I've spent almost 1 year training. And it's been really eventful. But i guess it's the takeaway learning points that make this past 1 year more meaningful than i ever thought it would be. And so, i've decided to spent some time to post about how unforgetable the training phase of NS has been for me.
I enlisted on 6 February 2010 into BMTC School 3, Raven coy.
those were the days when locks were overflowing. honestly, i was just trying to save money and get a $2 haircut at tekong! there was no point shaving before going in as we dun know the standard they want. anyway, the truth is, they just wanna earn the $2 la.
ok, the last meal.
and there, we supposedly meet people from all walks of life. in fact, just to my left and right, i already knew them. there was colin from sa and sji, elian from sji, wilson from sa, leon from sa and just a hell lot of people i knew. gone were the days where we encounter ah bengs and sengs, hokkien pengs and jia kan tang atas people. everyone are of similar status.
we were very lucky to be able to book out after just 1 week due to chinese new year. i was really pushed to the limits in the first week. partly because my company, raven, was really quite xiong. i really learnt to appreciate the comfort of home since then.
after merely 1 week, i noticed changes in myself. we spent the whole day out in the sun for a week and i've become chao ta. we spent so much time doing physical activities, doing pushups for no reason, chin ups, weights and my arms just expanded naturally. we hardly have time to down our meals, sometimes just taking the food and eating on the way to the bin. i've seen food wastage at it's best. my stomach was never full and i've learnt to appreciate the food on the table, the time we have to enjoy the meal.
we hardly had time to do our own admin stuff at night. 5 min for an entire platoon of 64 men to shower in 8 cubicles. it's scary. some people just said "forget it" and just went to sleep. sleep was precious. i had to wake up early to hand wash my clothes and that was when i saw the gross side of people who actually REWEAR their used underwear. they just cant be bothered to be hygenic. sigh. at the end of each day, our bodies were aching, our hearts were aching, yearning to see our loved ones. i never failed to call home every night in bmt.
times at pasir ris interchange was memorable. dinner at white sands, then queued up for the bus to come. book outs were the most precious thing in bmt and in fact, ns. raven always book out on saturdays and book in on sundays. the 30 plus hours out was golden.
however, everything has to come to an end. no matter how tough training was, i made it.
Passing out parade aka POP after a gruelling 24km route march with probably 30kg load.
my first buddy. adriel tan. he hails from mj and applied for accoutancy at ntu. he s a smart guy. but quite blur. not blaming him since he was from squash and not a uniform group. a man u fan and a pretty skilful footballer, he's a good buddy. we had good talks and always looked out for each other. undeniably, i had to take care of him more often than not. taught him stuff i learnt from ncc, helped him with his fitness since his runnning wasnt good, always reminded him to bring his stuff, equipment check as we call it. haha he s always forgetting stuff.
in ns, i realised the importance of music. it was the only thing that i could bring into camp that's dynamic enough to remind me of the outside world. it lifts my spirits and every song associates itself with somebody.
in bmt,
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
Down - Jay Sean
Officially Missing You - Tamia
Through It All - Hillsongs
bad romance was just a hit at that time. through it all reminded me of all the time in sa, chapel, and the last day in school. the other 2 were just syafiq and bing hong's favourites and they just kept singing.
as i said for the billionth time, i believe it was my section mates who got me into OCS. they thought highly of me and ranked me one of the top. my platoon sergeant didnt even know my name.
the parade square that i yearned to march on 9 months from that day.
view from the safti tower.
my buddy for Common Leadership Module aka CLM which was the first 3 weeks of OCS, was wong wei. a big muscular guy from nyjc. a hardcore canoeist, he's a soft spoken fella but loves 987fm. he's the one who got me into listening to radio everyday in camp. for him, i didn't have to take care of him much, since he was pretty independent. he's a chiongster who's always on the ball. the garang soldier who we term UP THERE. i wasnt surprised to meet people like him at ocs, in fact i thought everybody should be like him. my biggest regret was not able to take a photo with him as promised after comms parade. he went to armour while i was posted to air force. 3 weeks confined with him was pretty cool, because for once, i was the one talking more than the other party!
the pics were taken during OCS family day which was at the end of 2 weeks into ocs. we were confined for 3 weeks to supposedly adjust to the new environment.
air wing.
