my round-the-island trip...

Today was a personal milestone of sorts.

it was like, a rare 3rd or 4th time i took the train all the way to Boon Lay back and forth?

Initally i was v disgruntled by the fact that a couple of us had to travel all the way from East to the Western tip of Singapore..wtf army $@^!! cb.

wad bloody red tape and what ATTS shit. now the ppl who aren't supposed to be in the West are there, and vice versa. 5 ppl are tagged together..and will chiong sua together till they reservist..call up all together until ROD. so cannot split.

then 2 guys going to air base units after that take up 2 slots. then the 2 primary candidates.. total 9 liao.

and that marks the total allocation for East, with Bedok Guards camp being the main one for now..

and altho' i'm the reserve for overseas.. i hafta make my way across the island every single day and evening.. there were little choices. East Zone was filled.

and no way u want me to go Kranji or Mandai. that north zone got sungei gedong and tat's scary enuff.

so Jurong in Boon Lay it is.. till my OJE ends after two months at least.. high chance will remain here.. but i pray not..

the people are nice here though.. saw alot of familiar faces esp in the 3 signals bn here...
even the guard 2ic for today also my dunman senior..wtf.

so far so gd. it's still on the steep part of the learning curve..

at ayer rajah all we learned were stripping/assembling, FFF, basic repair stuff.. wad shld indent, wad send to base.. wad condemn beyond repair..

but now we must know much more.. since we're essentially the base technicians... must bao ka liao.

and just realised that got lotsa roles available here..hope i kena the driver role in our small team groups....can really spend 2 months learning sth v worthwhile all paid by the army

the mscc course for sect comd must stay in one month... kinda like spec course but not so jialat lah.. but think it's kinda hard now.

ok.. sometimes after u sort out ur thoughts u'll realise, perhaps after all, everything's just not so bad after all.

just that transport is going to get even more ex.

and i hafta get up even more early at 0530.

but the somewhat consolation..as our oc says..is that every morning can sit mrt beo charbohs till gao gao.. -.- some kinda advice u'll expect frm ur oc there.

time for some interesting reads...

It's my off-days looming ahead.

was surfing the forums..and certain sites.. fished out a few intriguing sites for us to read and ponder over.. since some of them are truly close to us.

i was going thru the memoirs of sorts of this commando who's kinda old already, but still quite updated.. seems a pretty gd site for those to have a sneak peek into the life of the elite forces...

Life at the Home of the Commandoes


and from there i chanced upon this interesting read abt the Tanjong Rhu estate which must be v close to the hearts of all Dunmanians..or maybe me particularly so as sat afternoons were always spent walking the backgate thru the abandoned fields of sorts across the bridge to Kallang's Mac/KFC for lunch.. or the run-down hawker at Jalan Batu for the limited variety of food available b4 it was up for upgrading. The last year of our sec 4 life saw us patronising there with lesser frequency but still, it brings those memories flooding back..


The Mysteries & Memories of Tanjong Rhu

Quotes of wisdom

Hello there. BSLC's ending in a week's time. So shall take this opportunity to share with you guys some memorable quotes/phrases that my coy's OC/2IC have said during my course.

Take note, this is how a leader, esp one from Army: The Decisive Force, should speak eh. *Cough cough*

OC: The Wing Comd likes to compare the different companies, but here in Char*** we don't compare.... .... .... Delta IPPT 50 gold, Brave 40 gold, Char*** only 28 gold. So you all don't come and ask for night off ah.

2IC: Gentlemen, Warrant Felix has just mentioned the safety points alr and i don't want to repeat. BUT i want to say again...

2IC: I will only take 2 mins of your time (reality: >30 mins)

Not forgetting the beloved Sergeant Major's analogies of Be the Devil and Eat Shit Poop Rice. I shalln't bother to explain em here, it's too time consuming. Just let you know that such things exist..

Mm... Clearly the nature of our Army is reflected in these leaders' quotes of wisdom..
Such contradic.. *cough* decisiveness!!
Such inefficien.. *cough* efficiency!!!
Such stupi... *cough* thinking soldiers!!!!!!

Army 21: The Decisive Force. 3G Army. Thinking soldiers. lol. Enough said.


