NSFs being weak? I don't think so.

There is this LAN shop near my house that I always frequent, not because I can't use the computer at home, mind you. It's a nice place to hang around during weekends because of the different people that I've met and learned their way of life, their hospitality and all. Work for them is rather hectic, with tight schedules from customers bringing their computers in and expecting them to fix everything within a short time...

Still, being a LAN shop and all, it's quite a relaxing place to sit down and watch people come and go while sitting back and think of the recent things that have happened in camp. Physical training, VOC and other bits and pieces of nonsense that keep each day fresh and new in camp, and leave you not knowing what to expect for the next day. But it probably is this kind of suspense that actually makes me quite enjoy National Service. Or was there something else that is powering up my internal drive for doing my best and more during my period of National Service?

Last week in camp, someone was holding to a fresh new copy of The Straits Times and telling people that some NSF guy from 3 SIR died in outfield training, or something like that. And I, being an NSF myself right now, expected a great uproar among the public, and remained silent, thinking that I'd rather just sit back and see what the hell went on before developing my own opinion of the unfortunate chain of events that would ensue. I was right - there was a big uproar. Lately, there was this female fella who probably didn't think through her head when she said something along the lines of "Singaporean NSFs being weak" or something like that.

Nuts, shit like that happens every time, despite people always throwing reminders into the air "not to comment on things going on in camp" and "be more sensitive about what you type in Twitter and Facebook." This fella's gonna get flamed and condemned by many, for sure.

NSFs being weak, seriously?

Try out our own everyday PT just for a week. But it is definitely the soreness of the limbs and constant adrenaline that comes from long distance running (sometimes up to 10km, and then some), and regular interval training, amongst other sorts of physical training, that turns "boys to men." But that isn't all. We go outfield and feed mosquitoes (and they don't even thank us when we donate blood to them), endure many nights without sleep, and dragging our weary bodies and struggling to keep alert and finish our mission in all sorts of military exercises, all in the name of national defence, to protect our loved ones, to protect our livelihoods, to protect the small little red dot on the Southeast Asian map that we call home.

And take note - not everyone can endure heavy loads for extended periods of time without sleep, and we all know the constant sting of the headaches that come along with not having enough sleep (A-Level, Polytechnic and University students will know this pain very well, those in the workforce especially). And we also get punished for things like "Shag, cannot think issit!?" and for being "blur cocks" when we forget our fundamentals and basic soldier discipline when we start getting mentally tired out and make mistakes out in the field. Rightfully so, for when a soldier makes a mistake, he endangers all the people around him, and in real war there are sometimes no second chances. All of these to build up soldiers that can function well in the face of fatigue and still stay fighting fit to defend our country. This is NOT weakness. Hell, even the neighbouring countries also maintain a cordial relationship with Singapore, because they realise that to be hostile and lay aggression towards Singapore means they have a heavy price to pay, because of the established image of Singapore, over many years, having a defence force strong enough to be reckoned with. All with the sweat and blood of our fathers, uncles and brothers, who gave every ounce of their strength and time to contribute, which actually counted even if it was considered to be quite insignificant.

While everyone else enjoys civilian life in peace and prosperity, people like us NSFs have to put up with 2 years of being detached from the rest of society. While you guys use iPhones, we use brick-like candybar Nokia phones with no cameras. While most of you guys enjoy the comfort of air-conditioned lecture halls or office rooms, we sweat it out during everyday training. All in the name of protecting our own livelihoods, just so people can say we are weak after devoting two whole years of our life contributing silently to our defence, just so you guys can sleep snugly in your beds, worrying only about what to choose for breakfast tomorrow?

Even in places like the USA, where everything is being protrayed by the mass media to be top-notch in terms of defence and technology, where everything seems to be good as shown in movies, things that are being displayed are sometimes far from the truth. People sometimes even have to keep firearms in their houses as a deterrent against violent tresspassers who attempt at messing up their own turf, while in Singapore, we can walk through street alleyways alone sometimes without a fear that the next minute someone's gonna rob you. Thank all these to the NSFs serving in the civil defence force (hey, people also serve NS in the SCDF as well, in case you're wondering. True story, my friend's serving down there.)

And down here, we do suffer from attrition as well. People get injured doing what they do during intense training as well. People suffer from bone stress fractures from time to time, sprained ankles, dislocated shoulders among other things. And yet, more often than not, those who suffered such injuries continue to serve our nation, albeit in different lesser roles like being the armskotesman, mess boys, storemen, and clerks, among other roles. And there is always that "garang soldier" who voluntarily continues to serve in active duty even though they are awarded medical status protection to excuse them from certain tasks because of injuries and conditions like having shin splints and muscle pulls, and the occasional foot rot.

Strength is not just measured physically, but also mentally. Sometimes there are also NSFs who suffer the loss of loved ones during their period of service. Sometimes even sergeants and officers are not spared from such catastrophic turns of events as well. Being able to deal with the loss of their own family members, and still stand up to the challenge of leading their men to finish their tasks during missions and make their operations successful despite physical and mental fatigue, is not something the average person is able to do. It takes a tremendous amount of mental discipline to do so, which sometimes only the harshest training that NS provides can accomplish in NSFs that stand up to their call of duty for two whole years.

You, who say Singaporean NSFs are weak, stand up, try doing what we do, and feel our pain first before saying anything.

Time flies really fast before you know it.

It's been almost a year since my last post, and lately, many things have happened. Life changing events, several ups and downs, enough to write an exercise book's worth of memories. In fact, I'm keeping one right now in my camp bunk, just so I can write whenever I feel like it.

Perhaps the only fast and concise way to describe my past one year for ease of reading without divulging too much information, would be putting them in bullet points, eh?

• Enlisted into the army into Hawk Company. Blur soldier back then, just blindly following orders in BMT because it's the easiest way to stay outta trouble.
• Got vocationed as a Combat Engineer, and have been serving in 35 SCE, Alpha Company ever since. 11 months left to ORD, yay!
• Participated in NDP 2011, Majulah! Fruitful experience
• Lamented at the lack of freedom when serving the army, and always feeling low morale because the coursemates and I were always getting punished, some for reasons unknown, but mainly because of the lack of regimental discipline.
• Finished course, and done a lot of physical training. More was to follow, even now.
• Went for military exercise. Done a lot of stuff, made a lot of mistakes along the way, learnt from experience, moved on.
• Met a lot of interesting people, some came and left, met the ugly side of people as well as their better sides. Learned how not to be judgemental, and staying cool in times of stress so that I can think with a clear head.

For those who know me personally, there's a helluva stories to tell ever since I've served NS. And I must say, I've really grown a lot as a teenager-turning-adult, in heart, mind, body and soul. All these time, I've learned how to look at things from different angles, different perspectives, and it has enriched my life a lot. Talking to people and understanding their background, their slice of life, and whatnot has seemed to become sorta like my hobby now. Or should I say, I'm always willing to offer an listening ear to other people's problems, but now more so than before.

Is it a good thing or not? We'll leave it to God to decide.

Army life got me thinking

Haven't blogged in a while, and thought I'd come back to this little "shrine" of mine to keep this blog going. It's been dead for almost 3 months, partly because of laziness and lack of discipline to maintain it, while at the same time serving National Service.

Blogging in the bunk. A lot of things have gone on, some good, some bad, but tough times don't last - tough men do. I just hope I can last through the last week of Basic Military Training, so I can live to tell the tale. That being said, our training is so much easier as compared to the previous generations of military conscripts training in the very facility we are in right now. Still, there's always a story to tell, and I've finally got one I can call mine.

Going to take over guard duty shift soon. Signing out.

April - The Month of Physical Stress and Mental Boredom

So, I've quite my previous job already, and it's getting mighty tiring just sitting at home and doing nothing but playing computer games. Uncle Yiye's pushing for me to get shaped up to prepare for National Service, but I reckon - so many people don't train up for National Service before enlistment anyway, why should I? After all that's what being enlisted as recruits and Basic Military Training (BMT) is all about anyway...

Or maybe I'm just plain lazy and can't get my ass off my hot seat in front of the computer.

In any case, I'm still getting myself to jog and cycle regularly - I hope all these stuff works out in the end. Meanwhile, I thought I'd start making things a little bit more interesting for my blog. Seeing as the blog looks pretty dead by now, having nothing much other than little snippets of my life added to it every now and then, I thought I'd post up some of the interesting stuff and videos I have encountered in my spare time surfing the Net and doing almost nothing else productive. Yeah, like doing such stuff is even productive in the first place...

For starters, here's a nice little masculine song performed by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (UOGB) - Theme from "Shaft"



Cute ukuleles - and I was taken aback, and before I knew it, I was laughing along with the audience at the racy lyrics! Go on, hit the play button - you'll like it. But even more amazing is the next video medley the UOGB did up. It's pretty awesome, check this one out too:



Pretty nice - it's rare to get all these stuff these days... This one is easily one of my favourite medleys. Well, at least for now, until I get to see more better ones. Somehow, some of the junk today's media generates aren't half as good as such stuff. Or am I being pessimistic about today's pop stars or it's just my taste?

Last day in BT

Well, I've been out there working, and being a busy man. Or busy kid, whichever you like.

Or at least I tried. Lately there wasn't that much stuff for us to do in office anymore, and being around there for some time, I've seen people come and go. Different and interesting people as well, and there most definitely are some weird out-of-the-norm stuff happening out there as well - wow, they sure help make our days interesting, and sometimes even funny as well.

Met a lot of people as well - this blog entry wouldn't be here if the my work experience out there at BT wasn't good. All those work-rushing with people like Marcus and Olivia, all the slack times we had with people like Iris, Estee and many others, with them it's much easier to forget the stress that comes with the heavy workload (which isn't very heavy to begin with...).

Where we used to be really busy doing a lot of computer stuff in the beginning, we gradually ended up surfing the Net on Rob's wireless dongle for some well-deserved entertainment to keep our morale up during the tough assignments, and I'd say it was a pretty good work-play balance even within the Spirit room - which was one of the warmest meeting rooms (and coincidentally, our work quarters). People came and went at the same time.

Well I must say, working at BT has taught me a helluva lot of things that books wouldn't teach me - that there are tough days and there are slack days as well. Always clouds with silver linings. Telecommunications systems - I could never figure out what all the stuff means until I had first-hand experience doing some of the things involving them. Telephone numbers? Access to stuff? First hand experience. And best of all - we get paid for doing such stuff - and the time was more productive when spent down there rather than staying at home and doing nothing...

It's been a while since I've left these guys (almost a week, I think), but somehow there's this feeling that wants me to go back there and work again. Probably it's because I feel I've achieved something and am recognised for it. Well, if my going back there can help the company achieve something more positive, then why not? Alas, but there isn't enough time for me right now before National Service, and too long a time to wait till I get a university degree to land myself a proper full-time job down there. Oh well, good things sometimes can be rare and so near, yet so far...