So comes my turn to serve National Service. So on 26th December, one day after Christmas, I got a really neat Christmas present. A two year expenses paid working holiday in the Singapore Armed Forces.
First up on the itinerary was an approximately 2 to 3 months stay at Tekong Camp Chalet for Basic Military Training (BMT). On the ferry boat ride to Tekong it really does look like a sort of adventure camp chalet from far...that is...until you see all the uniforms. I still remember that day very vividly.
We were separated from our parents and were assembled in this big auditorium. Everyone was nervous, excited and chattering. In seems all of us were destined to be in Ulysses Company of School 2. We were very suddenly interrupted by a very loud shout by a staff sergeant (who turned out to be our company sergeant major [CSM]...for one day only, the next day he went on course and we never ever saw him after that), ordered to sit up straight with hands clenched in fists over our knees. He started spewing yelling and spewing vulgarities (typical of army types as we later find out and become accustomed to). Apparently the guy sitting next to me was still giggling, the CSM saw him and unleashed one hell of a verbal barrage on the poor chap. You can imagine how uncomfortable it was sitting next to a guy being shouted at, only moments before we were introducing ourselves and talking.
They made us recite the SAF pledge and sing the national anthem over an over again until we attained the desired level of patriotic fervour (after much yelling and condemnation on grounds that we were sissies and our grandmothers or some female relation could sing louder than us). Than our parents came in and we did what we rehearsed, ending with a particularly loud ( shouted) "WITH OUR LIVES!!!" at the end of the SAF pledge. I was later to learn that our parents were being given a tour of inspection of our bunks and facilities while we were clamped into that auditorium being shouted at and rehearsed.
We met up with our parents for lunch (provided generously by Singapore Food Industries [SFI], they provide all the meals for NS men when in-camp). Then we got sent off to the company line where we were issued all our duffel bags. These were the old duffel bags without the wheels, which you had to carry on your shoulder. Not the new ones that you see most NS men carrying around today. Although my bunk was on the second floor, I almost got squashed by the extremely heavy duffel bag while climbing up (there was an elevator...which we were not allowed to use unless under special circumstance) , I was particularly unfit at the time you see. I was later to find out that I was assigned to Platoon 2, Section 1, Bed 6.
Then of course, we had all our heads shaved of hair. I never was one to pay too much attention to my hair, so it was no great sacrifice to me, in fact I rather liked it because it was very cooling! I remember seeing one chap (can't remember his name now) who came in with his hair dyed blonde, in the end we all looked the same...like clones...individuality went out the window and committed suicide. Despite all the hair shaving, I never did see anyone cry (like what they usually say) or at least I didn't see anyone cry.
The first two weeks where we were confined in Tekong was hectic and crazy. We had lots to learn, how to march, what commands meant what, how to pay compliment to higher ranks and the lot. We also had to get our kit in order, they didn't come all together ready for us to use, they were often in pieces and we had to assemble them together and tape up the lose ends and make sure that they were comfortable (to the guys that know, that's the painstaking process of assembling the SBO [Skeletal Battle Order]. The pace was always fast and we were always kept on our toes, it became normal for me to get headaches during the first week due to the speed of things and the constant need to keep up (or risk being shouted at and forced to do 20 or more push ups).
After the first two weeks we were let out for the weekend. You begin to understand what you took for granted when civilian. For starters...GIRLS. Yes, GIRLS!!! Tekong is like some nightmare on earth which is only populated by men. When you get a group of men stuck together they tend to get all horny and dirty minded (let fly the horny dirty jokes and stories). Females are a RARE and precious sight! When we were let out we were so happy just to be able to see girls!
Second, FOOD! Its not that the camp food by SFI is bad or inedible. It was actually kinda nice sometimes, its just that it was repetitive and it got really dull and bland and the flavour alternated between ok and so-so to blandness. Combined with the fact that we were often hard pressed for time and had to wolf down our food. The first thing we did when we got out was to get a can of Coke and appreciate its heavenly synthetic flavour and fuzziness.
Third, PRIVACY! You get none when you sleep in a bunk with close to twenty others.
Fourth, TIME! Time stands still in Tekong Island, you completely forget what date or day it is, in fact, you are effectively cut off from the outside world!
From then on, thjings became sort of routine. Alternating between periods of low activity and periods of high activity and frantic tension and pace. Sudden bunk inspections, sudden annoucements, sudden calls to fall in. You get used to it after awhile but if you don't keep your head you could go nuts (some people actually do though there were very few in our Company). We learnt to shoot (which was fun but tiring), learnt to throw grenades (which was fun and nerve wracking but over all too soon, we only ever threw one live grenade you see), did route marches (starting from 2km and slowly building up to 10km).
One thing I ought to mention before, my Company (at that point of time) was sort of special in that all our Company members had medical problems of one sort or another. These are REAL medical problems, not the fake ones that people like to make up (though most people still did that). For me I got eczema and asthma. There were some with minor spine problems, blood deficiencies, bad eyesight and others. We were all PES C status (the healthy ones were PES A or B, though note the PES status had nothing to do with indicating your level of physical fitness) , so we didn't go through all the stuff that the healthier PES A or B people had to go through. For example, we didn't have to go for Standard Obstacle Course (SOC), our field camp was only 3 days (the normal was a week) and the critierion for passing BMT was much lower (the normal was that you needed to pass your physical fitness test, your shooting and your field camp, for us we only had to pass one of the three).
It wasn't long until we passed out (or "graduated") of BMT and received our postings to our new units. I was to become a "Supply Assistant" (a nice sounding monicker for being a storeman) in Armour Training Centre (ATC) in Sungei Gedong Camp. To be frank, I was unhappy about my vocation, due to rumours that the vocation was not particularly pleasant. Whether that is true is another story for another blog posting.
To be honest, BMT was perhaps THE most exciting and exhilarating part of my whole 2 years and 4 months stint in the Army. After I got past the initial "culture shock" and adapted, it was actually quite fun and amusing. Truth be told, I had never felt quite so alive than during those few months in BMT. I was almost sad to leave Tekong Island (as crazy as this might sound).
So I leave BMTC School 2 for ATC in Sungei Gedong Camp, to begin a much less exciting and, as I am about to find out, sometimes thoroughly frustrating life of dusty stores and unsavoury characters.
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