In the old days Kampung Pendam was a sleepy hollow in the backwaters and joining the police was the last thing their family expected. Reminiscing, Wan Junaidy in his book entitled “A Policeman” said: “The idea of searching for greener pastures in a far-off place like Kuching, was one thing but joining the least favoured government service was another.

“The peoples view was that kampung boys were to stay with her parents ...and not go looking for something new in the city.” Junaidy took pride that Sekolah Menengah Kampung Pendam was among the first few schools to be established in Lower Sadong enclave. Sadly, his uncle Wan Jamaluddin who posted to Limbang police station where he was killed together with three other policemen.

All four died unsung “heroes” and and were not awarded “decorations” by the British colonial government for their gallantry in defending the small Northern Sarawak town. Wan Junaidi who described himself as young man boy “with a pale face and brown and wavy hair”, was admitted to Standard primary at the Pendam Primary school together with his youngest aunt Sharifah Rashidah who was two years older but was promoted to Primary 2 within six months.

In fact, both he and his aunt could read and write in Jawi and had read the syair and hikayat and knew the multiplication tables by heart. In 1961, after his Standard Four exams, Junaidi continued his studies at Madrasah Melayu, Kuching’s premier Malay educational institution at Jalan P Ramlee. “I was still very much a kampung boy when I started my stint (in Kuching).

I was unexposed to the urban way of life and the Kuching Malays attitude. “There was prejudice towards rural people whom they called orang laut and they considered us as rustic and inferior”. His academic achievements continued at Madrasah Melayu where he excelled in Arithmetic, Geometry and Algebra and in 1962 he was recipient of the “Best Mathematical Student”.

However, he left school in March 1963 to join the Public Works Department a year later to join the Sarawak Constabulary’s “Commissioners’ Cadets” scheme in Kuala Lumpur. After nine months of gruelling training and a study tour to Penang he returned to Sarawak eager to take on his new job as a policeman. Based at the Central police station, Junaidi’s first posting was to Miri before he returned to the traffic section in Kuching.