Wandering in the Wild

Secret War Journal[13 - 17 August 2012]

Phew, I am back from yet another field camp!

From the field camps, I am very sure that I am not a person suited for extreme outdoor activities. After every field camp, I always emerge out of it feeling as though some of part of me died in there. The feeling is definitely not good, in my opinion.

Yet, from the horrible exercise, I travelled in the forest. Armed with a map and a compass, I navigated in the forest and managed to not get lost in there. Of which, I am glad. Hahas. Navigating in the wilds is much different from our simple navigation in urban areas, say mainland Singapore. The severe lack of prominent landmarks in the vicinity really makes navigation tough as it takes a lot more effort to find out where you are if you ever find out you took a wrong turn.

I also learnt other military drills there but that is not for you to know. ;)
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Nevertheless, I am glad that my section mates were around during the field camp to help me survive through it. Yes, we were all tired and could not wait to leave the place but we still persevered and help each other out. In such tough times, I think it stand for something.
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With the closure of this exercise, perhaps the most challenging activity in the Foundation Term of my cadet life has passed. However, there are still a few high-risk activities remaining. Until I clear them, I cannot declare that I have survived the Foundation Term. :O
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"A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others." - Ayn Rand

SCS Foundation Term Wishlist

Secret War Journal[July - September 2012]

1. Survive
2. Obtain Silver for IPPT
3. Stay Cheerful
4. Get into a enjoyable vocation

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"A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason." - J. P. Morgan

BMT POP!

Secret War Journal[8 July 2012]
Passing Out Parade (POP)
After a week of non-stop of rehearsal at Palau Tekong, we had finally reached the final stage for our performance.

First, we marched in with our armour and field pack. Sweaty we were from the long march, tired we were from the long journey, we marched in proudly. For today was the day we were no longer recruits. We were going to pass out to be a private in the army!

Due to the poor design of the uniform, many of us had injuries at the thighs. As a result, we had great difficulty marching straight forward. Despite that, we pressed on and put on a good show for everyone.

Marching in, we saluted the Chief of Army and the reviewing officer. After that, we stood to attention while the prize ceremony proceeded. After that, we marched off to return our weapons.

Returning to the parade square, we said our pledge, sang the National Anthem and finally performed the BMTC Roar.

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My thoughts:

Finally! The moment had finally arrived!

After 4 months of training to be a soldier and marching a quarter of the borders of Singapore (24 KM), I am finally no longer a Recruit in the Singapore Armed Forces! :D

It was a long journey, I would say. One that certainly felt very long. Despite the physical trainings and months of regimentations, I cannot confidently say I am adapted to military life. This is partly due to my attachments to my civilian life.

Of course, I would not had been able to survive through the months of being a Recruit in the army without support from my friends. This includes my best friend, Johnston and Marcus. :)

I certainly cannot imagine life without your moral support and listening to my ranting when I am disgruntled with military procedures. :p

Not to mention other close friends like Cynthia, Keller, Jie Sheng, Meldon, Qi Xiang, Siew Yan, Wei Ting, (... the list goes on ;) and friends like Trevor, Lai Yin, Pei Shi who made effort to stay in touch despite less opportunities to do so since our graduation from junior college and for some who were currently in school.

Special mentions goes to Johnston, Marcus and Keller as usual who makes effort to stay in contact. I believe that is what keeps our friendship so strong after so many years. =)
Being a lazy person, sometimes I feel that I did not put in that much effort in keeping in touch with people. Thus, I really appreciate you guys who periodically organise meet-ups. :)
Adding to the list would be Cynthia. Thank you also for making efforts to stay in touch. Friends for ever! :D
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After taking photos, we had lunch at Suntec City before I was herded by home by Marcus who proclaimed that I needed the rest after spending around 10 hours awake since last night. As a result, the rest of the boys went out to play while Wei Ting, Cynthia and I headed back home via cab. :O

[Update: I really slept like a pig, I woke up at 7pm, only to sleep again after dinner. Heehee!]

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As a whole, I was actually quite amazed I went out with friends every time I booked out from camp. Sadly, that trend is unlikely to continue when I enter a new phase of army life as school is re-opening soon... not everyone would be as free as they were before.

Looking at the pictures taken during my time when I booked out, I had gone through a lot of fun. I would keep those fun memories. To tell the truth, I felt a bad sad as I looked through the pictures because I am uncertain of the future. I am uncertain when would be the next time I can meet up with everyone and have fun and chill again.

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My vocation posting results would be out this coming Friday. I am hoping for the best, wish me luck! :S

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"If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how?" - Joan Baez

En route March 24km!

Secret War Journal[6 July 2012]
In less than 24 hours' time, I would be joining my army mates for a historic 24km march along the coast of Singapore as a lead-in to our graduation parade!

I do not have much time left before preparing for route march. I apologise for the lack of post since my last post. I am still in the process of typing them. (I have a whole lot of drafts in my account right now. O.o)

Hopefully, when I return from my graduation parade, I would have more time to record down the events that since occurred for the past 4 months (technically I do but I need to have the mood to blog too, you know how computer can be distracting. XD)

Next destination: Marina Bay Floating Platform!

BMT Field Camp

Secret War Journal[6 June 2012]
So I had not been posting anything constructive about my life recently. Well, my inactivity in my journal can be partly due to my participation in a field camp as part of my involuntary military training.

I am glad to say I had since survived and returned from the forest. :)

Due to the nature of my current occupation, I cannot exactly inform you what events/training had transpired during my stay in the forest, away from urban environments.

I would, however, say that the hygiene level during the field camp was as bad as I had imagined, if not worse.

• My fingernails had this strange color of green on it, probably due to the army-issued creams.
• I don't remember the last time I properly washed my hands in there...
• I had to sleep with my boots on. Then again, I probably wore my boots throughout the field camp, with only a few minutes to air my foot a day. I remembered being so worried that I would suffer from foot rot.
• I learnt that wearing the same clothes for three days of sweating is not a wise move. During the field camp, it was the first time I smelled a new smell... from my uniform. It was definitely not pleasant in any way.
• Subsequently, my personal stuff started to smell like that too. In short, it was a horrible experience.
• Until now, I do not really know what is that smell. Perhaps it was simply layers of dried sweat. Some peers noted that it smells like urine (not on my uniform, thank god).
• I learnt the importance of lights, even natural lighting. It was quite difficult enough to see anything with the dimmed lights, it was easier with the natural moonlight. Sadly, it was really painful (for the eyes) when people keep shining brights lights onto people's eyes directly. Quite frustrating, really.
• Lastly, my hair. Oh god, I was not able to wash my hair during the my time in the forest. After the field camp, my hair kept feeling itchy, giving me the feeling that my hair is rotting. (I mean, I never felt itch on my hair for a long, long time...)

The good thing is that I had since shaved my head. Hopefully, it is no longer itchy (it still feels a bit itchy, might had become a habit. Oh no! I hope I stop scratching!!!)

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"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." - Winston Churchill

Tekong Cough

Secret War Journal[25 April 2012]
The notorious Tekong cough that perhaps most guys in Singapore suffer from at least once when they undergo the rite of passage to adulthood. There many possible causes though no one is really certain of the source of this condition.
Some say it could be due to:

• Sudden drop in quality of water?
• Drinking from dubious sources of water?
• Unclean food?
• Exposure to polluted air?
• Poor hygiene practices?
• Bio attack?

Who really knows?
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Normally, it should not be threatening to one's life but sometimes it could develop into something worse.
Which brings us into the reason why I was not able to blog recently, my cought started to cause my chest to hurt. At times, I feel feverish and weak. As a result, I spent most of my free time resting instead of blogging.
I would say that my immune system is not exactly strong, I had always been lacking in physical fitness so I have no one to blame but myself... Or is it? I have someone in mind to blame but let's no speculate.
I had since seen a doctor and was given a 3-day medical leave. I really hope I can recover in such a short time as the cough had persisted for around three weeks and counting. :S

Wish me well! See ya!

