One of the days, after a run, I took off my singlet and looked at the words on it. It was an army singlet for Army Half-Marathon, and behind it, it wrote three simple, yet powerful, words: Ready, Decisive, Respected. As someone who has been through army, am I ready, decisive and respected? About six months ago, there was a mob manning in my unit. In other words, we are mobilized to report back to our camp within a certain period. The call came, and after a series of calls with my friends, we packed up and made our way from the west (where we stay) to the east (where the reporting camp is). While I do admit that my field pack is not exactly very “complete”, my uniform, boots and everything else was ready under my bed. All it took was just five minutes at home and I have turned from a civilian to a soldier. Ready? Tick. Next, please. When I was in BMT, I remembered walking in a jungle and suddenly, there was a gunshot. We took cover, and had only one second to determine whether we were attacked. Well, being the blur new “chao” recruits then, we fought back—a decision made by all of us in less than a second. Let’s just say that eventually, we fought air (and could have been charged, man!). Of course, we no longer make this kind of silly mistakes, but what matters is this: we decided fast. Decisive? Tick. Next, please. When I logged in to the Internet, I see people taking pictures of soldiers sleeping in trains. I see people bashing regular soldiers for not doing their job. I see girls leaving boys for the long absence. Respected? Cross. Don’t believe? Let’s use the two examples above. Having able to report in camp within three hours seems okay, but guess what could have happened? My boots were then dirty and my uniform stinks. I could have, if I had taken the train, being Stomped. Having being decisive during an enemy contact (gunfight or whatever you want it to be called) and shooting at an invisible enemy? I can only hear the typing of an Internet troll: “Loser. When I played Counterstrike, I…” or someone who told me that the US army recruits wouldn’t make this mistake. Ready. Decisive. NOT Respected. Recently, one of my readers is enlisting soon. He asked me what to expect. Guess what I say? “Bring some money so that when you book out, you can take a taxi.” You know what I mean. In this situation, respect is a society construct—in other words, created by people like you and me. Here in Singapore, the people not needing to wear green (or blue) obviously outnumber the people who need to. We can’t, and won’t, depend on just NSFs and NSmen to gain the respect or defend ourselves. The two years and ten cycles (+ all the IPPTs and RTs) themselves are worth, at least, not to be look down upon or laugh at. Every single freaking contribution, but it in the office or in the jungle, makes a hell lot of difference. We’re ready and decisive so that you can sleep peacefully every night. Give us that little respect for that peaceful sleep. Even if we don’t gain it, don’t spit at us. And oh, yes, I run maybe its because of IPPT. Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Ill run fast when I need to fight. Yeah, yeah, whatever. What do you think? Please share and like this if you have enjoyed reading it! P.S. Want to get four books of your choice for free (or SGD$10 / RM30), in exchange for 20 minutes of your time? If youre interested, email me at low.kayhwa@goodybooks with your name and age, or PM me here! Only for a limited number of readers (both SG & MY)! Please share this with your friends who might be interested! One of my novels: goodybooks/asingaporelovestory.htm
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 13:45:00 +0000
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