He said: "The night before I had a dream where Kumang (the Iban female deity) told me to prepare for a "Nyabong" (cockfight) which would take place at about noon the following day.
"I had seven Border Scouts with me, Britin, Billy, Jerom, Rengga,
Biju, Dali and Teo.”
After following the trail of a group of 36 CTs they traced the enemy in a remote part of the jungle.
Nyayang added: “As we were going up Bukit Lejum I heard the voice of a woman CT calling out "who are you?"
“She did not sound like Iban and I knew we had caught up with the enemy. I quickly organised the men to prepare for an attack.”
Nyayang had brought along his war charms and amlets, told his
men, armed with two Sterlings, SLR and Armalite automatic weapons, to prepare for a frontal attack.”
The CTs had chosen a thick forest and were able to hide behind
the massive trees thus making it difficult for the Border Scouts to shoot their quarry.
Britin killed the first CT who was hiding behind a tree I chase a second CT and caught up.
"After a long chase I cornered the second CT at a river bank. He
pointed his rifle at me and tried to shoot. But I was faster and
killed him by slashing at his head with my parang."
Retirfd Specdial Branch had SAC Lawrence Lim's report on the incident added: "Realising the ineffectiveness of their firearms in the jungle in such a situation, Cpl Nyayang then ordered his men to give chase and use their parangs.
“In order to run fast their had to abandoned their weapons. Cpl Nyayang went after the male CT followed by Britin.
"Conscious of pursuit the male CT turned and before he could fire his .303 rifle, he was slashed in the face.
He fell backwards into the
stream and was killed on the spot when Cpl Nyayang and Britin dealt
the final blow."
After the killing, Nyayang checked his time and realised that it was
12.30 p.m.--the time the deity had predicted the cockfight would take
place.
However, it was Nyayang who was the “Manok Sabong” (fighting
cock) who ended up victorious in battle.”
Cpl Nyayang believed he was protected by some of the charms which had been passed down to him by his ancestors, and was thus “protected” by the deities.
Nyayang was awarded subsidiary bravery award Kepujian Perutusan Keberanian (KPK) for his role in the killing of three CTs at Ulu Machan in the Kanowit District on August 31, 1978
Lt Colonel Linus Lunsong in his book “The Little Iban” suggested that
Cpl Nyayang had supernatural powers. He said that on two occasions
where the pint-sized Iban had physically moved massive logs on his own.
He said:’ One evening while witing for our turn to take a bath in a
small pond about 50 metres wide in diameter, I spoke to Cpl Nyayang about a big log lying at the side.
`How nice if we could put this log across the pond so we can share the space to take a bath,’ I said in jest.
Nyayang smiled at the suggestion so we cut the branches and
let loose the log making it easier to slide down into the pond.
“Whoosh! It came down straight like an arrow and got embedded deep in the pond. No human being could possibly pull it out and put it across the pond once again. We gave up the idea.
“At around 6 a.m. the next morning he woke me up to see that the log
had laid itself right across the pond as we had imagined. I rushed
down to the pond with Nyayang hard at my heels. I could not believe
it, the huge log was lying across the pond.”
In another similar incident when Nyayang was accompany Linus on an operation, there was a log was blocking the road and he wanted it moved.
The following day he found the log had been moved to the roadside and asked if my men had moved the log. They said it was also a mystery to them and joked maybe it was a super being.
“I told my men to check around. Someone must be responsible for these strange occurrences. Fingers pointed at Cpl Nyayang since all this happened when he was around. I was tempted to believe this since some of the Ibans were blessed with super-human power.”
Nyayang’s group also killed third CT and captured some enemy firearms while the others got away. Later the members of Nyayang's squad received letters of commendation from the Sarawak Commissioner of Police.
Two of Nyayang’s son later joined the security forces and have inherited his "pengaroh" amulets.
However, he hoped that the country could institute a special "Sarawak Warriors Day" for all the brave Border Scouts who fought for Sarawak during the Confrontation and CT insurgency.
He added: "I've never been invited to any of the police or security
forces memorials but I thank Dato Salang and his friends for making
the effort to travel all the way up to my longhouse. It is a great
honour. But don't forget the other Border Scouts please."
On August 5, 2005 the writer and Gomez accompanied deputy Foreign Affairs Minister on an expedition to the last longhouse on the Kanowit river to meet Nyayang.
It was an auspicuous occasion because Salang's mission was to honour Nyayang.
It was also the first time after the insurgency that Gomez was meeting Nyayang. Salang who is the Member of Parliament of Julau said that the sacrifices of warriors Nyalang and others who fought for the country must be held sacred.
