My life in National Service started on 3rd October 2019, in Rocky Hill Camp, Pulau Tekong.

Background

Prior to the Basic Military Training (BMT), people around me had suggested that I was likely to belong to PES C due to my physical stature. When the posting result was released on 6th May 2019, I was disappointed that I was posted to Singapore Armed Forces, Pulau Tekong for the PES B2 BMT. Since then, I was filled with anxiety and worries everyday and constantly dwelled on thoughts about what was going to happen to me in the future. The worrying thoughts included whether I was able to leave my family without feeling homesick, whether I could swim, etc. I found it difficult to keep negative thoughts away.

Transitioning into National Service

Throughout the transition phase into BMT, I posted a lot of stories on my Instagram, some of which are negative but below are the select few.

3rd October 2019 eventually arrived. With a heavy heart, I was reluctant to board the bus at the Pasir Ris Interchange and the ferry at the SAF Ferry Terminal. I felt like my freedom was taken away and I was not given any choice on whether I want to serve the nation or not. Within hours of stepping into Pulau Tekong, I had to leave my family and join a crowd of unfamiliar faces and strict-looking military commanders. I was upset in the first weeks of confinement and really wanted to return to my school or work life.

I enlisted into Basic Military Training School IV, Coy 6 Vikings. All recruits were PES B2 and our minor differences from PES A/B1 recruits were as follow,

  • Exempted from Standard Obstacle Course (SOC)
  • Modified route march (8 KM)
  • 4D3N field camp; exempted from SIT test
  • Excuse from one or more stations; e.g. push up, sit up, grenade throwing
  • Less intensive Physical Training (PT) sessions
  • More admin/free time (approx. 2-3 hrs per day on non-high key weeks, 1-2 hrs per day on high key weeks)

Homesickness and Regimentation

Despite the differences from an enhanced BMT batch, I dealt with many personal challenges in adjusting to the military life because of my homesickness and hatred towards regimentation. With regimentation in-place, one does not have a right to do things in his own way or plan out his own schedule. I had to follow every single instruction from my commanders, and as long as one person in the platoon failed to follow, the whole platoon had to be punished with either push-ups or clutches. It felt like one was in prison.

More often than not, I would suddenly miss my family and be discouraged to do anything. When I was feeling down, I would shy away from talking to my section or platoon mates and much preferred to be in my own world. Furthermore, I disliked many things in BMT, for example, the absence of air-conditioners, the fixed rations, the “wait to rush and rush to wait” theory as well as many more things. The stressful factors outweighed the positive factors, resulting me to deal with a new challenge every single day. One of the greatest challenges was to wash and fold my own clothes as well as to get ready things in the “stand-by-bed” setting. I remember feeling distressed when my clothes were thrown on the floor by the platoon sergeant due to a different folding technique from the rest of my fellow section mates.

The High-Key Events

To graduate from BMT, one had to complete the high-key events including Route March, Field Camp, Basic Trainfire Package (Live Firing), Grenade Throwing, Close Quarter Combat and Battle Inoculation Course. I was excused from all kinds of explosives and grenades because of amblyopia and sweaty palms. Nonetheless, the other high-key events were equally stressful and exhausting and I had to be mentally strong in order to breeze through them. While most recruits are likely to adjust to the military life after the initial two weeks of confinement, I only adjusted after all the high-key events ended. That was how terrible for me to cope with the life back then. Yet, every struggle presented me with a learning opportunity.

A few days prior to the field camp, I broke down on several occasions as I was constantly in distress. Field camp was an event that I dreaded the most because I knew that it was the highlight of every BMT batch and that I would have to adjust to being in the jungle. On the second day of the field camp, I was admitted to Pulau Tekong Medical Centre as my stomach did not cope well with one of the combat rations, which was the Spicy Mexican Pasta. While doing the live firing, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on my gastric or stomach area, and I tried to take painkillers but to no avail. At the medical centre, I was infused with IV and medication including tramadol to stop the intense pain. After which, I was put on monitoring at the sickbay and I personally requested to head back to the field camp thereafter even though the medical officer had decided to issue me with a 2 days light duty. I chose to persevere as I was worried that I might not be able to pass my BMT. The medical experience enabled me to consume fresh ration at the sickbay and I was excused from resting in the shell scrape.

Supportive Commanders and Peers

I thank my commanders (from all platoons) as well as my own platoon mates. Throughout my BMT experience, the commanders actively reached out to me and rendered me a lot of assistance as they knew I was not coping very well, e.g. no strength to carry/position the 4 KG rifle, carry my 20+ KG field pack, not doing well in swimming and strength training sessions. Instead of “forcing” me to perform like others, they chose to build up my mental resilience and confidence. For example, when I struggled to cork the weapon, my commanders would assist me or find a suitable way that I can do it, then I complete the rest. With the patience of my commanders, I found it slightly easier to stay optimistic and try my best as much as possible. My platoon mates helped me with many things, e.g. dug shell scrape, carried loads, taught me how to swim and encouraged me in many activities.

I am really thankful for their understanding and encouragement for me. As for my platoon mates, a very big thank you too! There are no amount of words that I can use to express my appreciation to everyone in School IV, Coy 6. Despite the negative times, the experience was still undeniably a memorable one. It had not been easy, really. However, through these nine weeks, I found out a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. There is still a lot of room for me to work on my mental resilience, but I definitely learnt to be independent and appreciative towards what I previously had in civilian life. I will not miss the training sessions, but I will definitely remember the times that I have spent with my commanders and peers.

One thing though - it is not compulsory to know how to swim after BMT. Up till today, I still do not know how to swim but my vocation does not require me to swim so I face no further issues with this. The commanders today will not force you to pick up a certain skill if you really cannot do it, so please do not fear about swimming before you enter National Service.

Upon graduation from the Basic Military Training course, I received:

  • ​Certificate in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Usage of AED, HMI Institute of Health Sciences Pte Ltd

I shall end off with this quote “Falling down is an accident, staying down is a choice”.