Hello... I'm finally back to civillisation, after 2 gruelling weeks in Tekong. Time really flies, although I'm not really enjoying myself that much. Another month and I will pass out from BSLC.
I was taught lots of things, as we started to really hit the jungle with lots of blanks. Things like how to lead a section through various types of fire movement.
Highlight of the 2 weeks has got to be Ex. Wanderer. In this final test of our navigation skills, we were broken into teams of 4 to 5. I really enjoyed it, finding checkpoint after checkpoints in the jungle. It was all about knowing how to read the map and trusting your compass.
I was caught one morning with my boots not polished... I had my name taken down, together with a few others. Then the seargent told us that we will be slotted into guard duties if there were a shortage... I was already preparing myself mentally to be called up for guard duty. Anyway, I will be having a long break till Thursday. I was praying very hard, full of suspense as our Company Routine Orders were read to the whole company before we booked out to freedom. It was very intense, because there were 4 days of guard duties to be filled. For every name read out that isn't my name, I prayed even harder.
I never heard my name. Hahaha... I was super relieved. Because we were all rushing to the ferry leaving for mainland, we were running to the tonners that brought us to the ferry terminal. Morale was super high. I was smiling all the way home, thinking of all the things I will be doing during my long break.
I should be posting more often these few days, so stay tuned. Peace.
Sunday, October 30
Sunday, October 16
The Wet Prophecy
The rain just keeps falling,
Will it ever stop?
The freezing cabin rolls on,
My mind recollecting what went on.
A couple of soft toys I bought for her,
A few sweet comments about her beauty,
Priceless was her glowing smile,
So I held her hand, smelt her hair.
It feels so good just to hold her,
Just like before the storm.
Now she is no longer mine,
But somehow I just want her back.
Will she be worth it?
Will she love truly?
Will I be hurt again?
Only time will tell, when the sun rises.
Will it ever stop?
The freezing cabin rolls on,
My mind recollecting what went on.
A couple of soft toys I bought for her,
A few sweet comments about her beauty,
Priceless was her glowing smile,
So I held her hand, smelt her hair.
It feels so good just to hold her,
Just like before the storm.
Now she is no longer mine,
But somehow I just want her back.
Will she be worth it?
Will she love truly?
Will I be hurt again?
Only time will tell, when the sun rises.
Welcome to the Jungle
Hello... this post will be a little short, because I don't have much time this book out. So here goes...
The past week has been pretty slack, mostly lectures and simple stuff, nothing strenous. The highlight of the week would have to be the Chemical Defence package. We were trained how to put on gas masks and special suits. Its pretty hot, its almost like wearing winter clothing. Imagine yourself wearing winter clothing in 33 degress celcius environment... don't mention fighting the enemy, we can't even march properly...
After we were taught how to wear these cool masks and suits, we were brought to the smoke trainer facility at Pasir Laba camp. We did some exercises like jumping jacks and stuff while being in a tear gassed room. And before we are allowed to leave the room, we were instructed to take off our masks, open our eyes wide and say out loud our respective names and IC numbers. It wasn't too bad for me, I recovered quite fast from the exposure, but some other people were looked as if their dog had died. It was pretty cool training.
This book out is quite short, as I normally book in at 2200. But this time its 1945, sian. The next two weeks I will be stuck on Tekong because of live firing scheduled next weekend. But after that I will have almost a week of off days following Deepavali. Next two weeks will be action packed and very tiring too. Stay tuned...
The past week has been pretty slack, mostly lectures and simple stuff, nothing strenous. The highlight of the week would have to be the Chemical Defence package. We were trained how to put on gas masks and special suits. Its pretty hot, its almost like wearing winter clothing. Imagine yourself wearing winter clothing in 33 degress celcius environment... don't mention fighting the enemy, we can't even march properly...
After we were taught how to wear these cool masks and suits, we were brought to the smoke trainer facility at Pasir Laba camp. We did some exercises like jumping jacks and stuff while being in a tear gassed room. And before we are allowed to leave the room, we were instructed to take off our masks, open our eyes wide and say out loud our respective names and IC numbers. It wasn't too bad for me, I recovered quite fast from the exposure, but some other people were looked as if their dog had died. It was pretty cool training.