-wx-

reflections

or After Action Review (AAR) in no military terms.




tomorrow is the de facto final day of our course. altho' hafta go back for two short days next week, Friday's EOC gathering will eventually cap our 9 weeks in OETI.

lotsa memories, gained knowledge, and benefitted immensely.

it opened one's eyes to the different type of backgrounds ppl come from.

the stereotypical hokkien peng... those eat-nothing-better-to-do JC boys, who are supposedly less mature, who do tupid stuff and get caught or even charged, to the extent they dun even hesitate abt leaving SG if DB beckons.

the really rich ah sai kias who drives fancy cars to camp, mini coopers and the like. but it was nice having friends who drive, can chauffeur u around and save on transport.

those ppl doing business outside already.. like one who is the co-founder of his clubbing company.. and one who's a Young PAP Party member already..

or how they do stupid things kena extra, or how some always complain the weapons are unserviceable during tests..and curse everything, claiming the weapon is jinxed.

or how some rather slower or not so highly educated ppl anyhow shade the nsf survey form cos they can't understand a single shit, then conveniently absolving themselves of all responsibility by arguing "they make until so chim for fark? just everything shade agree can liao lah" When qns 1 can be 'You think army is a waste of time' and the following qns down the list is 'You've liked how your NSF days have gone so far'. Totally contradictory. But everything's just 'Agree'.

and how we went to site visits..sch of ammo see how ammo is being classified and stored in the HQ ammo base.. or how SAR21s are being made in the factory or known as Singapore Technologies Kinetics and live shooting etc.

and how our dear bruneian counterpart is leaving next Wed already. how we'll miss him with his limited english vocab of 'fail', 'assemble', 'go see warrant sara' or the feared 'go sign extra duty'.

lol..it's fun. cos he's already 27, have 2 kids.. and brunei's army promotes ppl in a pathetically slow fashion. still lance corporal only.. and the pay ain't say v high. only 1k+ per month for regular.. altho education or children, healthcare expenses, one small kampung apartment and the misc fees are paid for.

always make fun of he missing some 'action during his 2 months here... saying want to bring him go geylang.. and talk all the cock abt girls, sex, games, cars, rifles, complain abt the superiors during our breaks...

it's true. in our free time towards the end of the course, almost every day sure talk abt sex one. not horny or wad. just talk for fun, and it helps that almost all are v open-minded, and willing to share all their exploits the previous night or something. or how this lubricant is working, or that condom not enuff sensation.

it's an entirely different ball game. and u really experience different stuff coming frm all walks of life. perhaps this is the best and only time to do all this.. in the army. u'll be surprised wad they're capable of man..

like how after clubbing.. one or two always get horny liao want to haf some action after seeing the gorgeous girls, but then no money want to borrow frm us.. lol.. no way.

or go geylang have supper liao.. beo the girls prowling the streets, and asking how much liao then duck away. all farnie stuff man...

or how we crack racist jokes then the poor indian really go complain. make us kena for nothing.

All in all, some ppl are really born with a silver spoon in their mouths. getting them to do area cleaning is like wanting their lives. they'll just take the dirty rag by their finger tips, pretending to walk one big round, then put it back on the same table he took it from, proclaiming everything's done. or gek gek wayang until time's up then change liao fall out.

some are more proactive, some v irresponsible. they can really say don't want means don't want, fark the organisation one. that would be kinda unthinkable for us coming from the enhanced batch of sorts... 'at most come back RT/SOL/DB lah' is their attitude.

unit life coming soon.. after i graduate from on-job experience (OJE) after 2 months..then will the promotion in rank come.. and fark it. the bloody organisation kinda changed the rules. they decided there were too many specs in armament...and happily 'demote' the entire hierarchy system from the batch before mine onwards... means normally is 3SG, with sect comd 2SG, becomes only CPL, section comd 3SG.

this really sucks. but knowing how ur mates are going to work OT with u in unit, everything's suddenly fine again. that's army for you.

happy national day....

Ah hah.

just as everyone was busy with their lives, be it celebratin' their few years of existence on Earth or grumbling abt the server maintenance ala the German boy who smashed his keyboard to smithereens (over-played freaky video on the Net), there I was standing by the gate, rifle over shoulders, PROTECTING the camp once more.

it was the 2nd duty in 6 days, not extra or wad. just roster deemed it so as we're passing out.

I'll miss prowling Ayer Rajah camp (ARC). but not Glucocester camp (GC) the tiny camp with just a few VIP sedan cars and that's it. cos the Supply/Transport camp is also covered by us.

ARC is kinda big.. and i recalled the first time we walked the route it felt forever. really 45mins each for outer 'n' inner. but it was nice, 'cos u would have the chance to walk past lotsa stuff..

Like the many rickety tanks on Tank Lane, or always talk abt the potential xmms to be seen in the swimming pool in Tanglin int sch beside our camp.. or beo-ing the nearby factory for any outgoing lao chios getting off work at this late hour...

lol..fun memories. but the last two has been fun. smack in the Lunar Seventh Month, with us spreading lotsa stories in jest to convince the others putting them for sentry was in the best of their interests.

Like how last night was Yuan Xiao Jie, the 15th of the month. where the full moon blooms in its full glory, and the spirits are at its most 'powerful'. lol...

