Life of a soldier: The 1 year milestone.
It's 1 Feb 2010, a little over the 1 year mark since I enlisted into the National Service on 28 Jan 09. The past year hadn't been exactly smooth sailing, but it's decently enjoyable in itself. Over time, I developed quite an anti-thesis stance towards the rationale and the fundamental elements of the two-year National Service. These notions of dissent more often than not proves to be counter-productive when you wake up to the reality of the situation, that, one has no choice.
Once in awhile I'd isolate myself in the most serene of environments (plainly euphemism for my dusty room devoid of noise, entertainment, et cetera), engaging in some very personal introspection. I fill my mind with a myriad colorful list of issues to heavily ponder on, of which NS never fails to find its way in. Thence I would enumerate all my experiences and reflections, notwithstanding the relentless never-ending pursuit of finally being able to say, "Tomorrow would be when I ORD".
Before I even go on, I probably had never expressly stated upfront what I do in NS. Not because I do not want to, but because I'm obliged (read: legally-binded) not to. In short, my formal vocation reads "Intelligence Assistant", which I'm going to stress is strictly not the same as an "Admin Support Assistant", aka Clerk. I'm not trying to be obstinate or intellectual about it but there is a difference in what we do, and the misunderstanding never seems to resolve itself not with the mindless and baseless claims of my inadequate physique - when in actuality I just have a mere shoulder injury.
Contrary to popular belief, we do not have it as easy. While the idea of an air-conditioned office with lenient working hours of 8 to 5.30 may provide great incentive, the toiling takes no physical form but instead, manifests within our mental faculty. The end of each day is euphoric - because we get to finally put a rest to all that intellectual analyses and incessant reading. But as rumors qua rumors, misinformation prevails and we are misconstrued to be, colloquially termed, slackers. Probably any attempt at debunking the myth would take a turn for the worse to invite childish criticism.
But again, everyone probably has it bad. The BMT sergeant endures the nonsensical excuses recruits spout to avoid extra menial work, while the driver again finds himself seated in the truck, or tank, having to navigate their new-found terrain with absolute accuracy for fear of corollary punishment which had long moved the term "extras" into the blacklist of a soldier.
On a lighter note, one cannot entirely treat the 2-year mandatory conscription as one without benefits. No, I'm not referring to material perks such as the SAFRA membership or superfluous magazines (that we indignantly have to pay for!) It's a good break from academia. It's a good break from the 12 years of education we've never been able to find an escapade from. It also gives males an advantage (although many would gladly do without) in university applications, where we've an additional two rounds of application to vie for. In fact, I've not much to lambast the system since, if not for the compulsory gap year, I would've not been able to learn so much about education abroad, and I would've not had any opportunity to make my applications to universities abroad. In a very cliche way, I'd say NS may have been a blessing in disguise, save for the amateur politics and the average "act-smart" Singaporeans you inadvertently have to chance upon. So much for Intelligence.
But life is for us to control, to manipulate into an episode of greatness. The household saying of "Hear only the good things" has never so aptly suited the situation where rank-conscious individuals exploit the system and abuse those without power. I'd be lying if I said I was not disillusioned. Even more so, I'm disenchanted with the entire defense paradigm. From the televisions one watches in awe the power of military intelligence, and from my office seat I watch in disbelief the tirades of higher management.
Alas, it has been a complete year. The 1-year milestone, it had been pretty darn hard waiting for. And just for some cold comfort, there's another 1 year to go. As I would lovingly term it, it's another year of the same rubbish. Studying has never been more appealing - what awaits us ahead?- what awaits me? For certain I'm not letting the impending 1 year go to waste; time is of the essence. I hope this doesn't pass off being far-fetched, but 365 days isn't sufficient to sate an individual's hunger for knowledge. There's never too much to learn, so let's keep on learning. If you've any interesting book to share, do drop me a note. I have a particular liking for non-fiction books, although fictions are fine too.
Until the next time I blog, Happy Chinese New Year!
Intimidated.
I stepped into the hall, ready to take my Law Admission Test. With me are 780 other people. Probably, out of these 781 people in total, there are only 2 JJCians. Evan and myself. The bulk of them are Rafflesians, Hwa Chongs, and other elites.
I feel as though I'm in a foreign land.
I'm not optimistic. I never was.
Army.
I've been posted to my new unit. It's another intelligence unit, surprisingly, although of lower security classification. Nonetheless, I'm priviledged to be in there. Due to security reasons, I'm not going to talk much about it. I'm glad I have friends with me though.