You Found Me - The Fray
Two Is Better Than One - Boys Like Girls
When I Look at You - Miley Cyrus
Already Gone - Kelly Clarkson
Parachute - Cheryl Cole
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
This Aint a Love Song - Scouting For Girls
Airplanes - B.o.B
Alenjandro - Lady Gaga
Tik Tok - Kesha
Breakeven - The Script
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
i think there are still more! but these are the songs i listened to day in day out for 7 weeks in air wing. they kept me company when i was at my utmost bored state.
my third buddy. adrian chua. 26 year old mec eng grad of ntu who signed on the new MDES scheme after completing his uni studies. he's more chinese orientated, VERY matured, does area cleaning whenever possible, believes in consistent work, believes in being selfless, sometimes even washing the entire toilet on his own (he was the toilet ic). ok when he left after 5 weeks, automatically, i took over as toilet ic and in the end, i was the one washing the toilet all by myself.
i saw myself in him. ok apart from the fact that he s more chinese and he uses vulgarities now and then. i have no idea why guys must use vulgarities in 1 out of 5 sentences they string. what effect does it pose? all i know is that it degrades you. it shows that you are not disciplined enough to control what you say, always expressing aggressiveness and anger. anyway, back to the point. he's someone i can really live with for a long long time, too bad it was only 5 weeks.
social night. i promised myself that i mustnt get someone who s attached or may have some complicated relationship out there to be my date. because i figured out it isnt nice to borrow someone's girlfriend for a night. i popped the SOS flare and hui hui saved me from confinement by asking xunqi to help out. as long as you are with me, you know you wont be starved of welfare. me being a stingy fella, i still splurged on that night and made sure everything went well. after spending so much time with a bunch of irritating males, i've learnt to appreciate the fairer sex more, and treat them better. hmm, but i dunno why my sisters still ill treat me!
anyway, this is the part where i dun have pictures. it's just training, out in the field, where i get down and dirty. learn to roll in mud, be dirty, starve, work under fatigue and stress, and still thrive. i learnt a lot about guys. i see guys (actually only ONE fella) who are the real deal, matured, clean, hardworking, focussed, independent. and i see guys which are actually the rest, who are lazy, unhygienic, overly dependent, childish and never think. some who spend every cent in the bank acct whenever it s the 10th of the month, go clubbing, drinking, smoking, cabbing everywhere, buying branded goods, unneccessary stuff and sucking up to girls. sometimes, i m just utterly disgusted. i'm disappointed how these people who have poor knowledge, no skills, can actually get a qualification and a job and earn more than hardworking cleaners, or construction workers who actually have much more useful skills. WHY are they paid to just sit around in the office, contribute nothing, go for tea breaks, and wait to knock off at 5pm? they are more concerned about how to enjoy themselve than to build on their knowledge and skills. is this the 3rd generation?
at aftc, i had another buddy. wong zi heng. from tj and ncc sea previously, his habits are almost similar to mine. we dun believe in waiting and always report just ON time. our lights out timing always changes. and we believe in neat organisation. his stuff are always in place, as he terms SWEE SWEE. sadly, we had to split as we were posted to different weapons.
after tough training, comes great rewards. the sword all officers get at RCGC.
my last buddy. koo zheng xuan. very very smart guy. gifted program since young, RI, RJ, 8As. gonna be a lawyer. talented in soccer, great artist. possesses great social skills, a quick thinker and an avid reader. i m grateful to him, for volunteering to move out of his old bunk and move with me when i had to leave zi heng. nobody else wanted me! no matter how good someone is, there are some down falls. he s still quite a mama s boy haha. very dependent, and lazy in terms of personal equipping. cant do housework for nuts, doesnt really care about cleanliness. (i had to clean the entire bunk myself!) but he takes care of me. sometimes he s like my bodyguard, standing up for me. i ll always remember the reaction he had at zoukout when i was separated from the rest. he was damn worried. i m glad someone actually cares about me. big guy tough on the outside, but soft on the inside. biggest weakness is FOOD! and i have to control him for his own good! if not, no more IPPT gold!!
songs in aftc playing on repeat every single day:
Just the Way you Are - Bruno Mars
Animal - Neon Trees
Love the Way you Lie pt 1 and 2 - Rihanna
The Time - Black Eyed Peas
Club Can't Handle Me - Flo Rida
Dynamite - Taio Cruz
Firework - Katy Perry
commissioning parade. the birth of an officer after 9 months in the ocs womb.
we stood firm in the storm. unwavered as the president inspected us on the ceromonial landrover you see in ndp. we did everything right despite water in our boots, the chilly wind against our skin.
the 3 weeks of rehearsals helped us achieve this standard. happy we may be, but i will always have the regret of not being able to throw the peak cap. the rain made the parade truncated and the rest was carried out in the dining hall.
my dad putting on the left empulatte - 2nd Lieutenant.
as promised, we commissioned together. ming had a torrid service term. ying lun went through shit to earn those badges and the prestigious red beret. and for myself, i cant say i went though the same amount of shit, but tough times i've never ever been through for my entire 19 years.
no school teaches better than Officer Cadet School. the life skills i've learnt can perhaps, save the rest of my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment