Sunday, June 26, 2005

At Last!

What a wonderful feeling to be out in the civilian world, shopping, eating and freedom to walk where-ever I like, except restricted areas and live firing areas... haha... I have being waiting for this day to come since 2 weeks ago. Last Sunday's night's off wasn't counted as a book out. Such a short period of 5 hours, I can't even go anywhere beyond Woodlands, where I stayed in.

For the past 2 weeks, it was a difficult and stressful period for most of us. A lot of things are going on concurrently. No chance to rest and no time to waste. Ex. Milo past and a day later, Ex. Safari. Ex. Safari is all about gun drills. Everything we learned during the weapon phrase are now put into practice. We had 7 sets of appointment holders on 7 different deployment grounds. It is so tiring to move off from one place to another, loading and unloading stores, 7 times every 3 missions.

Imagine doing so much work during deployment. Some of us even hold double appointments. So many things to set up. During the first 6 sets of deployments, I helped out in setting up the Telejays (wired communication system), and also action front the guns. I felt like a signaler but quite fun though. Telejay is the best communication system without the fear of having enemies to hear what you where saying. But once the wires are cut off, the communication system link will be broken.

Blue beret! We got our blue Beret on the last day of Ex. Safari, Thursday. It was a day; we are officially part of the Artillery family. We are now trained gunners! Once a Gunner, Always a Gunner! At last! Common phrase is coming to an end.

tata...

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Sunday, June 19, 2005

A very short weekend

I was back at home just 2 hours ago and am going to book-in to camp in another 3 hours time.

It had being a very busy week. Preparing stores for our Ex. Milo, which is our FO (Forward Observer) live firing, calling for mortar fire exercise. During the exercise, we had a practice on calling for mortar fire on enemy's location. After the practice, we had a test. I scored quite well for a test during the exercise and therefore was asked to perform another, more complex mission. I was so anxious and lost when I was revising on the voice procedure for that mission and what makes the mission even more challenging is that it was a night mission. Therefore we were task to use illumination mortar bombs. Why is it difficult? Because the method for calling for fire is much more tedious. But I was lucky that night. Even when I used the illum mortar bomb, the enemy's location could not be seen clearly due to fog. I might not able to get the range and direction of every bomb landing spots, as a result, the mission was ended. But I had to complete the mission the next day, which is this morning. All went very well. At first I was quite anxious and kept saying the wrong voice procedure, but I regained confidence after a while. Very Very Good Shooting, End of Mission, Over. All the bombs landed exactly where I wanted it to be.

One sad thing about this week is that we were punished for not having to ensure that there was someone doing his sentry guard duty at night during Ex. Milo. We were given a confinement this coming Saturday. Another weekend is gone. Next, was my SOC. Remember that I did fairly well for my SOC in OCS? I got 8.42mins back then. But On the test on Tuesday, I did not manage to pass my SOC. Not because of my running timing, but was my stupid carelessness or forgetfulness, which caused myself to fail my test at one of the obstacles. I never failed a single obstacle before. That was my first time failing a SOC. I kept asking myself. Am I able to commission as an Artillery Officer on 1st October? Until now, I could not answer that question. It is very unpredictable during an Officer Cadet Course.

tata...

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Sunday, June 12, 2005

A small small gathering

It had being a long long time I have not seen some of my poly friends who are studying aboard. Fangyu, in Liverpool and Chi Hang in his hometown, Hong Kong. Both are studying Architecture. Yesterday, we met up with them, who came back to Singapore for their work and holiday, together with Aiting, Carol, Anqi and Huiwen for a Dim Sum buffet at the Teahouse, China Square. We talked about our work, studies and some past memories during the poly days. It was a day we recall our happy days in poly.

In the evening, Chi Hang left us, moving off to catch his bus to Malaysia for his holiday with his family. The rest of us, we stayed in the Teahouse and chatted until we were asked to leave because the restaurant is preparing the tables for dinner. We headed to the Coffee Club for a drink and continue chatting until about 8 at night. We left Coffee Club and Fangyu too parted from us to meet her brother.

