Parts of Singapore may have appeared in Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops III, but if you want a proper first-person shooter (FPS) experience revolving around an actual wartime campaign in Singapore, there’s a way. 

Chandu: The Malay Regiment puts you in the boots of real-life World War II hero and all-round badass Lieutenant Adnan Saidi in the Battle at Bukit Chandu, the oft-chronicled firefight in 1942 when Malay soldiers put up a fierce defence and sacrificed their lives against Japanese troops.

Created by students at Malaysia’s Multimedia University, their still-in-progress title ups the immersion by making it a virtual reality game that’ll require a HTC Vive headset (and a powerful enough PC) to run. The game was first spotted at the Kr8tif Conference & Content Festival in Malaysia earlier this month and was shared on Facebook by Cyberjaya Community.

Being a student-led project made using a basic Unity game engine, don’t go expecting gameplay, graphics and UI to be top-of-the-line. Game design is not easy, people, and crafting a first-person shooter that’s not just another on-rails VR FPS is a proper feat in itself. We’re just glad that Lieutenant Adnan is even getting an immersive WW2 shooter that chronicles his greatest (and final) battle. 

No word on an exact release date, but Chandu co-creator Caleb Yong promises that it'll be released on Steam "soon". 

The Battle of Bukit Chandu

The student developers behind Chronicle Studios have made it clear that their game will take place during those fateful two days in February 1942. 

Born in Kajang, Selangor in 1915, the IRL protagonist of Chandu is widely remembered as the man who fought and died valiantly in the Battle of Bukit Chandu (“opium hill” in Malay), located off Pasir Panjang in Singapore. 

At the age of 18, he joined the newly formed Malayan Regiment in 1933, and quickly rose through the ranks to become Second Lieutenant within four years — a testament to his dedication and discipline as a soldier. 

During the Japanese invasion across February 13 and 14, 1942, he led a 42-strong “C” Company of the Royal Malay Regiment in the defence of the Pasir Panjang Ridge area (now known as Kent Ridge).

Despite being heavily outnumbered and undersupplied, the regiment fought heroically for two days. Historical documents revealed that Adnan and his troops refused to surrender and managed to fend off advancing Japanese soldiers again and again, pushing them to the point of hand-to-hand combat after their ammunition ran out. 

Eventually overpowered by the heightened Japanese assault on the second day of battle, he was caught by enemy soldiers, enraged that he caused serious damage to the Imperial Army during the battle. One account described that Adnan was hung upside down by his legs to a tree before getting repeatedly bayoneted to death. 

It’s unclear if Adnan’s grisly death will be painfully re-enacted in virtual reality. 

For his bravery and sacrifices, the man was posthumously awarded with medals and a memorial plaque erected at Kent Ridge in 1995. Earlier this year, commemorative $20 notes marking the Bicentennial celebration featured the gallant lieutenant and seven other celebrated individuals who contributed significantly to Singapore’s nation-building. 

ilyas@asiaone.com

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