Funny incidents aside, there were freaky moments too like how the bloated rubber gloves held on to the window sill like some dismangled hand beside the checkpoint.

Somehow we were in high spirits.. sleeping v little. taking turns to accompany each other on sentry, talk cock, and play the xbox! playing winning eleven in camp is always gonna be different.

but the low note though, was that i gan sian kena sentry at wrong time. but fair some nv got to prowl b4. all the bloody ndp ppl started streaming in from 6-8 to draw arms from our camp.. wanna slack abit also cannot.

ok, this was only intended to be a short entry. gotta do some work for the season is resuming, and also some reading for suddenly war diaries are kinda appealing to me.

one final note,


NO MORE GUARD DUTY!


until next month that is.

Happy B'dae to You~ You are born in the zo..

12.26am.. Hmm.. Am i the 1st person to wish you happy b'dae today? Haha.

Now, why am i, a sleep-deprived NSF, still awake at this ungodly hour?
Ans: 11pm bookout. CCB.

Hoping to play WoW now, but forgot it's tuesday's maintainence. CCB x2.

Heard that the night out after our Grand Slam on this sunday has been cancelled by our 'beloved' OC due to unsatisfactory performance during Section Live Firing. CCB x3.

Guard Duty on next sunday for misfiring blank during outfield training. CCB x4.


Woopee~ What a Happy National Day!!! Happy 41st B'dae Singapore!!!

happy birthday to me

instant self-gratification. XD

< end > hiatus < /end >

Hey ppl, long time no post ^^;; So, what in the world am i doing here after disappearing for god-knows-how-long? To let you know i'm still alive of course!






...nevermind, forget i said that.






Anyway, i just hadnt been able to pluck time out from my precious weekends to blog the last couple of months thus the long period of AWOL (or i just couldnt be bothered to, so sue me.) I just finished my class 4 driving course and my weapons course doesnt start till end of Aug - which makes me one of the lucky few in my batch to get my three stripes the last. Wow, well done SA.. nvm, you get my drift. From what i gather, the ASLC guys are coming back from ROC this weekend, so we've (me and my fellow CPLs) been wondering for the past two weeks what the heck are they doing there besides freezing their bottoms off. Its kinda ironic really. When BSLC ended, almost all of my buddies (yours sincerely included) wanted to get out of SISPEC and get a taste of slacker and better unit life. Looks like we were right on half the equaton. Damn. Contrary to what many believe, unit life is not slack.

Just kidding, mine is. lol. But trust me, its nowhere near as fun as 'rushing mountains' with your section mates. Man, i really miss the good old days in Foxtrot. Not with all the bloody bengs outside who irritate the hell out of you and dont give a shit to that measly rank i worked to obtain for 10 solid weeks. Wx will understand. Crap, its nine already and i have to leave house to get back to my unit. Wanted to type more, but i guess you guys have to wait a little longer to be enlightened but what i have to say. lol. Till next time then. ron out.

"An eye for an eye makes the world go blind..."

...As said by the great Mahatma Gandhi.

It was asked why in the recently concluded Miss Universe pageant, there were no 'world-peace' signs, dumb-blonde answers during the Q&A segment anymore. The usual stuff that derided the very essence of this eye-candy competition.

Perhaps, the girls got smarter?

Or is it that, after years of fighting and war, we have come to realised.. peace is merely an utopian ideal. War had ravaged cities, has destroyed lives, and will continue to engulf streets of civilian residences, and enshroud the innocent and soldiers alike in a air of fear & apprehension.

After the Viet Cong war and Iraq's incursion into Kuwait way back in the 90s, it was some time before Sept 11 made its impact felt fully. The world was jolted back to reality, the cold hard fact that violence solves problems the hard way out, but escapes the red tape bound by superficial diplomacy.

Far away we are in Asia, reading these articles with a tired and numb mind.

But a short distance across the Equator, explosions lit the night sky, and air raids zoomed in on establishments beside villages.

Obliterate the entire settlement for every missile fired out from within? Or deliberately target the humanitarian post to show no place is safe for the guerillas?

Casualities run high, yet the bombings never ceases.

Guerilla warfare is scary, and the sirens that follow the airborne strikes heralds the familiar yet dreaded phase of trepidation and paralysis by fear.

Of course, the Jews have long wanted to eradicate these radicals all along, needing a reason to validate their invasion that came all too easily. Years of suicide bombings have already battle-hardened the seasoned Israelis, but one may ask, are they bringing this too far?

Violence begets violence, but from the look of things, no amount of 48-hour temporary ceasefires or peace talks can stop this affair from escalating into a full-fledged military attack.

Or reducing collateral damage for that matter.


What the media doesn't show, the atrocities of war