The rest of us, walked from Raffles Place to City Link Mall, passing The Merlion and through Esplanade's underpass. Where are we going? Lee Hwa Jewellery. Huiwen bought a pair of earrings for Mother's Day present. Carol parted from us too. So now who is left? Aiting, Huiwen, Anqi and me went to Plaza Singapura, wanting to catch a show. But weekend is always a weekend. The seats are selling fast that the movie we finally decided, Kungfu Mahjong, left only the first 3 rows. Too near to the screen, we did not go ahead. So, we decided to sit down somewhere for a drink, again. We settled down at Rocky Master, just outside Plaza Singapura. Girls are always girls. So many things to talk about. We chatted till about 11.30pm and decided that we should start to move off to catch our last train. Off we go and it marks the end of our day.

tata...

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Friday, June 10, 2005

Going nowhere

I am totally exhausted after this whole week of training. There is not much admin time for us and we did not even have enough sleep every night. Where should I start? Actually I had a lot of things to write but I do not know how to start.

Let’s talk about my weapon training phrase. At last, we ended our weapon training phrase yesterday with a small celebration marking the end of the 2 training weeks with dumplings. Also, the weapon training wing bought a 3 kg birthday cake and cards for those whose birthday falls in the month of June. So kind and warm of them to organize such an event for us and we were deeply touch. I feel so good to say goodbye to the tough days of training but it is sad that we are now unable to play with the guns. In-fact, it is much more interesting than the classroom based lesson. But also, classroom based lessons also have their pull factor, air-con!

On Tuesday, I had my IPPT retest again. I hate it a lot. But at last, I am able to get silver! Yeah! I am richer by 100 bucks! haa... But I am really sick of doing the same thing again and again. If I am not wrong, there will be a retest again until there are a certain percentage of people getting gold in their IPPT. Until now, only around 50% managed to achieve gold. Why must the Head Gun be so persistent in the percentage of gold he wanted to achieve? Putting his glory over our suffering.

Thursday morning, reveille at 5am. Fall in time at 5.15am. Why? SOC orientation run at Nee Soon camp. We were brief that the SOC ground is good and the run down route is perfectly flat. But when we were there that morning, we felt cheated. The run down from the starting point to the low wall was not flat at all! There is upslope, down slope and upslope again. Running the first 700m is already a nightmare. I could not get my pace right especially after we did a full orientation run down of 1.5km + about 700m back to start line before the actually full run down with our load and rifle on. I could not get my legs to run. It really turns me upside down when I knew that I could not be able to hit my 8.42mins timing in OCS. What is worst than failing SOC? Injuring my back again. I hate to jump down from high platforms. It is a great stress on my back.

Today, of course is book out day. It will be the last book out on Friday until 3 weeks later because I am going to have exercises on weekends. Booking out is always everyone's dream. But today is like a nightmare. Or maybe I should say an unforeseen one. We had our FireGate test which is sort of a computer program test. It is a program we used to communicate with each other. Telling more about the system, I have to kill you. haa... Anyway, we did not expect the test to be in such a format. We were not given a brief on what the test paper is going to be like and how are they going to grade us and what we are suppose to do. The only thing we can prepare is to remember the steps to click and how the mission is going to be executed. Ah... just hope I can get at least a pass.

Today's admin time is long. We had a lot of time to clean our bunks and also, sleep. But of course our main priority is to make our area clean. We spend 1-2 hours just to clean up the whole place. This is the only time we were did such a thorough area cleaning. And we had put in a lot of effort into it. But what we get in the end? Scolding and punishment for not clean enough. Why? Because the instructors pick on small hidden corners for dust. Why are instructors so picky on such things? Aren't them a cadet or trainee before? Aren't they feeling the same when their instructors once did such things to them before? Why can't they be more understanding than just to punish us and lecture us? What did leadership studies thought them? Why are they teaching us leaderships when they did not follow? Why did they use good leadership examples of personnel when they are not able to portray an example?

Ok. All I want to say is for those who are going to be an instructor or leaders in the future show your concern to your men. Show them that you care for them. Never treat your men badly, or else you will see where your men will stand. Training is training. But just a simple area cleaning for example, it makes us dislike the way our instructors run the place. We are treated just like recruits, or even worst than them. I think I had being saying this quite a few times already especially when I was in OCS. In Khatib camp, life is worst than infantry training. Artillery officer cadets will worry about being OOC, Out of Course, due to examinations. True, we always worried about it. But how likely the chance is? Very low. But now my concern is on my SOC. My first time after BMT days, I am unable to clear the swing trainer, aka monkey bars. I am so worried about that. The bars are so slippery that I could not get hold of the grip for long. Now as an officer cadet, my only thing to look forward to is every to pass by without any troubles and problems. And also if I every get OOC, I will not be sad about it. At least I have put in my best in my training.

tata...