This book out is quite short, as I normally book in at 2200. But this time its 1945, sian. The next two weeks I will be stuck on Tekong because of live firing scheduled next weekend. But after that I will have almost a week of off days following Deepavali. Next two weeks will be action packed and very tiring too. Stay tuned...
Saturday, October 8
No More SOC!!!
Hello, I have just booked out from Tekong again... I have one more book out before the weekend burns.
I'm really happy, because this week was quite a good week for me, although it has been a very tiring one. I cruised through my Basic Navigation tests with much ease, and I simply loved the practical tests. They took place on the highest hill in Tekong, just next to SISPEC. The weather that day was quite good. I had thought that it was going to be very hot on the hill, but we encountered windy conditions that afternoon, and there were plenty of trees to shelter us from the sun. The tests were about finding your own location on the map, finding other unknown locations using a variety of methods they had taught us. To me, playing around with a compass, map and protractor was child's play.
One very memorable experience for me was the night navigation in closed terrain exercise. We were given checkpoints and were asked to find our way in the dark, without torches. We were only allowed to black tape the red colour filter so that only a 1cm square will emit light from our L-Torch. This is because of tactical reasons, so that enemies will not be able to spot you easily when you use the torch to look at your compass and stuff. Navigation in closed terrain (dense forrest with canopy) at night is really very hard. Not only you can't really see what's in front of you, you don't have much idea which direction you are drifting to when you walk from checkpoint to chekcpoint. This lesson really teaches us to trust our compass and your own instincts. I do have some experience of navigating in a forrest when I was a scout during my secondary school days, but never in the dark. It will simply be too hazardous.
Another event of the week was the final SOC test. It was actually only this morning, and I can still feel abit of aching in my shoulders. Many people actually fear the SOC than IPPT, but to me, its the other way round. I find clearing the obstacles quite fun. After I clear an obstacle, I feel a small sense of satisfaction, I myself don't know why. This sense of satisfaction will keep me pushing through the course with much ease. The only tiring part is the 600m of running to the finish line after I clear all the 11 obstacles. I guess my stamina is really bad, and for that I actually fear the 2.4km run than the SOC. This morning, I pushed myself to my absolute limits, like a car engine pushing the redline. I cleared the SOC at 08:47, which I really think was a good timing for myself. I never thought I could break the 9 minute barrier.
I booked out with a satisfied smile, looking forward to all the good food I'm going to stuff myself with when I get back to mainland. That's all for now, hopefully my next week in SISPEC will be good and don't get into any trouble which will land myself in the sunday guard duty list. Damn! It feels good to be back to civilisation, away from the jungles.
I'm really happy, because this week was quite a good week for me, although it has been a very tiring one. I cruised through my Basic Navigation tests with much ease, and I simply loved the practical tests. They took place on the highest hill in Tekong, just next to SISPEC. The weather that day was quite good. I had thought that it was going to be very hot on the hill, but we encountered windy conditions that afternoon, and there were plenty of trees to shelter us from the sun. The tests were about finding your own location on the map, finding other unknown locations using a variety of methods they had taught us. To me, playing around with a compass, map and protractor was child's play.
One very memorable experience for me was the night navigation in closed terrain exercise. We were given checkpoints and were asked to find our way in the dark, without torches. We were only allowed to black tape the red colour filter so that only a 1cm square will emit light from our L-Torch. This is because of tactical reasons, so that enemies will not be able to spot you easily when you use the torch to look at your compass and stuff. Navigation in closed terrain (dense forrest with canopy) at night is really very hard. Not only you can't really see what's in front of you, you don't have much idea which direction you are drifting to when you walk from checkpoint to chekcpoint. This lesson really teaches us to trust our compass and your own instincts. I do have some experience of navigating in a forrest when I was a scout during my secondary school days, but never in the dark. It will simply be too hazardous.
Another event of the week was the final SOC test. It was actually only this morning, and I can still feel abit of aching in my shoulders. Many people actually fear the SOC than IPPT, but to me, its the other way round. I find clearing the obstacles quite fun. After I clear an obstacle, I feel a small sense of satisfaction, I myself don't know why. This sense of satisfaction will keep me pushing through the course with much ease. The only tiring part is the 600m of running to the finish line after I clear all the 11 obstacles. I guess my stamina is really bad, and for that I actually fear the 2.4km run than the SOC. This morning, I pushed myself to my absolute limits, like a car engine pushing the redline. I cleared the SOC at 08:47, which I really think was a good timing for myself. I never thought I could break the 9 minute barrier.
