, naturalists, mountaineers, trekkers and insect hunters.

Our hosts Allen and Jeanette were simply great, they looked after us from the moment we stepped out of Jet Star Airbus to the day we boarded the plane back to Singapore. The first pleasant surprise I had was that Allen told us that we would be staying in his kampong house up the mountain, some 40 minutes away from town. I've heard much of the serenity of mountain resorts in K Kinabalu, and immediately I regretted not bringing my camera gear for shooting insects which I know would be in abundance up the mountain. Fortunately I brought my Lumix prosumer to take some tourist pictures of the visit.

It was golf frenzy everyday at some of the nicest golf courses in Sabah. These golfing friends are golf crazy, 18 holes everyday and if possible another 9 in the afternoon. I told myself, that I would play by listening to my body and see how much it can take before it starts to complain. Dalit Bay Golf Club was a beauty only matched by the Sabah Golf and Country Club. We did'nt have a chance to visit Sutera Harbour Golf Club and Nexus Resort Karambunai Golf Club which are highly rated over the courses we played in. However it was not golf all the time, we visited the beautiful Manukan Island half an hour away by fast speedboat. This nearby island has clear waters and long sandy beaches. The sea food in KK was just mouth watering and we simply piled on the cholesterol rich seafood for most of the evening meals, with the belief that the golfing exercise will wipe out the excess calories consumed the night before.

My best experience is the stay in the mountain villa, some 700 metres above sea level. First we had to ride the 4-wheel drive Range Rover up the steep slope in the evening and down slope in the morning. The drive was certainly not for the faint- hearted. In the night, the insects sang us to sleep and waking up to the fresh morning mountain air is certainly something to remember. We were awoken by the screaming eagles calling at about 6am every morning. A morning walk on the mountain track is must and for those who are Taiji enthusiasts, it is spiritually invigorating. My good friend and golfing champion Gan, took us to a great photo spot to shoot the sunrise with Mt Kinabalu towering over us as the sun peeped up the horizon.

It was truly a glorious 5 days of unwinding for me and experiencing quite a few first times: first overseas golfing trip by budget airline, 4-wheel drive up and down the mountain, golfing for four consecutive days, staying up the mountain resort, watching sunrise with Mt Kinabalu in the foreground, driving my room mate out with my loud snores.

Soon it was time to go home. My friends knew what to do buying up some of KK's famous dried sea cucumbers and fish maw for their wives. I bought some too so as not to be left out. We brought home pleasant memories of KK and for good measure I brought home two sore elbows to remind me to slow down.

Creepy-Crawlies

Over the past week, I've been shooting nothing but bugs and other crawlies. They are bugging me all the time; even in my sleep, I dream of the critters that got away, and especially the female spider wrapping up the male for dinner after having mated with him. My favourite location to look for the bugs is Telok Blangah Hill Park which is close by. Whenever I have an hour or so, I'll just nip up the hill to hunt for them.

Mornings are the best times, as the bugs come out in search of breakfast, it is a bit tricky for them as they may also fall prey to other hungry predators, and become breakfast meal for others. As I had become a familiar harmless figure amidst the bushes, the bugs just ignore me, some even pose for me, inviting me to take the shots. Two insects seemed to like my presence, the assassin bug(Hemiptera Reduviidae) and the orange coloured leaf hopper (Bythoscopus Ferrugineus). Sometimes, I swear they were putting up a big smile for the shots.

To be successful in insect hunt, one must be able to imagine oneself as an insect darting from bush to bush and encountering all kinds of friends and foes, and always on the lookout for food, and to be especially alert to keep predators away. You gotta to be jungle smart to stay alive. You are lucky if you have safety in numbers like in an ant colony, otherwise it's everybody for himself, using the God-given talents to survive. Caterpillars seem to be easy picks, but they appear quite aggressive, with spikes all over their body and also emit horrific odours to scare away anyone who comes near. I must try to collect enough of these strong odours and spray them in the crowded MRT carriage if I want to secure a seat.

Hunting and shooting these insects, gives me such a thrill, especially when I spot an insect which I have not seen before. As a novice every outing is a new experience, since there are about a million insect species around the world. These do not include spiders, scorpions and centipedes. These outings have become my learning journey into the world of insects. Not so long ago, people would actually go out with a big net and swish around to collect the insect species, pin them and store them for identification and study. It's a cruel way to learn about the insects. Now, most people like me, would photograph them and file them away digitally for study and identification. I do it the hard way, on a tight budget. I use a prosumer camera and close up lens to capture the images. It is the hard way because I will have to get pretty close to the insects to photograph them: at a camera to subject distance of between 10 to 20 cm. I don't have the luxury of more expensive camera lens which would give me more working distance, thus ensuring the insects don't get frightened away by the camera being too close.

Sometimes I go out with a friend but mostly I hunt alone. I laughed at myself when I get into a comical situation as when I spent a good 5 minutes shooting a bug and later found out it was actually the skin of the nymphal stage that the adult fly had shed, but the skin and shape of the bug remained intact. Another occasion, I was engrossed into shooting something I thought was a new find, but later found that it was a leaf or seed of a flowering tree. The forest play tricks on your vision as you concentrate on doing your thing.

