Yeop Mahidin Bin Mohamed Shariff Yeop Mahidin bin Mohamed Shariff ( born 20 February 1918 ) was the first Director of Rejimen Askar Wataniah , the reserves component of the Malaysian Army . He was widely regarded as the “ " Father of Wataniah " ” for his efforts in establishing the Rejimen Askar Wataniah as a credible force . Biography . Yeop Mahidin was born on 20 February 1918 in Parit , Perak to a Customs officer . He was educated at the Anderson School and a keen boxer who was a bantam weight champion . He was a keen footballer , and was active in field hockey and cricket , in which he was once given the “ Batsman Of The Year ” award . According to his family , Yeop Mahidin came from a long line of silat exponents who served as protectors to the Perak Sultanate . His children , both the men and the women in the family are known as efficient fighters with a style of fighting handed down over generations . One of his sons , named Mokhtar , nicknamed Apin , went on to establish the largest silat schools in the United Kingdom . He is known as the Mahaguru Silat Gayong or Grand Master of Silat Gayong . He aspired to join the Malay Regiment but was discouraged to do so by his headmaster L . D Whitfield who wanted him to join the Malayan Civil Service . In 1937 , Yeop Mahidin went to the Malay College to prepare him for life in the Civil Service . In 1938 , Yeop Mahidin was appointed a magistrate in Telok Anson ( now Teluk Intan ) before transferring to Kajang in 1939 . In 1940 he again transferred , this time to Kuala Lipis as Assistant District Officer . He joined the local Malay State Volunteer Rifles Reserve and commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant . World War II When World War II broke out , Yeop Mahidin formed a resistance group called the Pahang Wataniah . The unit had a strength of 254 men and was assisted by Force 136 , which assigned Major Richardson to help train the unit . His bravery and exploits earned him the nickname “ Singa Melayu ” ( Malay Lion ) . The main success of the team is still in the memories of Dato ' Yoep is the success they ambushed the Japanese Army , where a group of 20 locals under the leadership of Lt Confident to kill 30 to 40 people and destroyed 41 Japanese military vehicles . This success is the result of planning and selection of an ambush spot by Dato ' Yoep as the head of the team . During 1950 , the team ` Home Guard was formed and Dato ' Yoep was appointed as Deputy Director . The primary goal of the Home Guard is to assist the security forces in the face of the communist threat . In 1958 , the team disbanded and Dato ' Yoep has been appointed as Chief Food Denial ' Officer ' in Perak . When the Territorial Army was established to replace the Home Guard , Dato ' Yoep was appointed as the first Director of the Territorial Army with the rank of Colonel . In addition , he is also Chairman of the Armed Forces Boxing and Football then . Then in November , 1963 , Dato ' Yoep have left the military and became a District Officer of Kuala Lipis . In 1965 , he was appointed as Secretary , Ministry of Social Welfare and in 1967 joined Felda settlers Affairs Director . In 1945 , Yeop Mahidin was made Commander of local resistance forces and made a Major . He was offered by the British to undergo military training in Britain but he refused . Captain Abdul Razak bin Hussein ( later Malaysia ’ s Second Prime Minister ) and Lieutenant Ghazali bin Shafie ( a renowned Malaysian Foreign Minister ) was sent instead . Founding Rejimen Askar Wataniah . In 1950 , the British Malaya government formed the “ Home Guard ” and yeop Mahidin was made the Deputy Director of the Malayan Home Guard . The Home Guard was tasked with static local Defence and manned checkpoints that curbed the flow of supplies to Communist Terrorists . In 1958 , as the threat of the communist terrorists receded , the Malayan Home Guard was disbanded . The Malayan Territorial Army was formed in 1958 with the passing of the Territorial Army Ordinance 1958 . The Territorial Army soon changed its name to Askar Wataniah . Yeop Mahidin was made the First Director of Askar Wataniah with the rank of Colonel . Retirement . Yeop Mahidin left the Askar Wataniah in 1963 when he was made the District Officer of Kuala Lipis . Yeop Mahidin was also a renowned Silat exponent and instructor . He was also active in the Malaysian Olympic Movement was the Chef - de - Mission of the Malaysian contingent during the 1971 South East Asian Peninsular Games in Kuala Lumpur .