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THE MILITARY--the Singapore identity

Jason, like his fellow Singaporean males, has to fulfill a 2.5 years of full time military stint and a 13 year cycle as a military reservist.

The military experience is the common ground for all able-bodied males (above age of 18) in Singapore. It bonds them together and it is often used to break the ice among males Singaporean. At the same time, NS (national service) is part of the National Identity of the nation.

The Singapore Armed Forces is an extremely large organization--350,000 operational ready soldiers for a small island of Singapore. Jason is proud to be part of the SAF even through sometimes, he might complain about the poor management in the SAF. He thinks this is the common sentiment among the male species in Singapore.

Jason talks about his army life...he remembers

The worst part of my army training was the basic military training. Every enlistee have to go through this tough 3 months initial training phase on a deserted island called Pulau Tekong. In this place, there was no freedom, no individualism and no joy. We were taught only to obey orders and the true meaning of the word 'discipline'.

We underwent strenuous physical exercises that could transformed any one of us into a muscular hunk. Most of us are homesick and 'girlfriend-sick' during training. IN addition, if you are "mucked" by the sergeants or lientanants, your life would be a living hell--trust me, I SEEN it with my own eyes..I THANK God that He sustained me through.

After BMT, life was better. I was assigned to be(and still is) an automotive sergeant. I was taught how to drive anything on wheels. i was also taught automotive technology where i earned a certificate equivalent to NTC-3 and some management skills. My unit was a classified unit--School of military intelligence.

During the 2.5 years stint, i spent almost half of it on training an courses.

I am also proud to achieve awards for our WITS team project.

My fulltime army stint ended with a month long exercise in Taiwan. It was certainly most memorable.

His future with the army...

First of all, I think we should deserve some recognition and respect for what we were made to go through (whether or not SAF is effective --that is another issue). I remember my Jap friends were intimidated by us! NS certainly transformed us from boys to men.

Now, I am with 23rd Singapore Infantry Brigade HQ.. Hope I will continue to have interesting experiences with the SAF and do my part for Singapore.

Updated 06/01/2005

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