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Sunday, June 5, 2005

A busy week

What a busy and exciting week I had. Even this weekend is such a busy and wonderful one.

I got my exam result for last week's test and managed to pass by 0.5 marks. What a relieve. The passing mark is 60 over a 100. That meant I do not need to stay back on Saturday for a re-test. In that paper, I did a lot of careless mistakes which I should not have done. What a waste that I did not manage my time properly in this exam.

For the whole week, I did not get to wear my smart 4. The whole week is all about gun drills. We got a lot of drills to learn. More and more things are coming together. This coming week, we are going to learn camouflaging of the guns and then combining all the drills with camouflaging together. It is actually very tiring especially I had my IPPT training on Thursday, as a result, my whole leg is aching. Cleaning the gun is another nightmare. Pulling the brush through the barrel needs about 3 people to carry out the job. Not easy, really.

We also get to drive the gun but only forward and reverse. It is actually only a orientation drive to allow us to feel how it is to drive them. What a waste that we are not qualified and required to know how to drive them. But driving a car is much more fun than driving the gun.

Being out in the field learning all the drills, pimples are growing at such a fast rate that I could not recognize myself... hee... just kidding. I want my pimple free days back!

Yesterday was a long day for me. In the morning, I met up Edwin at Expo Exhibition Centre for the IT Show. Before that, I met one of my BMT friends, Alex Neo, at Tanah Merah MRT station. He too was going to the IT Show. What a small world. In the afternoon, I headed to Bras Basah to meet up with my Artillery Syndicate’s friends for lunch at Jack's Place. The reason why we are there is because, Yap, one of my syndicate mates wanted to eat steak. He had being talking about steak for the whole week and he wanted to eat it this weekend. So we arranged a syndicate outing at Jack's Place. After lunch, we went to Suntec City Exhibition Centre for the Book Fair. So many books are on offer and I bought a Australia architecture book at only $4.50, halved price. What a bargain. Also, I wanted to buy The Singapore Story, by Lee Kuan Yew, but did not. I do not know why but there is always something pulling me away when I wanted to buy anything. Even until now, I am still looking for a wallet to replace my old one for months.

At 6.30pm, I met up with my polytechnic friends for dinner at Suntec City's Swensen's. I was expecting quite a lot of friends to come but only 14 could make it. But it is quite a good one thanks to Aiting who organized that event.

tata...

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Sunday, May 29, 2005

Breathless

This had being a very short week. A short week with many obstacles to face and overcome. Tuesday was my first exam in artillery. It was a disaster. The only thing I hope for is at least a pass. Also, I was appointed as the Cadet Battery Commander, CBC. Since BMT, I have not had any appointments and this week is a week to test my ability to manage my men. On Thursday, we had a spot check from one of the Military Police's, MP, group for unauthorized items in our bunks. This week, we also had out IPPT test which is also to my disappointment that I could not be able to do my best as I am suffering from my old back injury. What a waste I only got a pass.

It is really a long but short week for me. This weekend is also a wasted week even though I had the chance to go out with my friends yesterday for the whole afternoon till late night. I am still trying to catch my breath for some fresh air. June is around the corner and there will not be anymore long weekends ahead until august National Day.

Well, I just hope the time can fly faster and I can get out of the life as a trainee.

tata...

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Sunday, May 22, 2005

Think Out of the Box

Today is Vesak Day. Vesak Day, which falls on the full moon day of the fifth month of the year, is the most important event for the Buddhist community. It commemorates the Birth, Enlightenment and Final Nirvana of the Buddha.

Think out of the box. Why do we always tend to drift to a traditional mindset? There are many creative ways to do things. Take my coming commissioning ball for example. I am a member of the comms ball committee. Yesterday, some of us went to Bowei’s cousin’s nursery, Gardenasia, at Krangi. Bowei recommended us that venue to hold a comms ball as it breaks the tradition of having it instead at hotel ball rooms. I find that it is a very good idea. There are many other places to choose from such as Botanic Gardens, Colonial houses, beaches, nature parks and, of course, hotels. Why not hotels? It has always being a “standard” to hold weddings and other formal ceremonies in hotels. So Bowei came out with this idea of having it in the nursery. That idea brought us into a new alternative but also too many criticisms. Many do not favor to the alternative as it is not grand enough or maybe because it is not air-conditioned as it is a outdoor setting in a formal wear.

