Surviving NS – for Him & Her

National Service (NS) is the bane of almost every Singaporean‘s life.

The parents are worried about how their son will be tortured and tekaned [TEKAN (ter-kun) Of Malay derivation, it means to beat or hit, but is most commonly used to describe being abused or scolded.] The girlfriends proclaim to not be able to live without their boys, and of cos the main characters themselves are scared shitless from all the horror stories they’ve been hearing.

I’m a girl, so why do I think I have enough information to help you survive NS? I… am writing this for fun, for lack of content! Don’t take me too seriously, but there should be some things in here that can smooth your journey into National Slavery.

For the parents:

Your boy (or girl) will be going through an unforgettable experience. Sure, they might not be enjoying the comforts of home and have to look after themselves but it’s the highway to maturity. As much as they might has the process, they’ll have fond memories of their NS time after everything’s done and dusted. And seriously, it’s a stupid idea to complain to their sergeants or higher officers about anything at all. All you’re guaranteeing is the losing of “face” for your son.

When they get to book out, I’ve realised that they’re not so keen to have home-cooked food as opposed to fast food. Especially chicken. Most of them are SICK of chicken. And they have limited hours to spend with their friends/girlfriend/you, so do understand when they treat home like a hotel.

For the girlfriend:

Send your boy a text. Don’t insist that he calls you every night. Sometimes he doesn’t have time to; sometimes he has run out of battery and has no way of charging it. Don’t hang on to him when he’s in uniform because he CAN be given “extras” (stupid rule, I know right). Most importantly – DON’T CHEAT ON HIM. Many relationships don’t survive NS, why give him more headache than he already has?

For the new recruit:

Only 5 words for you – Obey and don’t chao keng. Your life will be much easier.

###

Commonly used lingo used in NS

BMT: Basic Military Training
Includes a 19-week obese BMT with effect from February 2010, a new 9-week PES B2 BMT from June 2010, a new 9-week BMT for PES C recruits from June 2010, and a new 4-week BMT for PES E recruits. For those who fail NAPFA, an 8-week Physical Training Phase (PTP) to enhance the physical fitness of NSFs who fail to attain at least a NAPFA silver award prior to enlistment. It will replace the current 4-week PTP starting from Dec 09.

Book in/out: Going back to camp, or coming out from it.

Stay in/out (Vocation): Staying out is one where they can return home every day, stay in is the opposite.

11B: An identification card they get in exchange for the NRIC which they lose for two years during their service.

Uniforms
Number 1: White tunic. Formal occasions: parades & ceremonies, commissioning, and even funerals.
Number 2: This is worn during cocktails, mess dinners or evening functions. Red bow tie. Functions where male civilians wear tuxedos and female civilians wear evening gown.
Number 3: For clerks and appointed administration staffs too.
Number 4: The typical normal green uniform you see.
Long 4: With the sleeves unfolded.
Number 5: The one with a black blazer.
Number 5J: All of No.5 with the addition of full service medals on the bush jacket.
PT Kit: Singlet and shorts.
Admin: Tshirt and shorts.

POC: Graduation from Tekong for PES C people.

POP: 2nd favourite phrase, graduation from BMT.

ORD: All time favourite – the end of full time army life!

Salary
NS Man: 400 – 600
Sergeant: 700 – 890
Officer: 1100 – 1300
*There are other aspects such as combat pay, etc when it comes to remuneration.

Garang: Enthusiastic

Chao Keng: Malingerer, slacker

Sai Kang Warrior: Means shit work, so a sai kang warrior generally does terrible boring/labour intensive/brainless work that no one wants to do.

Admin time: Free time to do your own things.

Area cleaning: Maintaining the cleanliness of the camp grounds.

Standby area: Cleaning of their bunk then packing their lockers and etc. Failure to standardize usually results in punishments.

Guard duty: Includes sentry of camp entrance and prowling around camp grounds.

Extra: Additional guard duties administered as a punishment that no one wants to get.

White Horse: Ministers and important people’s children in the military.

Inspired by Jeraldine.

BMT Enlistment Day

The day that all young Singaporean boys dread: Enlistment Day. (Hello soon-to-be botaks if  you googled BMT and found me here! It’s gonna be a tough time ahead for you, but you’ll never forget your upcoming experience.)