I booked out with a satisfied smile, looking forward to all the good food I'm going to stuff myself with when I get back to mainland. That's all for now, hopefully my next week in SISPEC will be good and don't get into any trouble which will land myself in the sunday guard duty list. Damn! It feels good to be back to civilisation, away from the jungles.
Saturday, October 1
Book Out!!!
Haha I didn't really have time to blog last week after booking out, so here goes a two week special... It's been two weeks since I entered SISPEC and so many things have happened to me since I became a private soldier...
SISPEC is the premier School of Infantry Specialists in the SAF. But in my reality (and many others' too), it also stands for Suffer In Silence Plus Extra and Confinement. Life is so much different than in BMT, you are very much on your own, other than your brothers in arms around you. In BMT, my commanders are very much caring, they really take care of you and make sure you make it through. But in SISPEC, my instructors are mostly regulars, and they don't really care that much, because they have to cover their own ass on the job. Push-ups, running around the compound are really passed off as very simple and easy punishments. What really gives you a kick in the groin are extra duties and the worse of all, confinement.
Its pretty simple, when you sign an extra, you will have to do guard duty on SUNDAY. You will still book out like the rest, on saturday afternoon BUT book back in the SAME NIGHT!!! So its like you book out for a few hours and book back in. Confinements will kill you if extra duties don't. You do not get to book out at all, so you will stay in camp for two weeks in a row. The next week, when you book out, you book out as a caveman. All these punishments will really make a cock-up personnel into a thinking soldier. I mean, nobody wants to be a permanent resident on Tekong right?
Just a couple of days ago, something really scary happened to me. My staff sergeant (we all address staff sergeants as "Staff") had problems looking for one more person to fill the sunday guard duty list. As he looks around, he picks a few guys, but they got excused because they had birthdays close by. Then suddenly as I was doing some packing up of my stuff in my bunk, this guy in my platoon suddenly comes up to me and told me I was chosen for the guard duty this sunday. Time paused for a moment... WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?! I immediately changed back to admin attire so that I could go down stairs to the platoon office, because I need to speak with my staff. After I knocked and asked permission to enter, I found out that there was nobody in there. So I asked one of my instructors, and he told me that he actually went home, as he took two days leave. Some people from my platoon actually told me that he was fed-up with trying to get somebody for the empty slot, and he wants to go home early... That was on thursday night. By the way, my birthday is on saturday, the 1st of October. I soon learned that staff had picked me because he saw that my photo was not on the platoon profile chart (fucking lame excuse). I forgot to bring it in that week. My morale dropped and broke like an egg falling from the top of westin stamford hotel. When you get near the end of the week, your morale becomes high as you look forward to book out day.
For the next day, I managed to get my staff's handphone number, but he just wouldn't pick up or reply to my messages... he really is on leave. I really needed to tell him that my birthday is on saturday so that he could replace me with another sucker. How could something like this happen to me? I was desperate for solutions... brain-storming with all the idle time when waiting for training to commence. In the SAF, we always rush to wait, and wait to rush. Its just plain fucking stupid. What retarded nonsense about the "sense of urgency"? Instructors always fuck us up for taking our own sweet time, but we are always waiting when we get there. The only sense of urgency I know is when shit is already gushing out of my ass and I can't find a toilet.
I was so desperate that I was thinking about paying somebody to replace me on the guard duty list. But then again, I think the full weekend out is just priceless, nobody would sacrifice it for money. Finally only today morning, I know that I can't depend on staff anymore, so I approached one of my platoon instructors for help. He is kind-of a hokkien peng, but he is really a nice guy. I think everybody likes him, we haven't really seen him get pissed off and punish us yet. I explained my situation to him, and he told me that he would settle it for me by book out time. I was so happy and relieved, I thought that he couldn't do anything about it but I was wrong. Under his section, one guy has signed an extra, and so he got him to replace me.
