I recently met up with handful of my old BMT section mates. It was good to catch up and see how they were now, however seeing them brought back a lot of memories which weren’t so long ago.
Back then long ago before enlisting, I realize we were all very innocent. Army, the world, people causes us to change. Change for the better? Change to survive? Change to suit others?
Back then I had despised Singapore (don’t flame please xD) probably due to National Service, but now thanks to National Service I have come to meet countless of friendly people who share the same passion as me and went through the same hardships as me.
Over the course of the 2 years I’ve come to grow accustomed to the country and it’s people. I’ve finally come to the point where I can call Singapore my home.
I look back to my army days remembering all the people I met, the people I left behind, the people who chose to continue with me, the good times, the bad times, times of desperation, sadness, hardships, excitement, joy, bonding, friendship, uncertainty….if I grab every single word describing what it was like, I’d probably have enough words to make a dictionary.
When I see those photos I see myself as a young boy who is innocent to the real world, ignorant to almost everything.
There are times when I look back at some of the things I’ve done during my BMT. Some of them being very stupid and selfish which I regret, but kindly enough my friends gave me a chance at redemption.
There were moments of excitement and celebration due milestone events…
Moments of exhaustion…
Moments of boredom…
Moments of excitement…
Moments of idling…
Moments of silliness…
Moments of frustration…
Moments of wisdom…
Stand-to as the sun rises…keeping at eye on the horizon for the enemy…
Although my parents were not at my POP parade my friends were there which was good enough for me
A photo with our Physical Training Instructor and Platoon Commander
My platoon…
I have no idea what I was doing…
…even to this day.
Before I knew it National Day Parade 2009 was here where I didn’t want to see anything KFC related for a good long while.
Time passed, people got married, children were born…
Everlasting friendships were made…
Hearts were broken…
Over the course of time, I’ve learned some valuable lessons that of which I will never forget. It is these lessons learned that will prevent me from making the same mistakes in the future as well as making me a better person.
People ask me if my time during National Service was a waste of time. My answer to them is yes and no, it was but the people I met and the events that happened were life changing and if it wasn’t for my time in national service I would have never have met them or learned any valuable lessons, although it was a two years of my life, I’d say it was a very interesting, life-changing and unforgettable experience. Even to this day I look back at some of the things I had done and reminiscence about the good ol’ days.
It looks cool from the pictures, and kuddos for going through all that for 2 years.
My family (especially all my uncles that did NS) told me that now in modern day I dont need NS, (looking at examples from bigger nations like US, France, England, its no more compulsory)
I agree that you meet you friends, or you learn about brotherhood and all that, 2 years is simply too much, if it was 1 year then i wouldnt have minded, people can call me a non real proud singaporean, but there wrong. Singapore is still my home.
Anyway im already in uni, if i stopped i would have kinda lost most of what i learnt. meh sorry i made this comment mostly about me, but ive always felt like giving my opinion. ^^
Whaaaat, I am so sad I wasn’t part of your NS experience :L