What's up, everyone? Hope you guys (and gals) are doing fine. More things to write about my experiences in the army:

 

Usually before and after a hard workout, the Sergeants want to ensure that we recruits don't die of dehydration. So they have this thing called a "Water Parade". We are told to bring down one full waterbottle (which was supplied by the army) and here's how it goes:

 

Platoon IC (a recruit who leads the whole platoon) : Bottles up!

Everyone: Bottles up! [raises bottle up to shoulder level, making sure that the arm is 90 degrees to the body]

Platoon IC: Caps off!

Everyone: Caps off! [takes off bottlecap]

Platoon IC: The SAF 7 core values are

Everyone: The SAF 7 core values are: Loyalty to Country, Leadership, Discipline, Professionalism, Fighting Spirit, Ethics, CARE FOR SOLDIERS!!!

Platoon IC: Half full waterbottle

Everyone: Half full waterbottle

Platoon IC: Taurus 4 drink up!

Everyone: Above the rest! Taurus 4 is the best! Taurus 4 drink up!

 

After this, everyone is meant to drink at least half of the water in the bottle. This is done by having to tilt our bottle at a 90 degree angle (meaning, sideways). If any water drips out and falls onto the floor, the Sergeant orders that person to fill another full waterbottle and drink another half in front of him.

So yeah, that's what a water parade is.

 

Oh yeah! we are allowed to bring our mobiles into camp, but we are not allowed to charge them. The reason being that in Tekong, the whole camp gets their power from generators, not from the powerplants on the mainland. So if the 5000+ soldiers were to charge their mobiles at the same time...

When i took all my dirty clothes and put them in a pail, i was just about to head towards the toilet to wash my clothes when suddenly, the whole building went dark! Obviously it was a blackout, because the officer asked for everyone to hand over their phone chargers (if they brought any) to him. Even so, the power was not expected to return for another hour or so, and it was getting late (almost time for lights out). So i had no choice but to wash my clothes in the toilet in the dark! (yes, we have to wash our own clothes ourselves) Overall, it was a fun experience washing my clothes and not knowing whether it was clean or not. :P

 

There was one time where we were on the parade square late in the afternoon, and the sun had been beating down on us (and the hot bricks) the whole day. To our shock, one Lieutenant told us to do push-ups on the hot bricks!!! As we got down, there were shouts of pain as the hot bricks burned our hands. Most of the recruits got up and i almost went up as well, but then i heard the Lieutenant shouting: "Don't be girls! Your Sergeants are doing it as well!" So i stayed down with my hands on the hot bricks, trying my best to ignore the pain. But then i heard that even the Sergeants were screaming in pain, and they got up and complained to the Lieutenant about how hot the bricks were. So yeah, to cut a long story short, the Lieutenant quickly made us get up and go to the nearby patch of grass to do push-ups. But the damage had been done, i was one of the few people who did not lift his hands off the hot bricks the entire time. So when it was finished, i had first degree burns on my palms and i had to apply some medicine cream on my burns. Thankfully, this incident did not happen again.

 

In my platoon, i had volunteered to be the Song IC, which basically means that i'll be singing most of the marching songs when we are marching around the camp or doing route marches (meaning marching around in our full battle gear). A lot of songs are nice and a few which are quite funny, like Purple Light, which i heard is a big hit.

 

together: with my rifle and my buddy and me!

 

As i look in the mirror, i realise how tanned i have gotten (bronze coloured) because of being out in the sun for the past two weeks. The only problem is that i was wearing the army singlet most of the time so i have a bra strap tanline!!! We all laughed at each other when we see it. Also, even though with all this working out and eating army food (which was ok), i still haven't gained any weight! But i guess it is ok because a few days ago, we had a lecture about the different techniques to life and carry a wounded soldier. To which a lot of my section mates said "if we all were wounded, Amoz would be one of the few to be saved because he's so light."

 

Sometime to report, i'm getting my M16 rifle on the 30th of March, which is this thursday. A mixed feeling of excitement and reluctance when i think about it. I was told that if i were to lose my rifle, i will be sentenced to 7 years in the detention barracks. So now i know why Dad told me to treat my rifle like my wife...

 

For some of you who do not know the ranks of the military, here is Amoz's crash course starting from lowest to highest.

 

1. Recruit

2. Private

3. Lance Corporal

4. Corporal

5. 3rd Sergeant

6. 2nd Sergeant

7. 1st Sergeant

8. 9. 10. 11. (Warrant Officers - not important) [ranks given to admin soldiers]

12. 2nd Lieutenant

13. Full Lieutenant

14. Captain

15. Major

16. Lieutenant Colonel

17. Colonel

(others unknown)

I'm back!

 

Yahoo! I have survived the first two weeks in the army. First of, it wasn't exactly what i expected because i found most of the training a piece of cake, but then again, they say that they are doing "progressive training", which means that they'll increase the demand as each day passes. So yeah, it was pretty easy for me (but not for most of my platoon mates). But swear is inevitable in the army, especially with the Sergeants training us.

 

It feels so weird in camp, being with guys all the time, when we saw a girl walk by, most of us were like "what on earth is this? is this creature a part of our species?" lol, i dunno how to explain it properly, but you have to be here to believe it. Most of us were shocked to see a girl (i am not ashamed to admit it also).

 

Well, my rank is recruit (which is basically one of the lowest lifeforms on Tekong) and i am in Taurus Company, or T Company. Lights out is at 2230 and i wake up at 0500, so i have about 7.5 hours of sleep, which is not enough for a straineous day, so whenever we have free time, me and my section mates plop on our bed and sleep in the afternoon.

 

Argh! how to cram 2 weeks worth of info into one blog entry?

 

Well, when i went in, i was mistakenly told to arrive with V Company (Viper) instead of T Company, so i had a few hassles in trying to find the right place to go to. @_@ talk about disorder! It wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. Most of my platoon mates are pretty nice and friendly. (Thank God) So yeah, after all the confusion was fixed, i put my bags on my bed and was told to quickly change into the army's PT gear (a grey shirt with "ARMY" on the back and short black pants) and meet up with my platoon. There, i had a crash course on the malaysian commands given out. Since i'd missed the lecture about the commands, i had no idea what to do!!! Luckily i was at the back of the platoon, so i just followed everyone. Now, after two weeks, i sorta know a few military commands in malay now.

 

"Kerkiri buseng!" (turn to your left)

"Kekalang buseng!" (turn to your right)

"Serlangdi ya!" (feet together)

"Serlangdi ri!" (feet apart)

"Taurus 4 tium!" (Taurus 4 at attention!)

there are more commands, but i doubt telling you guys would benefit you much :P

 

According to what the army says, i am not allowed to disclose information on how they train singaporean soldiers to the public, and since this blog is opened to the public, i won't write about what they do to train me. If you want to know, send me an email and i'll write to you about it. (if i have the time)

 

Have i gotten any muscles? Hmm... i guess so.. training everyday is a good way to be fit, my platoon sergeant told me.

 

Oh yeah, when i was walking home in my army uniform, i walked pass a couple and a little girl. To which i heard the girl say "See! A big soldier!". I couldn't help but smile as i continued walking.

 

Here is one story to tell:

 

We were told that there was gonna be a fire drill and to keep an ear out for it. If it does sound, we are to grab our helmets and other stuff and run out of the company building yelling "Fire! Fire! Fire!" until we reach the ground (we live on the fifth floor). So yeah, in the afternoon the next day, we heard an alarm sounding and we grabbed our things and ran down yelling "Fire! Fire! Fire!" all the way down. Strangely, we were the only ones outside when we reached the ground floor. Our Platoon Sergeant calmed us down and told us that "the alarm you guys heard was a thunderstorm alarm, not the fire alarm. The fire alarm is broken at the moment". This brought a couple of laughs. (ok.. it's funnier if you were there with me running down while screaming "Fire! Fire! Fire")

 

Will write more later.

