National Service
DOE: 111203
ORD: 100406
Duration: 2 years 4 months
Camps: BMTC Sch 1, SISPEC, SMM, 5SIR
Vocations: INF LEADER TRN, CBT MED
Appts held: Book in book out IC (SISPEC), TX 2IC (5SIR)
Weeks before my enlistment date, my head felt like bursting. There's A levels to think about, Hari raya and of course NS. All these made me feel nervous, anxious, excited and of course grievous at the same time. What was required of me was to adapt quickly, no more slacking. In truth I didn't know what to expect; everyone has a different story to share. I told myself not to have any expectations about NS; just serve and f*** off.
Making my way to Pasir Ris early in the morning, I was accompanied by my family and my grandmother. During the journey to SFT and to TFT, the mood became more solemn with each passing wave that strucked the boat. With only the safety video to watch on board the fastcraft, I soon felt seasick. But it soon gave way to a more sickening feeling, fear.
Sparing the description of the first day of torture when we arrived, the rush to complete tasks, to unpack our stuff and to get to know people in the platoon. Cutting hair has never been more significant that day. We all looked the same, though we came from different backgrounds.
During parent visiting day, I tried to control my tears. Tears from missing my family, home and everything that wasn't on this island. And they brought my much needed fast-food, McDonald's. Anything will do. It was not until they left that I realised that Army has really begun.
I was blessed with friendly and hospitable bunk mates. If I recalled correctly,
Bed 1 Jin Wee
Bed 2 Brian (he OOCed cos he dislocated his shoulder... twice)
Bed 3 Me
Bed 4 Benny (my buddy)
Bed 5 Zhe Ren (our chin up IC)
Bed 6 Yuan Qin
Bed 7 Maximus (this guy started with a major attitude problem which bonded the rest of us)
Bed 8 Eugene (haha...our beloved toilet IC)
Bed 9 Wai Kit (super soft-spoken but super hardworking)
Bed 10 Yi Hua (made a perfect combo with Wai Kit, nicknamed M203 Loo)
Bed 11 Jin Shan (he was transferred to another plt due to some problems... too complicated to mention)
Bed 12 Hui Jie
So actually there was only 10 of us left. But we had to do the work of 12 in cleaning the bunk. We had fun throughout the course, be it slacking in the bunk, going for IPPT training, booking out, sharing a cab home. Maybe we owed it to Maximus. We had a common pet hate, which was him. He would always irritate us, or amaze us with his ridicule. How he would leave his dirty socks on the table, switch on the lights before reveille just to read the papers, and how we blamed him for everything. And we occasionally had ghost story telling after midnight till around 2+.
Every book in, we would all buy tidbits, biscuits and junk food and stuff it into the empty cupboards. We practically had other bunks coming to us for food, especially near book out day. And Yi Hua provided us with magazines every week... 8 days is a must have.
I was also in the drill comp squad under sgt Bon. Yup... the training was interesting; all the swirling and turning of the rifles. We were good, as the RSM said, but apparently not good enough to represent the school. But we had fun... skipping BCCT was fun.
The sergeants,
Lawrence - my sections', the funny and lame one
Abdullah - always MIA (where is he anyway?)
Bon - too cute and small to become a spec, loves to fold his arms
Kason - his broken english cracks us up
Frois - our PS, strict at times but motivational
Though the training was tough, it was memorable. Even when we said that we would fall out, we would report sick, we would cheat, we endured every moment of training together. And we were rewarded with the right to POP at the end of PTP and BMT. We were never so happy. Unfortunately the heavy downpour forces the parade to be cancelled. Nevertheless, we threw our jockey caps in the training shed. I felt a sense of achievement that I never felt before. It wa a proud moment for all.
And so began our 1 week block leave and our highly anticipated posting orders.
INF LEADER TRN. That means SISPEC and Tekong all over again.
Even though some of my bunk mates was in the same section as me, I didn't really enjoyed SISPEC. The competitive nature of the school, the unreasonable commanders and the boring lessons took a toll on me and I OOCed on the 5th week. Those times were bad. Boredom, loneliness (there wasn't reception on my phone), and tireness made each week slower in comparison.
After being posted to HQ SISPEC, life went further downhill. I stayed alone in a bunk with no proper beds, one fan and a dirty floor.The rest had the privilege to stay out as they lived near, I had to stay in. Nearly every night, I would wander around White Sands or Tampines Mall by myself like a destitute. Depression nearly set in.
Then I got the news that I was posted to SMM as a CBT MED. I was curious. At least I wasn't alone as some OOCs also had the same vocation. When we reported, we were attached to ATW for a week as CMC hasn't started. For one week, a few of us had daily chores of cleaning the operating theater and moping the floor and cleaning the rooms in the Advance Life Support Training Centre (hope I got it correct).
It was till CMC started did my life settled down again. Again I had the company of good bunk mates that were hard working and friendly. It sort of reminded me of BMT. Even after lights off, Derek, Ghee Chuan, Clement and I would settle in a corner, munching peanuts and drinking milo and share our life stories only to wake up the next morning feeling lethargic. I could still recall Derek buying a portable TV and we watched American Idol and the last episode of Friends; though small and a bit fuzzy, it was better than no TV. MOP were filled with food instead of stores, books with drawings instead of notes. Practical lessons made artists in each of us, some better than the rest. And here were the slackest people one can find. Welfare is dispensed freely throughout the course. I could still visualise Sgt Loke eating ice-cream after lunch in the training shed. But we dared not cross them as they could take it out on us during IV practise. Till today, those scars remain.
