Sunday, December 31, 2006
It's not easy writing the last entry for every year because there's always so much to say but it's not easy to put it down in words. As usual I'll be doing the best I can to sum up the year 2006.
I entered 2006 pretty much a newbite in fds after enduring exercise easthawk at the end of 2005. Life was pretty good till the GOH guys and my friends in the shift pulled out from duty to concentrate on rehearsals for the national day, saf, rsaf and whatever parades they were obliged to do so. In the back of my mind, I had wanted to take part in the drills and experience a different kind of nsf life. It beats being a security guard the whole day and pressing buttons like there's no tomorrow. However, after careful consideration, I realized that it takes a whole hearted commitment and not just a moment of rash decision to join the GOH. My drills ain't exactly the best around and in fact, it's probably one of the worst around for my batch. I always play a fool when it comes to drills and unless I had a choice, I wouldn't want to get near a rifle that's meant for drills. Once you're there, there's no escape from it and my rsm. Once you're inside the GOH contingent, you'll be under the close supervision of the rsm and you can't afford to make any mistakes. Besides that, the travelling to camp which was almost daily sometimes could have taken a toll of me both physically and mentally. Considering where I stay, it's a tiring journey really. In the end, I chose the duty over the drills.
I can forsee most of my paragraphs to be filled with army stuff but that's precisely what's taking up my time for the whole year, leaving very little for personal life. I was pretty lucky to be able to take off for chinese new year in 2006 as my shift was damn unlucky to kena the eve and the first day, days that are the most important for any chinese not just singapore but the whole world. In the end, me, michael, mok and jason managed to take off for that day. Cny is very important to me because it's about spending quality time wth your family and relatives. Meeting up and visiting friends whom you've probably not meet up for ages. That's the case for me and you can't deny the fact that the "extra income" could come in very handy. Let's not forget the late night mahjong sessions, in that few nights, I was transformed into a gambler who gambles, drink and eat peanuts.
My GOH friends did their last duty at the end of april and pulled out officially for their drills. Shift 3 went into transition with marcus, mok and eugene leaving for merah. It was a bad decision by benson because their replacements weren't apt enough. In came screwed up people like demao and alvin and out of the shift 2 people who came, the only guy who could make it was ma. He not only added life to our shift but also provided adequate cover. Standby duties became a daily affair and very soon, mounting 3-1 became part of our life also. I nearly had to spend my birthday in camp if I didn't make a request to benson to let me finish my 3-1 on the eve of my birthday. There are just some occasions in which you just cannot spend it in camp no matter if I had a choice. It was the toughest period in my rp life because the standby duties took a huge toll on me mentally and you felt as if you didn't have support from the upper management. We had to literally fight and argue for our own welfare and rights. You felt as if nothing went your way and had to bite your teeth and just tolerate and hang on. That's because you know at the end of the tunnel comes the light.
The shift reunited in early september and while standby duties continued, we all knew that it was all but ending real soon. Samuel and Hong Rui joined our shift and they were really good additions but the sad thing is that they were only on loan from sembawang airbase. They would return to where they came from come early december. I contracted chickenpox in late october and it proved to be one experience. It meant the end of my eating spree and I had to start afresh and started on a diet that could really cleanse my body from any toxins. It was just a diet of porridge and soup. Nothing else. I was only too glad to see myself battle the virus and came out victorious at the end of it.
The new guys finished their fdc course and came to takeover us. Seeing them reminded me of myself when I was still a newbie. It's heartening to see that at least our takeover guys were not bad as compared to the shift 4 ones. They showed the willingness to learn and not afraid of making mistakes. They've got alot to live up to because shift 3 isn't like any other shift, we are different. There's just some stuff that we can't teach them because it's stuff that they will come to learn as they grow up in fds. With that will come experience and very soon, they will know how to make their life in the unit smoother.
I don't believe in making resolutions for the new year but I prefer to see them as wishes. I would like to spend more time with my friends and family and to catch up on lost time. Time lost over the 2 years. The weekends and public holidays burnt because of ns commitments. I want to pursue and continue doing things that I've not completed. I want to start getting my driving licence because when compared to my friends, I'm way way way behind. My dad's car is there waiting to be driven by me.
Happy New Year guys!