2 more days.... and every relative is nagging and buying me so many things to bring into the army that it's driving me crazy!!! Well.. i guess that's ok, it means that they care about me. But still, there's no way i'll be able to bring all the stuff they bought for me into the barracks.

 

Excited? yes. Nervous? Of course! Who wouldn't be? But i just want to get this over and done with. Everyone is asking me "so how's the army?" and i'm like "i'm not in it yet...".

 

....

 

Well, it's time for me to say hello to my new life soon. To do that, i had given myself a crew-cut. The olden days, we had to shave our heads, now it's not that short. So i have about 2 inches of hair on my head, which surprised me. My reason being was that when i go in, i wouldn't have to wait in the long queue that would be there when all the guys get their hair cut. (no, you won't get to see the photo. I don't have a digital camera here anyways.)

 

Since there's no internet access in the barracks, I'll be taking a diary in so i can write down what has happened in my army life, that way, when i can come back, i'll retype it in this blog and you guys can see what's up.

 

Just a few things to tell you guys:

I'll be sent to a small island on the east side of Singapore called Pulau Tekong. (strange how they call me back to an island, only to send me to a smaller island) This island, i heard rumours, would be hotter than mainland singapore in the morning and colder than singapore in the evenings (something about the sun's rays [the sun rises in the east and sets in the west]). It is in this isolated island that i will do my BMT for 3 months. So basically, this would be my new home.

 

All the best, you guys! I'll be praying for you and i am grateful for the prayers and support you guys have written to me. Take care!

So yeah... i am to be enlisted on the 9th of March. I told my supervisor about this and today is the last day of my work. I need some time to prepare for it, like buy some stuff and train more.

I could have shorten my training by 2 months by having a fitness test, but the lady told me that if i did, the earliest they can enlist me is in April. So yeah... i told her i'd rather go for the 9th of March then take the test and go in in April.

 

More about this later.

 

I looked around for the old man I had conversed with earlier, but to no avail. It had surprised me to know that some Japanese people are able to speak my language, although I should have been aware of this before. I walked along the polished wooden floor in my socks, as such was the custom of the Japanese. My sword was left at the entrance of the castle, leaving only a dagger which was concealed in the folds of my robe. I felt uneasy without my sword, but I guess it was a custom that I should get use to when we are in Japan. How long will we be staying here? Ching did not see fit to inform me, and I didn't want to ask him. To do so would show my uneasiness of being with him, that I will not do.

After walking through the maze of hallways, I suddenly found myself in the castle garden. Most of the trees were bare because it was winter. Soft snow had fallen last night and now littered the whole garden like a white wonderland. I took a deep breath, the moisture of my breath blew from my mouth into the cold air. Just as I was about to turn around and head inside, I noticed a figure moving from the far end of the garden. As I peered closer, I realised that it was the Naifu's daugther, Saiyuri.

I had only seen her once when we came to the castle. She had greeted us along with the officials in the castle, but hardly said anything. Even though she never looked up or opened her eyes the whole time, I could tell that  she was really pretty.

Quickly, I hid behind a wooden pillar that supported the porch roof and peaked at Saiyuri. She was even prettier than I had imagined. How old was she? I should enquire that- Suddenly I shook my head. No. I am a fool to entertain such thoughts. She was the daughter of a Naifu, the equivalent of one of the Emperor's Noblemen in China. I am but a guard.

As these things ran through my mind, my eyes noticed Saiyuri walking to the outer wall at the far end of the garden. She looked around as if she was about to do something her father would reprimand her for, then to my surprised, climbed the wall and disappeared over it.

I gasped and hurried towards her in panic, ignoring the cold, searing ground that froze my feet through my socks. The outer wall led to where the peasants lived, and it seemed as if she had left without her father's permission. When I got to the wall, I tried to climb it in an attempt to get to Saiyuri, but suddenly some castle guards arrived and shouted at me in Japanese. Embarrassed, I got down and hurried to the front gate of the castle. What is Saiyuri thinking? Going into where the peasants lived all by herself?

In a rush, I put on my shoes, which my mother had made for me, and grabbed my sword as I took off into town.