 
1/4 of BMTC completed..
It’s great to be home again!
Booked out from Tekong at 7pm, and everyone in Yankee coy was so upbeat..singing our trademark “Today is Book Out Day, Book Out..Book Out..” song all the way from the ferry till the bus. But when i set foot at Whitesands to meet sis for dinner, I felt so out of touch and ‘lost’ walking around civilisation, because for the past two weeks all i saw was jungle, camp, cookhouse, tonner, platoon mates..jungle, camp, cookhouse, tonner, platoon mates…jungle, camp, cookhouse, tonner, platoon mates… get the picture?
In fact, typing this blog entry on my PC felt EXTREMELY weird! I dunno if it is a case of really being too far away from the ‘comfort’ zones i used to enjoy, but when i turned on the PC, I had difficulty using the mouse pointer on my screen, and forgot where all my files were stored! hahaha..
Anyway, i’ve got loads of stories to tell about my experience thus far in BMTC, but the highlights for me was the 1st 4 days I really felt uber-DEPRESSED, but the then BMTC got super fun after those 4 days! On the 14 Jul, i had to bid farewell to my dad and cousin on their coach back to the ferry after the last lunch with your parents before you proceed to collect your barang barang, get to know your platoon and commanders, and the the ritualistic Tekong bald haircut!
Honestly, i felt that i missed and appreciated the creature comforts i had before enlistment, plus my friends and church. I can remember on the third or second day,staring at the mainland from the seafront stadium at the main school, and earnestly looking forward to book out day. I missed the smell of my home, the company of old friends versus the new group of platoon mates i now had to make friends with…just to name a few of the long list of things i sorely missed.
Ok..that’s besides the point here…But after those 4 depressing days and thinking about this army quote plastered on the wall of the Tekong ferry terminal:
“It’s not about what you leave behind, Its about what you gain in the days ahead.” ,
things started picking up quickly for everyone of us, and people(my section especially..)began to form a very unique camadarie and unity…When we marched together everywhere we went, we would sing the ‘alamak, wosampa, billy pala ai bu pa, ai pu, ai pu” old chinese song creatively composed by one of the Indians in my platoon! There were plenty of lectures, lectures, and lectures, on theory lessons about basic military knowledge like how to handle the rifle etc., but we had a fair share of combat physical training and practice drills too.. In fact, i hated the combat physical training the most at first because it was really STRENOUS, but thinking back, I can attribute its success to my 2.4KM run timing which improved drastically from 12.30 mins in the past to only 11.12 mins..MAN, i’ve never felt so fit before in my life!
Besides the training and stuff, SAF did feed us well.. In fact, so well fed i actually grew a little bigger in body bulk mass! The usual routine was Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Night Snack, with super sized cookhouse servings of rice and vegetables, but never the meat portion though haha..for some strange reason, my appetite returned tremendously and I always requested double servings of night snack cakes etc..
Boy i’m fit!
1st week we did the bulk of our physical trainings and practice drills..However, 2nd week we did not do much and had more admin time because it rained nearly every day in the second week and had to stay in bunk…My section is happening, because we started off this lame game of “Which place can you go in Singapore?”, that spread right through our platoon! Oh and i forgot to say, because my sergeants liked my name (they always call me “Johnathan Cornelius”), i guess i got arrowed by them to become the toilet cleaner and Rubbish IC for my platoon!I had to clear the rubbish daily, and my toilet washing skills acquired in Helps ministry made washing toilets very fulfilling everyday during area cleaning…Y? Not to boast or anything, but i ensured that the standard of toilet cleanliness was so clean anyone could sleep on the toilet floor!
OK..daily procedures aside..I must say i got to know various types of people and their differing personalities too.. We have a very funny guy who looks like Patrick from Spongebob in our platoon (no offence if he reads this..), as well as a guy who was nearly always ’sick’ everyday..(won’t say who..)..But on the other hand, i got to know a few new buddies who really are born leaders, and are always ever ready to take initiative to help others.Oh yes, and my section came up with an absurd motto called “ButtCheeks”,because it takes two butt cheeks to form the butt..and so it represents our strong unity to function as a great section!
Realised that half my platoon are Christians, or at least they profess to be, but thank God for giving such an open atmosphere in the platoon, because i had four platoon mates who already started getting curious about my Jesus which I believe in,asking me questions, and sharing their views. Thank God that even though I couldn’t talk much most of the time because of bad mouth ulcers, I had the opportunity to share my testimony so far with one guy whom i’m praying and believing to be saved. However, i struggled with reading the Bible, because we really had very little free time to do so in our ‘admin’ time which often got eaten into by activities. Even when i wanted to do so, I could not because our company sarges are particular about us observing the 2230 lights off rule, and by the time we hit the bed, we were so tired we immediately concussed . But i made up for it by worshipping God with one song every time before i slept on my sis’s iPod..Through that, I experienced a very renewed sense of joy, destiny and strength I had for the next day though worshipping Him!
I would say that being in NS made me more hungry for the presence and words of God more than I normally did before enlistment. So here’s a tip of inspiration for all you pre-enlistees:
“Let those 2 years of NS…….be the hungriest years of your life drawing closer to God!”
Ok..Told you this entry would be super long, because got so many things to share.. But I’m really looking forward to meeting my cell in a few hours, and attending 1st service as well as Gen service on Sun before booking in again on Sun evening! Stay updated!