After 11 weeks of lessons and tests, we finally got our well-deserved armband. Then the posting came. I didn't know what to expect.
My first reaction was, where the hell is 5SIR? After learning that I was the one only one from the platoon posted to 5SIR, I became apprehensive. I don't like to meet new people, I hate to adapt and I hate not knowing what was in-store for me. But I'm forced to go head-on when I first came into 5SIR.
The only thing that I liked about the camp was that it is near my house. Other than that, nothing. I had trouble mixing around with them, they know each other... I knew no one. So for a few weeks, I kept to myself. I made friends slowly due to my shy nature. But after doing covers, staying in the bunk and working with them, I became more open and began to accept the place. I had nowhere to go. It was, there till ORD.
Being made the Tx 2IC, I saw it as undermining Vin's role. But I didn't say anything though I wanted to do. I didn't mean to steal anybodies role. And for the next few weeks, guilt followed me.
My daily routine includes checking the equipments, taking blood samples, taking ECG, treating casualties, keying into PACES besides the normal medical role. But with the help of Mdm Kumari, the workload between MINDEF and 5SIR were shared. We had a mutual understanding that dumbfounded certain people. Though we spent a lot of time either in the treatment room or the dispensary, we encountered all kinds of people with all sorts of injury and all sorts of attitude.
Dynamics was in full throttle in the medical platoon. Changes came and went as frequently as patients. Politics became our medium of communication. Soon enough, everybody was entangled. Somehow it was the opposite of BMT.
Enduring covers, SOC, IPPT, ICCT, Ops Iodine, exercises, duties, live firing and other Batallion events became inevitable. Those were the stepping stones leading to ORD.
We had the chance of covering for the Carnival@Marina for last years NDP. Weekends were burnt and we had to endure same old shows for nearly 2 weeks. But the ultimate joy was watching the fireworks live with the rest. Mouth gaping, marvelling at the beauty of the fireworks, we had something in common then. That year, national day was celebrated unlike previous years.
Ex Lancer in Brunei saw a whole shift in dynamics. It was obvious to everyone. Doing covers for maximum 5 days straight outfield shagged us out. And being away from our loved ones made it more unbearable. The 2+ weeks we were there seems to go on forever. But at least the R&R was a bit fun; Friday Prayers at the Sultan's Mosque was breathtaking, and running around with Rus trying to buy souvenirs was hilarious.
The topping was Ex Crescendo in Thailand that lasted for a month. I was tested there. Like a whirlpool, I was tossed and turned in every possible way. But I withstood it. Being in a foreign country again, being unclimatised with the weather, the duration longer than the previous one, and the intensity worse, what I had predicted came true. Certainly an eye-opener for everyone.
It's during these 2 years that I learned the value of teamwork, the pressure of time constrain, to endure hardships, to be more mature. Growing is part and parcel of life. We all grow constantly, in more ways than one. Though some faster than others, NS has provided the much needed fertiliser in our soil.
Mud and sand, rain and shine, day and night, we weathered all odds to complete the exercises. Night long walks became a routine for every exercise. Tiresome was how we felt even before we moved out. But at the end of each exercise, the personal satisfaction outweighed everything else. To be able to make it through them, we deserved pats on our backs.
Of course there were times when I felt down, felt like calling it quits, felt like giving up, felt like dying. Those were the times when my body nearly fell to the ground from the heavy weight, the tireness of the walk and the mental boulder that I'm dragging. I told myself I had to do it... and I did.
We enriched ourselves mentally and physically, be it from work in the medical centre or from exercises. How we would panic and chase people around for documents when it's near IQA; frantically searching for lost files or missing signatures. Preparing stores for exercises seems comparable to the pressure generated during the exercise itself.
Throughout the long and ardous journey, I made tonnes of new friends, though some are forgotten. Friends that thought me to pick myself up when I fall, friends that told me to keep pushing on even when I'm about to give up, friends who never failed to lend a helping hand when I needed it. Yes, I found true friends.
The road has never been straight; forked out by decisions, obstacles to overcome, darkness that needed light and narrow alleys to squeeze through. But aided with knowledge and skills that we taught, learnt and earnt, I'm now at the exit. My journey will continue, but along a different type of road altogether.
But it's the people that I met along the way,
as talented as Fairus,
as peculiar as Kelvin,
as artistic as Vin,
as secretive as Azri,
as naive as Chandra,
as friendly as Yi Hua,
as observant as Cheah,
as playful as Lukmanulhakim,
as righteous as Thomas,
as neat as Snr medic Rizal,
as upbeat as Wen Piao,
as hardworking as Russell,
as understanding as Mdm Kumari,
it's these people, as well as others that made everyday in the Army bearable.
But now it has come to an end. Yes it finally has. Till re-service, these memories will slowly fade from my mind.
Today is my Operationally Ready Date.
