ORD!

A few months ago when my seniors are still around in office, no one seems to remember my ORD date. After the last one before me left, attention was drawn to my colleague and I. Everyone could start to countdown to their ORD once both of us leave. 6 September 2013 is the date to remember.

There isn't much chance for me to don that green uniform, but I guess majority of the Singapore male population ain't so keen about wearing that anyway.

Two years in the army really allow you to observe a lot..good and bad stuff.

Some of the goods: 

1) Learn how to tolerate with a terrible boss. This is always on my top list. You can't escape from your boss for two years in the army. So learn to live with it.

2) Make quite a number of friends (though I have a feeling that there won't be much chances to meet up with then in the future)

3) Free food and free lodging. This doesn't really apply to me. I am a "stay-out personnel". I get to go home everyday! The travel and meal expenses is really high in Singapore. But for freedom and getting to stay home, worth it.

4) Outings! Ya this sound kindergarten-like, but going for almost-all-expenses-paid leisure outing on a working day to "cohere" with your colleagues and superiors is something everyone looks forward to.

5) I wanna go back to study! This is true (at least for me). After spending over 700 days doing things you don't really want to, you start to ponder if you can do something more productive. I seldom read in the past. Now, I read an average of 3 novels a month.

Some of the bads:

1) You are two years behind those of your age. Two years of your prime time of your life is lost. Your ex-school mates are flying on airplanes made of metal yet you are still flying on one made of paper and soft wood.

2) You don't really serve your actual purpose in the army (A supply assistant managing clerical work instead of managing the supplies etc)

3) Elitism. Rank means everything. Even if someone of a lower rank foresee some error in work, he dare not raise the issue. If you have nice direct superiors, lucky you! Otherwise there is absolutely nothing you can do.

4) Rank means everything, but sad to say, we have to do stuff that is beyond your rank is capable of. Recruit to Coporal soldiers managing work that are supposed to be done by Sergeants and above is quite a common sight. You just have to bear a greater responsibility than what you can answer for. This may be a good thing considering the fact that it allows you to push the limits.

5) Bootlickers exist!  Alright, I know about this before I enlist to army. It's all over the world! The more you boot-lick, the better you life might be! Watching them push the limits to be liked by superiors can be an entertainment at times, but be careful! They will go all out and harm anyone just to be liked!

6) A good thing about being a soldier, you get to enjoy welfare like discounts at eateries, free medical consultation and medicine at the polyclinic and A&E etc. However, the public stereotyped soldiers as invincible beings who cannot fall ill and  they must sacrifice everything in hand to the civilians. Otherwise you will be labeled as "Chao Keng" (kinda means you are just pretending to be ill so you can get the easy way out), or "shameless weaklings" if you take a seat on a public transport. Soldiers don't get much respect in Singapore. Many times when I walk into the polyclinic and the doctor knows that I am a NSF, the first thing that comes to their mind is I am faking the illness.

What I have pointed out may be subjective. Everyone serve in a different camp, unit, office under a sorts of superiors, and doing different nature of work. It is definitely easier to write on the bads than the other (it's always the case, isn't it?). But this doesn't really mean that serving National Service isn't that all bad. Life sure isn't the same after spending two years in green. Ultimately, my point towards serving NS is rather neutral. We can totally eliminate it, but there should be re-consideration on the path and purpose of NS to be more efficient and meaningful.

Words are more damaging than you think

"Action speaks louder than words". Words can cause more damage than actions.

One can heal from physical injury done by actions, but not from emotional attack  by words. 

 

The Past That is Worth Remembering

Last night, I had a stay-cation in one of the newest hotel in Singapore. Located at the heart of the city, it was pure indulgence for the night. With every hotel stay, the next highly anticipated thing once your eyes open to the morning sunlight is, with no doubt, the extravagant breakfast buffet. Breakfast buffets are the only places where you can get never-ending flow of my favorite scramble eggs, chicken franks, pancakes, juices and fruits!

Above all these, this particular set of deco caught my eyes. It is just a simple display of bamboo steamer, mortar and pestle, metal and bamboo food containers, beside the modern design porcelain china. What struck my head was how we used to enjoy using those olden days items but changed to a new and more modern piece when the former spoils.

Relationships are just like all this items we use everyday. They are always around you until they are exhausted.

The good sweet moments you have with your loved one and as time  pass, the relationship started to deteriorate. Eventually it will, just like all used items, end. There is no way you will be able to find a the same model, design and material to replace what you have lost. It takes time and effort to find a brand new piece to fill your heart content.

It is the old ones that make you want to search for a better one in the future, one that will not repeat the same problems like the former. You learn to understand what and who you want and accompany you in life. It just makes you stronger. At the same time, the one you desired for gradually become the one you can live with till the last of your days.

Remembering the Past. Forging the Future.

As ORD draws nearer, I realized that I have more time than usual during my NS life. With all this spare time, I managed to savage my two old blogs (Tumblr and Blogger). Looking back at all the posts I made back then, I can only say how naive I was in the past.

The last post I published on Blogger was on 22 September 2010, the first anniversary with the first person I fell in love with. The virgin love experience. The sweet moments we used to have together. Very soon a full-stop was written. Memorable, but a memory that I am trying my best to expel. 

The last post published on Tumblr (I started using in 2012), dated 10 August 2012, was with the third person I was in a relationship with. It was love at first sight. Sounded like some Disney Princess storyline, but indeed it was. The only difference is, the story did not go happily ever after. There was Volume One and Volume Two. We broke up once  and we get back together after three months. Like many have said, usually patched-back relationship cannot last. No doubt about that now. After all the ups and downs, at least we are still good friends now.

There was no posts for my second relationship.

Never had blogging become part of my life as I find it hard to write something interesting. My life is quite a bore. However, I believe that from today onwards, my life will no longer be blank sheet with black doodles. It will be a scrapbook full of colour. 

In fact, there is a special someone painting a rainbow on my book all this while. Although this someone is not in Singapore with me, he has been bridging the rainbow across the South China Sea to me every day, every hour, every second without fail.

For now, I end my first post after the revamp of my blog. All old posts has been erased. A fresh memory draws on.