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"If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how?" - Joan Baez

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Scorpion's the Name

Secret War Journal[April 2012]

1. Shaun - God is gracious
2. Gaius - Happy (Latin)
3. Bradley - Broad Meadow (Old English)
4. Jeremy - God will raise up; God will set free (Hebrew)
5. Benjamin - son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age (Hebrew)
6. Kevin - handsome beloved (Irish and Gaelic origin)

PTP/BMT Wishlist

Secret War Journal[March - July 2012]
Alright, here goes nothing!

1. Survive
2. Pass IPPT w/ Silver / Gold
3. Get into Command School
4. Get sufficient sleep

Sounds simple but it is a lot harder than it looks! Gah!

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"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice." - Albert Einstein

A Singaporean's Duty

Secret War Journal[6 March 2012]
As of writing this, it is now a Sunday, 18 March 2012. It is ironic that I wrote about other stuff during my days in an army bunk instead of army life. I guess it is time to move on to current affairs and spend less time on past events (but do not worry, I will still work on it)

For this post, I would be writing on my first day of my army life. Due to the need for secrecy, I doubt I can share much of what happened during my army life except during the period of time when it is opened to visitors (which would be my first day)

To not cause too much of a drastic change from civilian life to army life, the Singapore military allowed me to bring 5 family members with me to an island for my basic military training. As it is not the holiday season in Singapore yet, my parents and siblings would not be able to join me on that day. Instead, my cousin Yuki, Siew Yan and Wei Ting accompanied me to my overseas trip to witness the start of my army life. Yay! Nay, I am not that enthusiastic to embark on my army life (typical because we are used to civilian life)

To be frank, I was rather in a rush when I was packing my belongings, especially due to the fact that I was rushing to file in an application for a scholarship. Despite spending three days on purchasing items needed in army, I still did not manage to obtain all the items recommended by keller and marcus. I remember my father complaining that I was being last-minute again. Well, in my own defense, I spent three days on it! Hahas, okay, that was just me throwing tantrum. As a result, I had severe lack of sleep on my first day of my enlistment.

My companions kept commenting that my bag was smaller than other guys. Actually, they are all accompanying me to see my 'botak' face. Evil people! :< Joking. Hahas!

As it turns out, we missed the ferry to reach the island. Nope, it is not because we reached the ferry terminal late, we boarded the shuttle bus on time. When the ferry commenced boarding, siew yan all of sudden had a stomache and we missed the boarding time as a result. It was a rather hilarious sight, actually. I had already scanned my card for that particular ferry so when I ended up missing the ferry, there was a split second of chaos and confusion among the staff in the ferry terminal. Thankfully, they allowed us to board the next ferry though I was late by 1 hour ultimately (traditionally not a good thing to be late for army :p)
The voyage was okay, it has been such a long time since I was on a vessel traveling on water. There was not much scenery to see. Thus, we spent most of the time uploading pictures on Facebook and making a joke out of it.

Shortly after landing on the island, I separated from the rest of them. While they were being given a tour around the island, I was worried about the consequences of being late. I remembered pestering the commander to find out what would happen to me. He smiled and replied to me that all is well everytime and it turns out he was right. (Silly me. :p)

There was an oath-taking ceremony which admittedly made me queasy partly due to the fact that I did not ask for such a commitment.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the time when I was allowed to have lunch with them. It was my time tasting the food in the cookhouse and honestly, it did not really taste very nice but good enough to survive. Hahas! It was definitely nice to have Wei Ting peel an orange for me. XD (oops?)

Unfortunately, it is time for me to bide farewell to them and live as a soldier... T.T
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In the future, I would tell you about the friends I made there, if I have the time, of course. :)

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"In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason." - Ernest Hemingway