But now being a "lao peng" old soldier at 35, I realised I am no longer young, no more the 18 year old who can sleep standing up or dig shell scrapes with fervor despite a wrist fracture just because my buddy was at it for the longest time as the rains decided to fill up our trench. But at 35, after a night of sleeping on the bench of a tonner, I am getting a backache that would last for a few days, and bad sleep making me a grouchy man in the field.
But nevertheless, we serve. Despite so many people pulling out MCs, excuse letters to skip the field training or even the simplest work around the camp, it is the thought of having to serve up to 40 days a year away from work which puts us at a disadvantage, which only Singaporean men know. One might actually lose their job unless perhaps they work in the civil service or in GLCs (Government Linked Companies).
The thought of being away from home, from your loved ones put strange thoughts in your mind at 3am at night while feeding mosquitoes. For every 5 Singapore Citizens, we have 3 foreigners, that ratio is alarming, and will still rise! Why can't we find ways for this "integration" program to have more PRs or Foreigners to serve? That way, they can share the sense of ownership of this country with us?
Anyway for this in-camp, I had to do a camouflage make up on my face, and I noticed while doing my Stand-To in the jungle with my similar "lao peng"s around me - with the camo on, the race doesn't really matter. We all are green! Though, I would say some of them do look like Shrek and one, if beefier, would look like Hulk!
I also observed my first fireflies in Singapore jungles. The most memorable time would be enjoying doing my Stand-To in the morning as it is located at an isolated beach, watching sunrise and wishing you have your wife and a DSLR camera by your side.
2 more to go!