One day I was so thrilled to spot a male fighting spider; it brought back memories of old when as a kid, I would go and trap these male spiders and groom them for battle with spiders of other kids. We went through sex education the practical way with these spiders. Often the children would catch the female spiders as mates for the male, thus enabling him to fight better after having mated, so that was what we thought. Kennynair, we found that this did not work for all males, some males after mating become weaker, and when they face another male spider they become "puchat" and show their tails.

The Marina Barrage

The Marina Barrage was officially opened by young Lee a few days ago. Was he ever happy, the barrage was the result of what his daddy, old Lee wanted to see 20 years ago. The barrage is an artificially built tidal gate 350 metres long built across the Marina Channel to prevent sea water from getting in during high tide, and to pump out excess water from the Marina Bay to sea when the level rises due to heavy rain, thus preventing flooding of low lying areas. It is a fresh water reservoir which may be used for all kinds of water sports and other recreational activities. A three-in-one thing, and four-in-one if it can also prevent Tsunami into the Bay.

Singaporeans are very proud of this new icon in the Bay, we can now tell the Malaysian politicians politely, that if they want to sell their excess Terbau water to us after 2016, it will be at a reasonable price. For years, they have threatened to turn off the tap at the JB Causeway, maybe one day, we can do likewise at the Woodlands side, when the water flow is in the reverse direction.

Back to the Barrage, I went recce earlier, before the opening day, but the security was tight and did not allow anyone to go near the barrage. Anyway, last night I asked my friend to go with me but he was very kiasu, he checked with the Weather man and told me not to go because they expect thunder storms even though the sky was blue at 6.00 pm.

As a golfer, I am a bit of a meteorologist myself. At 6.30 pm I sized up the movement of clouds, the wind direction, the blue sky, behaviour of insects and then maintaining the power of positive affirmation (meaning shut your eyes and ignore all negative signals) - I went. It was a relief, no ERP charges, no parking charges, free entry to Barrage, but must bring few slices of bread - why? - because there were lots of jam along the highway.

You get a good feeling when you walk into the facility. Although standing on reclaimed land, I felt safe, policemen and security guards were plentiful, not to mention lots of NS men who were putting up the final touches for an event the next day. Earlier, I had done some homework, looking at pictures of the Barrage and deciding where to shoot, so I head up to the roof top and shot the Barrage itself - looks like a short aircraft runway, I hope some drunken pilot don't land his Airbus thinking it to be Changi Airport. Then I went over to the spot overlooking the city and took some spectacular shots showing the Durian, Raffles City, Sheare's Bridge, The Singapore Flyer, Pan Pacific, Marina Mandarin .....all the way to Kallang Basin. Kennynair,the Flyer had only the courtesy lights on, even at 8.00pm when the sun had long set. I then called my friend and told him that the weather was perfect at the Barrage and complained to him that I was still waiting for the thunderstorm.

Now, I still need to walk the 350 metres stretch of the Barrage itself to take some shots of the city from there. On the left of the Barrage was a long row of at least 10 pavilions, supposedly for young couples to whisper sweet nothing to each other while enjoying the cool breeze and the spectacular lights of the city. While I was shooting away, a young police couple was making their rounds, probably whispering sweet nothing to each other - they think of everything, don't they. They stopped to chat, she said " It's beautiful out here, isn't it, pity the Flyer lights are not on." I agreed with her and said that the timer lights must be out, I would have to call them tomorrow to put it right. The young constable said, " You have a good hobby, sir, may I see some pictures?" I showed him some shots, and said photography kept me away from places like Geylang. The young lady constable agreed with me, ya away from the red lights and the Karaoke bars and the roughnecks. She also preferred patrolling the Barrage to Geylang. Singapore police are such nice officers now compared to years ago. If you are across the causeway and a police officer smiles at you and calls you "tuan" and politely tells you that your vehicle had crossed a double white line and that the fine for the offence is RM$ 300, you'd better get some Ringgit ready.

Ten minutes later, the same police couple passed by me and he commented "Sir, I see the Flyer lights came on for you". I said "Ya, it's beautiful, isn't it." I told him, I had prayed hard for it to come on, and it did. That's the power of prayer.

I was done for the night, but still need to walk to the end of the barrage just to tell my friend I had walked the entire length. At the other end I found a few soldiers relaxing and were very chatty and polite. Perhaps they were still expeting Mas Selamat to slip away from the Barraage. One told me that the scenery is gorgeous but may not be so, once the Integrated Resort is up, because it will block some of the city lights. I told him that the IR buildings would be quite spectacular too. Gosh I realised that even our soldiers are so polite and respectful - Can they fight in a battle situation? Would our soldiers say sorry to the enemy because they had accidentally shot one of them in battle. Shouldn't they be trained to be rough, tough and feared rather than to appear soft, tame and polite. I must ask my friend how they train recruits to throw a hand grenade: Should it be:

Under arm throw at the same time say politely " Excuse me,I am throwing the grenade at you, sorry ah". or
Overhead throw and the same time shout - "Kennynair." or other mean battle cry.

I feel better if it was the second.