Many years ago, I went with Leon for his admission to Tekong but I never blogged about it. This year, I had another chance to revisit Tekong cos it’s my younger brother’s turn to become a man. We live in Pasir Ris so we didn’t have to travel far to get to the meeting point at Pasir Ris bus interchange. A coach took all of us (my parents, bro and me) to SAF Ferry terminal. It was a very orderly affair indeed.

Upon reaching the island, my brother was separated from us to go receive his 11B, dog tags, insurance, etc. The families were brought on a tour around Pulau Tekong where we got to see the bunks, Standard Obstacle Course (SOC) and their recreation areas. It’s a BIG improvement from what I saw many years ago. Each bunk now has laptop charging stations!

[PS: Don’t be too happy about the laptops. Yes, you can use them for leisure during admin time, but you have to do e-learning and journals as well. If  you are a Republic Polytechnic student, welcome to RJ again!]

Then after exploring the bunk area, we went to the lecture theatre whereby we were introduced to military equipment and the masses of things that are supposed to be in a field pack. The young sergeants were bombarded with funny questions during the Q&A segment. The 2 most popular queries were “Does the toilets have doors?” and “How long does my son have to polish boots?”. For concerned parents, Tekong toilets now have doors and nobody will be able to peep at your son’s ding-dong. (This fact was reiterated AGAIN by the WO later in the tour). And boots are now made mostly from Goretex… aka very short polish time!

We were all sheparded to the Main Auditorium where our boys were already seated and watching BBC’s excellent documentary on NS in Singapore. A PowerPoint presentation came after where we saw their daily schedules and routines.

Agenda.

Daily Routine.

And now comes the part that they were rehearsing for (and tekan-ed for!) when we were exploring Tekong… the oath.

After the presentation and propaganda, they got the new recruits to assemble at the side of the walk way and when one sees their parents/family/friends, they could walk with them to the cookhouse to eat. We were served the infamous “white meal” which still tastes like crap. My daddy took advantage of his dark colour skin and headed straight for the nasi briyani. The call for assembly at the parade square came too soon for those young men. My brother had time to squeeze in a few quick shots with his friends who came along.

Soon-to-be Recruit O. and his friends.

They all look alike. (PS: Boy ah, I saw mummy’s eyes got tears during this time!)

My parents (to be honest, only my mother actually) very reluctantly went back to the ferry terminal to go back to mainland Singapore. My only thought at that point? “Walao damn heng ah, no need to take MRT back home when reach Pasir Ris interchange!”.

What’s Pulau Tekong?

History
Pulau Tekong is the second largest of Singapore’s outlying islands with an area of 24.43 km², and the island is still expanding due to land reclamation works on its southern and northwestern coasts which will eventually subsume many of its surrounding small islets, including Pulau Tekong Kechil.
Pulau Tekong is found off Singapore’s northeastern coast, east of Pulau Ubin. Geographically, it is nearer to Johor, Malaysia than the Singapore main island itself. The Pulau Tekong Reservoir is also on the island.

Tekong means “an obstacle”, so called because the island blocks the mouth of the Sungai Johor (Pulau means “island). Wild pigs and deer were once plentiful on the island and attracted hunters from Singapore. Tekong under went so much development after World War II that the wildlife has mostly disappeared (wild pigs are seen throughout the island today). Mainly Malays and a few Teochews and Hakkas lived on Pulau Tekong. Most were farmers, fishermen and shop owners selling sundry goods.

Current Day
Today, Pulau Tekong is used exclusively as a training base for various Singapore Army Units. Home to the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC), this is also where young Singaporean males are conscripted into National Service. The School of Infantry Specialists (SISPEC), which was situated two kilometres from BMTC, relocated to a new campus at Pasir Laba Camp in December 2005. A new training area, called Sanyongkong Field Camp, has been completed on the reclaimed land south of Dogra Bridge. Built by the Combat Engineers, this field camp will be used to train Infantry and Guards battalions. It also provides habitat to some wild animals that are rarely seen in main island Singapore such as the Leopard Cat, Sunda Slow Loris and Sunda Pangolin.

Next post: My brother’s enlistment day.

Singapore’s 47th Birthday~

It’s August again and I’m sure most of us have been seeing our flags hung EVERYWHERE. I’ll like to quite a few of this month’s posts to the boys who (are obligated to) serve the nation since my own brother enlisted in June this year. To kick this off, here is this year’s effort from NS45, entitled “From Fathers to Sons”.

Next post: What’s Pulau Tekong?