Now I know at least I know who to turn to, when I have troubles. I should have turned to my own section instructor, but he is kind of difficult to approach... Maybe I will get to know him better in the tough times to come. Two weeks gone, eight more to go before I pass out from SISPEC as a corporal. I am sure there will be much more things to write about in the weeks to come, hopefully not bad things...
For now, I live my life one book out at a time. Without a girlfriend, I'm going to make good use of my NSF pay and buy myself some nice things. Bye for now, tell you more next week.
SISPEC is the premier School of Infantry Specialists in the SAF. But in my reality (and many others' too), it also stands for Suffer In Silence Plus Extra and Confinement. Life is so much different than in BMT, you are very much on your own, other than your brothers in arms around you. In BMT, my commanders are very much caring, they really take care of you and make sure you make it through. But in SISPEC, my instructors are mostly regulars, and they don't really care that much, because they have to cover their own ass on the job. Push-ups, running around the compound are really passed off as very simple and easy punishments. What really gives you a kick in the groin are extra duties and the worse of all, confinement.
Its pretty simple, when you sign an extra, you will have to do guard duty on SUNDAY. You will still book out like the rest, on saturday afternoon BUT book back in the SAME NIGHT!!! So its like you book out for a few hours and book back in. Confinements will kill you if extra duties don't. You do not get to book out at all, so you will stay in camp for two weeks in a row. The next week, when you book out, you book out as a caveman. All these punishments will really make a cock-up personnel into a thinking soldier. I mean, nobody wants to be a permanent resident on Tekong right?
Just a couple of days ago, something really scary happened to me. My staff sergeant (we all address staff sergeants as "Staff") had problems looking for one more person to fill the sunday guard duty list. As he looks around, he picks a few guys, but they got excused because they had birthdays close by. Then suddenly as I was doing some packing up of my stuff in my bunk, this guy in my platoon suddenly comes up to me and told me I was chosen for the guard duty this sunday. Time paused for a moment... WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?! I immediately changed back to admin attire so that I could go down stairs to the platoon office, because I need to speak with my staff. After I knocked and asked permission to enter, I found out that there was nobody in there. So I asked one of my instructors, and he told me that he actually went home, as he took two days leave. Some people from my platoon actually told me that he was fed-up with trying to get somebody for the empty slot, and he wants to go home early... That was on thursday night. By the way, my birthday is on saturday, the 1st of October. I soon learned that staff had picked me because he saw that my photo was not on the platoon profile chart (fucking lame excuse). I forgot to bring it in that week. My morale dropped and broke like an egg falling from the top of westin stamford hotel. When you get near the end of the week, your morale becomes high as you look forward to book out day.
For the next day, I managed to get my staff's handphone number, but he just wouldn't pick up or reply to my messages... he really is on leave. I really needed to tell him that my birthday is on saturday so that he could replace me with another sucker. How could something like this happen to me? I was desperate for solutions... brain-storming with all the idle time when waiting for training to commence. In the SAF, we always rush to wait, and wait to rush. Its just plain fucking stupid. What retarded nonsense about the "sense of urgency"? Instructors always fuck us up for taking our own sweet time, but we are always waiting when we get there. The only sense of urgency I know is when shit is already gushing out of my ass and I can't find a toilet.
I was so desperate that I was thinking about paying somebody to replace me on the guard duty list. But then again, I think the full weekend out is just priceless, nobody would sacrifice it for money. Finally only today morning, I know that I can't depend on staff anymore, so I approached one of my platoon instructors for help. He is kind-of a hokkien peng, but he is really a nice guy. I think everybody likes him, we haven't really seen him get pissed off and punish us yet. I explained my situation to him, and he told me that he would settle it for me by book out time. I was so happy and relieved, I thought that he couldn't do anything about it but I was wrong. Under his section, one guy has signed an extra, and so he got him to replace me.
Now I know at least I know who to turn to, when I have troubles. I should have turned to my own section instructor, but he is kind of difficult to approach... Maybe I will get to know him better in the tough times to come. Two weeks gone, eight more to go before I pass out from SISPEC as a corporal. I am sure there will be much more things to write about in the weeks to come, hopefully not bad things...
For now, I live my life one book out at a time. Without a girlfriend, I'm going to make good use of my NSF pay and buy myself some nice things. Bye for now, tell you more next week.
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