The long but (almost) meaningless period.
It has been about 2½ months into my army life. I was enlisted on the 28th of January, going through BMT in Tekong. Boy that brings back memories - some good, some bad, some just worth remembering. And it was on that day, 28th January, that I got to know 12 new friends - my bunk mates. Not long after, I've made more friends across the other sections, and it soon became a fairly friendly environment to be in.
After the relatively short BMT period, I was posted to my unit. Because it's a classified unit (kind of), I cannot comment too much. We had to undergo a security clearance test prior to our official courses and operations. Interestingly, I failed to pass the security clearance, and so I will have to be posted out to another unit. Along with me are 12 other persons, and only 21 persons remain. Almost half of us had failed the clearance, and we cannot comprehend why.
Nonetheless, that news came last week, last Friday in fact. Since we are unable to undergo those courses due to our security status, we were just asked to remain in this room with absolutely nothing to do. So we decided to take actions into our own hands, and entertain ourselves. It first started with a chess variant, titled 'Military Chess (军旗)'. It was pretty interesting, but you know me, I don't like to play such kind of games; dont ask me why, I don't know why either.
After awhile, one of us brought the board game 'Risk', and boy did it keep us entertained like there ain't no tomorrow. We probably played one of the longest Risk games ever - 6 hours for one round. And no it didn't end gloriously like it ought to have - we got sick of trying to defend our pieces and decided to focus our attack on one person to end the game with haste. It was tiring to keep our interest focused, because it was getting too draggy and was getting nowhere. In fact, I find Risk having more luck than strategy involved. And that's about Army.
Something out of the norm, I went cycling at East Coast Park last Saturday with my clique. Trust me when I say this: I had a lot, a lot of fun. I wish we could have more time to spend to enjoy ourselves, because I think we've been pretty deprived ever since we became busy with our individual lives, riding on our individual paths. Getting together once awhile is nothing but fantastic! I simply can't wait for more outings with you people! And for the record, I've never been that elated since I enlisted into the army.
University Admissions, another concern on my mind. It has been roughly a week since the closing date for NUS & NTU. Some of my friends have already received Letters of Offer for various courses, namely FASS, Chemical Engineering, Industrial Systems Engineering. Some have also gone for Medicine interviews at NUS, and NBS interviews at NTU. There are also those who have gone for SMU interviews. But I haven't had any news thus far. I applied for a Double Degree Programme (Law & Business Administration) at NUS. But it seems that those who applied to Law as well, have not received any news regarding the interview & admission test. The interview & test dates are fixed to be on next Friday to Sunday. Yet, a week away from those dates, we still have not been informed whether we are shortlisted or not. I cannot fathom what might just happen ..
Update: I just received the invitation! :D :D:D:D:D:D!
Oh for those who had applied for NUS Medicine, just a little research information I have: The lowest ranking points cut-off so far to be asked for Medicine Interview is 87.5, an allowance of a H2 B /2 H1 B's.
And what more with NTU not responding to my application either. I applied for a Double Degree Programme (Accountancy & Business Management) in their school, but despite there already being interviews conducted for applicants, I have yet to receive anything from NTU as well. I'm not sure if I rightfully have to go through an interview, for there are no news at all regarding compulsory interviews. Nonetheless, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I've been offered Accountancy & Business at NTU; just received the letter last night.
I'll end off this entry with a relatively unpleasant news, which might not even be of concern to most of you people. I've been rejected by PSC Scholarships.
Dear Applicants
2009 PSC SCHOLARSHIPS
Thank you for your interest and application for a Civil Service Scholarship.2 We have carefully evaluated your abilities and accomplishments in school, and have considered all aspects of your application. We regret to inform you that after reviewing your application thoroughly, we are not able to offer you a PSC Scholarship. Nevertheless, we have referred your application to the relevant Ministries according to your career preferences/choices, for the Ministries’ consideration. The Ministries will retain your application and will contact you in future if there are suitable opportunities that may arise.
3 We appreciate the effort you have put into your application and your interest in a PSC Scholarship. We wish you every success as you continue with your education.
Yours sincerely
PSC SECRETARIAT
While I had already mentally prepared for such an outcome, I still cannot put away my disappointment. But still, I can't believe I ever had the slightest hope for obtaining such a prestigious scholarship. Aren't I just weird.
Take care everyone! :)
Field Camp; Pain is Transient, Glory is Forever.
The tent I slept in (note: photo was googled)