Yesterday trip to Gardenasia opened my views about having a ball in a nursery. The setting of the place is exquisite. The water and plants transferred the whole nursery into countryside. The moment I step in, I do not feel I am in Singapore at all. Never do I realize that this place exist in our homeland.

Maybe many people will object to that idea. Wearing blazer and tie or even a Number 2 for dinner in a non air-conditioned place is a sweaty feeling, or maybe dampened by rain, but it is a unique experience. Of course, the outdoor dining is sheltered by a huge built up tent.

I always have the idea to have a unique wedding when it comes to my own. Beach or garden is both my alternative locations. It is my dream. Why must formal dining be “formal”? Why can’t it be a more relaxing place so people won’t feel stiff?

Today, I spent my whole day doing my homework and revision for the manual gunnery exam coming this Tuesday. I cannot allow myself to fail in this test or else I will be out of course if I ever fail the second exam. Thinking of that, it haunts me. My goal to become an Artillery Officer will be dashed. I can still remember I do not like the life of a cadet. But as time goes by, it seems to be part of a normal routine I am going through until children’s day, commission day. Still, there are 4 plus months to go. I have to work hard to earn my rank and respect.

There are so many things lies ahead for me to fulfill. My personal goals are uncountable. Being an Architect is one of them. Another is to be active in community work. Lending a helping hand to those who are in need is a passion. A dream I intend, an intend I dream.

tata…

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Sunday, May 15, 2005

The modern human beings

We are the human who roamed the earth. We are the creator of technology, discoverer of science. We are advancing in a very fast pace that we do not know the amount of disasters we are creating to this earth.

We waste food. We waste electricity. We waste water. We wasted our time.

Food. Why do we waste food? The food is either unappetizing, or we simply don't have the appetite. So why do we still waste them. It is what we pay for. There are so many people out there in the world having not enough or no food to eat and dies from starvation. Why do we not think of them when we throw our left over or worst, uneaten food into the trash bin? Because we do not think of the staving people. We simply take our luxury for granted.

Electricity. We forget the need for saving the electricity. We take the source for granted thinking we have abundant amount of resources to sustain us forever. They are right. We have alternative power source from the wind, sun, and rivers. But all those have limited capabilities. What if there is no wind? What if there is no sunlight for days due haze effect from a natural volcanic eruption? What if our river runs dry one day?

Water. Water is the most essential element for any living organism on earth to survive. Without it, we will not exist. Why do we need to save water since there are so much water on earth. More than half of the earth body is covered with water. But, only a certain percentage of the earth's sea water is fresh. Advancement in technology now allows us to purity sea salt water to fresh water. But the process is costly.

In this world, we are the only species who is destroying the earth. But, we are also the only one who can help to save this home.

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Lost of words - Part II

I do not know what I am supposed to do, what I want and what I am going after. There are so many things in this world to choose from, but in the end, there is only 1 choice.

Having given a choice is a chance. Having given no chance is a upsetting.

The question is, how. How am I going to path my own future? Is there a win-win situation out there for me. I could not help but to say, I love you. After so many years, the feelings never change. But will that change in the next few years? Life is so unpredictable. Maybe, one day in the future, you might tell me that you are in a relationship with someone. As long as you are happy, I am happy for you.

There is not a need to be together to be happy. Giving others the chance to be what they want may be a better choice. Bless them. But, still, I will not stop any chance for me to slip away. I will continue to work towards what I am going after.

tata...

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Sunday, May 8, 2005

Biography

When it comes to writing a biography, I always do not know where I should start. Lets starts from my family and relatives.

I have a wonderful family consisting of my father and mother, aged 50 and 45 respectively, 2 younger sisters who are of age 20 and 17, myself. This year, I am turning 22 years old. My father is self-employed and my mother is a housewife. I can say my family financial income is stable. As for me, I am taking an NSF allowance. And for my sisters, they are studying.

5 years ago, we moved from Bukit Merah, 3-room apartment, to Marsiling, jumbo apartment, because my parents feel there is a need to change to a bigger one as my family needed more room. We all now have our own bedroom and own privacy. More room mean more space. Well, the problem lies here. The more room, the more things there will be. Sometimes, the house tends to look very messy with all sorts of things in it.

