Running Dogs !

 Hey dad ! I will give you a race around the football pitch . Well not only did I loose to my 7 year old son , but I nearly didn’t make it . Now this is serious , I have to exercise regularly . So began my running career, to be truthful more jogging than anything . So every morning before work, I set off over a ( very ) few kilometres ( better than miles as I can complete more of them ) . Then I discovered orienteering , intelligent running;  as you have to also find hidden way-marks. Perfect , because I had to stop frequently to read the map, thus giving time for my breadth to catch up. 

The years have run by ! and knees and hips degraded . Have you even tried running while carry a full flight case , well thats what my extra weight means . I am now back to jogging at walking pace! No point in triggering early joint replacement , that itself would wear out before me ;  you have to be optimistic about longevity!  Back  in KL , an early morn , and downhill ; nope! Running is  permanently out . So just enjoy the walk , and thinking about the next blog . 

On my first outing two wild dogs approached . When in packs , and especially Asia , that can be risqué. Fortunately we avoided each other and continued our separate ways .  When I could, I would take our pet dog on my weekend runs . We could pace each other . In India we inherited an Alsatian with the house ; so I took that for defence while traversing unknown territory . Wow , I had just set my high jump record while avoiding a big black snake crossing the path . Local colleagues commended my lack of collision , as it could have proved fatal . Next day I set off with a longer lead ; the dog in front . 

So that links running with  dogs; and now in Malaya ( as Malaysia was previously called ) , with the Anti British National Liberation War of 1948 to 1960 . Known by the communists as the “ War of the Running Dogs “ . They clearly had poor view of the British Colonialists. That was a mistake as the response was quickly uncompromising . The assassinated Governor was replaced by steel . To cut the insurgents off from local support , the rural population was corralled into fortified villages to some , or concentration camps to others. Agent Orange was used destroy crops away from those camps, coupled with aerial bombardment . Fortunately the military commander had learnt his jungle warfare skills against the Japanese ; and  SAS led ambushes became the key strategy supported by focussed intelligent gathering . 

10, 000 guerrillas faced a force of  400, 000  ; 50,000 of which were troops drawn from across the Commonwealth . Unable to be supported from outside , then with independence granted and the ‘Raison d’être “ removed ; the war ended with a few remaining  terrorists decamping to Thailand . An inspired part of the winning strategy was offering deserters money , with a leader receiving  an extra bonus .  

Wishing passing walkers a polite good morning on my jungle sojourn ; this seems a life time ago. Mmmm ; it was , my life time !

    

Jimmy , in a bashful moment !…the neighbours’s cat having been too slow!