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SERGEANT CATHERINE LIM (above), then 26, firing an Ultimax 100 light machine gun during CIS' sales trip to the United States in 1983. Today, Ms Lim, 51, is no longer with the SAF but helps her husband in his construction business. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF CATHERINE LIM
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SHE was one of Singapore's first weapons salesmen and had her audience of seasoned weapons buyers awestruck by the time she finished her firing demonstration.
The year was 1983. Local weapons maker Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS) had made its first light machine gun, the Ultimax 100, and wanted to introduce itself to the global arms market with a bang.
Pitted against reputable weapons makers who had been in business since the days of single-shot muskets, CIS' secret weapon comprised two 1.65m-tall, 45kg women handpicked by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
Sergeant Catherine Lim and Lieutenant Margaret Ang, then in their 20s, were part of the first CIS team that made a sales pitch in the United States in April 1983.
Ms Lim's husband, Mr Phil Medway, e-mailed The Sunday Times after her picture appeared last week in an article about the 40th anniversary of Singapore Technologies Engineering, which owns CIS.
And what unfolded was a story of how petite Singaporean women launched the country into the worldwide weapons business.
The women were picked to show off what the Ultimax could do. They did so with a rousing show-and-tell session that ended with the firing range littered with empty cartridges and targets - comprising brick walls and wooden boards with man-size paper targets - riddled with holes.
Ms Lim said: 'They loved it. They didn't know what they were in for, so they were totally surprised. At the end, they clapped and some even took photographs with us.'
Designed by two Americans who worked for CIS, the Ultimax was the pride of the CIS plant in Jalan Boon Lay, Jurong, where the plant still produces weapons 40 years after it was founded.
Weighing in at 6.8kg fully loaded with a drum of 100 5.56mm bullets, the gun's claim to fame as the world's lightest machine gun has stood unchallenged for more than 20 years.
But nearly 25 years ago, few weapons buyers had heard of CIS, let alone its new Ultimax 100 and SAR-80 5.56mm assault rifle.
Mr Philip Yeo, then second permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence, had a brainwave. He figured that small Asian women wielding the Ultimax could convincingly show how easy it was to fire the weapon with deadly precision.
The selection process took place at Maju Camp in Clementi in early 1983. At the time, Ms Lim found it puzzling that only women were being assessed but didn't ask questions and shot her best.
She was picked because her physique and shooting skills suited CIS' marketing plan. Mr Yeo suggested a 'back-up'' and Lt Ang was added to the team, which received intensive training on the Ultimax.
In her heyday, Ms Lim could take an Ultimax apart in about 15 seconds - SAF soldiers get 60 seconds to do it to qualify as an Ultimax gunner.
But gun smoke and militaria could not crimp the feminine touch both women brought to CIS.
The duo practised their display repeatedly 'like a dance routine', committing each firing stance to memory to ensure a flawless sequence.
And when they went on show for the first time in the United States one April morning, they wore aerobics gear under their coveralls to fend off the cold spring weather.
They fired the Ultimax from various positions: standing, squatting, moving forwards, then backwards and prone on the ground.
There was even a choreographed move which saw them fire off a long burst of gunfire while holding the Ultimax with one hand.
Commenting on its decision to use female soldiers to promote guns, ST Engineering said: 'Having women demonstrate the Ultimax machine guns made perfect sense then.
'We were able to convince the international market that we had an excellent lightweight product for their soldiers. It was innovative at that time and the marketing tactic worked for us.'
After 11 years with the SAF, Ms Lim left the service as a sergeant.
Her sales trip to the US, which lasted nearly a month, was the only time she performed the firing routine. Still, it helped to seal the Ultimax's reputation as a powerful infantry weapon to be reckoned with and sales boomed.
Today, Ms Lim, a trim 51-year-old, helps her husband in his construction business. They have no children.
Years after leaving the military, she seems to have kept her 'shooting eye'. Mr Medway, 58, recalled that when they visited South Africa several years ago, a gunshop owner who did not know his wife's background challenged her to a shoot-out.
This was done in a disused quarry with the South African and his shop assistant in full camouflage regalia.
His wife, in Gucci designer threads, was given a 9mm pistol, an Israeli-made Uzi submachine gun and a Colt 0.45 pistol - a heavy handgun that fires a powerful bullet - and she loaded and fired these expertly without batting an eyelid.
dboey@sph.com.sg
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