Every time when my relatives come to my house, I will try to keep my room neat. But always, it becomes messy again in no time. One of the relative I respect most is my aunt, whom is my father’s elder sister. She has a strong will of living and she is always so cheerful. Being married at a very young age, she is already a grandmother of 6 grandchildren.  My father also has an eldest brother and a younger brother. His elder brother, have 2 daughters who my sisters and I were closest to. During my younger days, we used to play together. Now, they are married. One of them, my younger cousin, had just given birth to her second child, a baby girl a few months ago. My elder cousin, she is holding her wedding dinner this year September. I had not attended a wedding dinner for a long time and I am looking forward for this day to come. My uncle, my father’s younger brother, have a son who is at the age of 10. He is my only relative who knows how to speak Japanese well as he is a tour guild for Japanese. The people who I have to thank much are my paternal grandparents. They have given me such wonderful relatives and father. And they loved me so much as I am their eldest grandson in his family line. I missed them dearly even till now that they had passed away many years ago while I am still in my primary school days.

My maternal grandparents also gave me a loving mother and caring relatives. My mother has 3 siblings, 1 eldest brother, 1 younger sister and 1 youngest brother. Her eldest brother have 2 children, one of them age 20, she shares the same age as my younger sister, and another boy age 18, 1 year older than my youngest sister. 5 of us were playful during the younger days and sometimes we often get ourselves into trouble. My mother’s younger sister has 2 handsome small boys and youngest brother have 2 pretty small girls. Being in my mother’s side June reunion dinner is often something I look forward to and also something I don’t look forward to as well. Food is the one I look forward to. But when it comes to remembering what, who and how to greet them is a headache as I do not always meet them. Her family is just too big. There will always be around 5-6 tables of 10 or more for the dinner.

Now it is time to write about myself. Time really flies. Already, there are so many younger males in Singapore completed there days as NSF. I am now still in the army and I could not wait for my ORD already.

I studied in Alexandra Hill Primary School during my primary 1-6. Now, the school has already merged with Gan Eng Seng Primary School. I feel it is a pity as Alexandra Hill is such a better name than Gan Eng Seng and also, Alexandra Hill is a very strong school in the past. Bukit Merah Secondary School is where I had next level of education. People used to think that it is a gangster school but when I started to study there, I found out that it is a school with a heart. A school that is willing to take in any students in need and from any place in this world. During those days, I had friends from Mayamma, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The old school building had already being demolished and a new premise had being erected on the existing site. The memories of the old school can only be recalled from my heart and mind. It is a school where my closest cousins and my respected aunt’s daughter studied there. We all had being looked over by the same discipline master.

During my secondary school days, I joined the computer club and air rifle club. Computer is always my favorite. Till now, I cannot live without the internet. Air rifle is a kind of sports. I participated in the inter zone competition for air rifle but had no luck. My teacher who is also my instructor took me into an air pistol competition and I managed to get into the 7th position after a few months of training. That would be one of my greatest achievements in secondary school after my O-levels. I did fairly well for it and got a good aggregate of 13 for L1R4. With that result, I can get into most courses in polytechnic.

My first choice was Architecture Technology. Until now, I never regret taking up the course. My passion for it grows each day and multiplied as weeks past. My result in poly is exceptionally well. In the end of 3rd year, I got myself a Merit award and a Cash award from the Singapore Institute of Architects. During poly, I participated in a few events. I went to Melbourne, Tasmania and Sydney for my Industrial Training Program which gives me an eye opening experience of the Architecture in those cities. Also, I volunteered to go to Thailand for a community project, building a small workshop building for a school. Through the experience, I learned to work and learn from each other in the team. In the end, we did even better and did even more things to improve the school environment other than the workshop.

End of poly marks the end of my first phrase of my studying days. I had to wait for my enlisting of NS to come. Between those periods of time, I decided not to work but to enjoy myself as much as possible. I went out with friends, do some catching up with them and did some paintings. I even went for long distance cycling around Singapore Island with one of my best secondary school friends. Even though I stated that I did not work during the break period, I was called up by my ex-lecturer who is also my ex-employer and friend, to make a model of a house for him. He is an architect who teaches me during my year 1 in poly. I worked for him since then. He is the one who spotted my talent in model making. Anything to do with architecture, I will definitely love it.

Before I enlist into army, I was very reluctant. Until now, I still find 2 years 2 months is long for a male. I want to spend more time with my family and also to continue with my studies. Also, by the time I complete my degree course, I would be near 30 years old. When I start my own family, I do not know whether I still have the chance to live until I see my grandchildren in my arms.

There are just too many things I wanted write about me and my family but it is just too long to continue. Writing stories is one of my hobbies!

tata...

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