my life

ORD LO!!!

10th february 2007.. i stepped into the gates of tekong.. handed my pink ic to some stupid fellow at the table and poof, its gone.. 1 yr 10 months later.. 6th february 2009, i finally saw my pink ic again and i finally ORD-ed.. ok i got my ic early and my ord is actually the 9th february..

its kinda like a magical journey to mi as i spent nearly 2 yrs of my precious life in army which holds the golden moment of my transition from a teenager to young adult.. i wun say that the time i spent is utmost unpleasant but i guess was mostly painful if u were like in the same unit as i was..

tekong life was easy.. raven coy is one of the slackest company ever in the SAF.. and i would alwaes rmb throwing a blind grenade and got scolded as i was the second last man in the company.. i guess the most memorable moment was the 24km route march which i ever thought i would be able to complete.. i rmb the times walking deep into the unknown in tekong.. grazing at the sky littered with shimmering stars which literally took my breath away.. and reaching the parade square with ah boon yong qing they all.. unbelieveable.. and all the emo little chats with edmund and allan looking out that mainland singapore as the sun sets and disappears quietly into the horizon.. as we POP-ed i guess we each carried a part of everyone in us as we moved on in life..

after block leave i got posted into 30SCE alpha company.. more simply posted to 18th level hell.. drawn on the sentry post at the gate.. i started my life as a field engineer in june 2007 and we dragged our duffel bags in front of our company block and got scolded for dragging.. realli mind those idiots who scolded us that the duffel bags are meant to be dragged as there are wheels fixed..

life there was realli hell.. treated as if we weren't a kind of lifeform in this universe.. tekan like crazy everyday in training outside training.. i guess everyone who been thru this journey with mi will vividly rmb the 500BX one single morning.. (its supposed to be 5BX) astham attacks, dizziness and nauseous was common then.. CEC was one of the most painful times for everyone in my platoon i suppose.. and there comes FPC where i became a PNR 6.. and with great power (as in being fat or more stoutly) comes with great responsibility.. i carried a jerry can and a saw.. crazy weight.. PIT where all the exercises come into play.. landmine warfare CFF firestorm gemini cub bear .. everything then was never ending and i tried to escape from everything with my long status and chao keng mentality.. and i bid farewell to 2007 and welcomed 2008..

2008 started as our company took on standby duties and the siren was merciless to mi.. i guess i hold the record in alpha.. total no of times the siren rang minus 1 is the no of times i ran down the parade square within 7 minutes.. i had been on handcuffs when the siren rang and sometimes not even dressed properly with my ungarments and i ran down and down..

ard mrch we were in seletar camp learning construction skills.. i rmb fixing up a ciruit box all by myself and this was realli something meaningful and useful in life that i learnt.. can fix some of the things at home when they are damaged.. but halfway thru the course our dear friend mas ran away from the whitney detention centre and as a good friend of the police force we were activated to help.. very diffcult period where we had little rest and needed to work shifts under the scorching and merciless sun as well as bear the cold lonely nights.. it ended in a month or so time and we went back to seletar and finished our platoon's modular kit..

this was the time i somehow come to an understanding with myself and decided to cheong with my platoon.. my strength may seem meagre but i guess it still makes a difference.. at least there's someone in the section to carry the jerry can.. i guess the addition of 3SG going 2SG pang lek ( he hasn't ord yet though.. LOL..) somehow made the difference.. there's someone there to be advance party with mi and we suffered together.. and looking at how jeffrey work somehow changed my mind not to chao keng anymore..

more standby duties came by and as well as exercises preparing us for our etap in thailand.. firestorm, gemini, cub and bear 2 were the main milestones before we embarked on our journey to thailand in late august 2008.. cresendo in thailand would be the most memorable and unforgettable experience in my army life.. the unforgiving weather in thailand was a great challenge.. temperatures could be as high as 40 degrees and u have to push on.. i will alwaes rmb the breathtaking view ard thailand doing deerhunter and painfully digging shellscrapes thru the night.. thanks to 3SG (NS) daniel tan who spammed mi continually and i dug 3 in the final exerise.. and conquering eagle hill not once but twice in thailand.. the marvellous nightsky with the frequent shooting stars will be an image imprinted deep in my mind.. and not long we are finished with our evaluation and everything we have worked for for the time in 30SCE..

some training here and there and also APB last month concluded my time in army.. and i got my ord not long back.. as i pen down things here i reminicise the bits and pieces of my army life.. its tough yet memorable.. and many things i ever thought i achieve i done it.. i got my IPPT GOLD in my second yr and somewhat passed SOC with some ease..

i wouldn't say this journey is smooth sailing without arguments here and there.. politics are alwaes there and it works on the mind of ppl.. i recalled a time where i quarrelled with kuan how cauz i changed group with him and he had to be with chao kun.. but nevertheless things wouldn't be as fun without these childish arguments..

wat i will alwaes miss will be the silly little things done in bunk.. all those stupid arguments and all those birthday punks every month during celebrations.. all those late night talks and chitchats with cheng wei jeffrey leslie and the rest and also interesting memories that will be deeply etched in mi.. and making jie liang the receding hairline in the platoon.. there will alwaes be differences as everyone is unique.. i guess as everyone's army life comes to an end its time to set aside these differences and realli hold on this special bond no everyone have in their life.. like wat 3SG (haven ORD) Aloysius mentioned its time to forget the hatred and build on the friendship we all have.. no matter wat quarrels i guess should be forgotten as we ORD.. the end here marks a new beginning and a new journey ahead of us..

as everyone embarks on their new journey i guess its onli right to pay tribute to everyone who has made my army life fun and interesting.. to all the commanders in platoon 1 with special thanks to plong.. and to all my platoon and section mates who had been an integral part of my 1 yr 10 months in army.. thank all for making the difference..


i hereby wish everyone best wishes for their future endeavours and good luck in everything each and everyone do in future.. 10 yrs, 20 yrs down the road, i will alwaes rmb the pain the joy and the smiles i had in army and in platoon 1.. all the best!! (: