Police Story

Throughout the whole 10 day (11 including the enlistment day) 'experience', I can sum up the entire confinement period in two words: Enjoyment and Torture.

When I was there, the first half was really great for me. I really enjoyed everything. The exercise, the discipline, the food, the drills, the rooms, everything. I really enjoyed it. Actually, I found myself to be pretty fit when I went in. Surprisingly, I found myself running with great ease. Running was no problem at this point. So everything was really great for me.

That was, until I got sick. After day 4, I found this irritation in my throat. On day 5, which was a Saturday, I discovered that I was developing a sore throat that I knew would worsen as days pass. Quite inevitably, I got worse and from then on, I was sick with a severe sore throat. As we approached the final few days of the confinement, I developed a bad cough. Even now, I still have that cough.

So yeah, once I got sick, that was it. The enjoyment stopped and the torture began. I really had to dig whatever strength I had in me to perform; and boy was it difficult. I struggled to breathe because every step caused my heart to pump extra hard. So quite basically, I struggled and forced myself to survive through the final half of the confinement period.

A lot of what I say here regarding the PA will be very selective because firstly, there was this oath that we all took that binds us legally to this Act which disables us to disclose certain information. However, what I share on this blog should be just as interesting =) I hope.

Also, I don't think I should publicly say things about my bunk/squad mates XP Simply because I know they will sooner or later find this blog and if I start saying things about them here, haha, I think I will get it from them when I go back in. XP hehehe

Anyway, in the next blog entry, I will run through very briefly what we did throughout the 10 days. Or at least try to. In the mean time, let me just talk about some random stuff about the PA.

It has been an interesting 10 days. We all had to learn malay commands for the entire squad to follow and also at times, we went through very interesting experiences (that I am sure we will still experience during the next 3 months) as a squad. 'Interesting experiences' being being punished for certain 'wrong doings' of some people. Usually Field Instructors (FI) will punish either that a guy alone or sometimes the entire squad for that guy's wrong doing. There was this one time when my friend couldn't coordinate his left and right steps to the timer's timing and as a result, the rest of the squad had to go right palms down (descriptions below; but basically, it's just waiting in a push up position) as he struggled to coordinate his left and right legs together; even with his own timing. We were all left there enduring the pain until several minutes later when he finally figured it out.

I really want to thank God for being with me. Despite getting sick for half the confinement, I am really grateful for God being with me because He really did play a big part in selecting the instructors.

Somehow or rather, we managed to get the best (being the nicest, kindest, doesn't like to punish us) instructors around. Here are the instructors that we have as a squad.

FI - FIs are supposed to be mean and strict in discipline because they are training the squad to be fit. So they really impose a lot of strictness and discipline on us trainees, which often results in punishments. However, somehow we got the nicest FI around. He is really kind, and even though there are certain 'limits' as to how far we can go, he is generally a pretty nice guy. Just by looking at him, you can tell that he's really nice.

Officer in Charge (OC) - Ok, OCs are supposed to take care of us with stuff like medical appointments, general paper work (like bank account numbers, donation forms - yes, they forced us to donate ><") but mainly to teach us law and other miscellaneous topics like general conduct, etc. At first, when I saw our OC, I thought he was really firm and strict, but after seeing him the second time, he was actually the complete opposite. He is really flexible, easy going and quite easy to approach. Of course he demands a good sense of discipline and for that, we want to respect him for that.

Dojo Instructor - Our dojo instructor is a female!!! w00t! haha, she has hair down to the top of her shoulders but with her sides have been shaved. Her face is aslo a bit plump. So try to imagine that. At first glance, she seemed really strict. Espcially when she started talking to the squads - she sounded scary ={ But then, when she took our group, comparing her to the other male instructors, she is way better because she's a girl and she's nice XD Girls are nice. That's what I think. ^^

Range Instructor - They are supposed to teach us about using firearms - more so the revolver. And wow, comparing our really kind, really nice, really 'don't want to punish us severely' instructor (eg. "Ok, if you do anything against what I told you, you will have to do 10 push ups. And if you do it again, you'll have to do 15." ^^) to other instructors, I really have to thank God for giving us the best instructors around.

And I think that's all the instructors we have for now.

Just to finish off so I can go rest before I wake up at 5am tomorrow, I'll just type up some of the terms used in the PA.

FI - Field Instructors

OC - Officer in Charge

IC - In-Charge. We have a Squad IC (squad leader), a Comm IC (Communications), Bunk ICs (there are 4 bunks so 4 Bunk ICs; I will elaborate more in the next post), a Classroom IC and a Mess IC (Food coordinator).

NPC - Neighbourhood Police Centre

PCG - Police Coast Guard

SOC - Special Operations Command

Right/Left Palms Down: Clapping your hands first before dropping to a 45 degree angle to the right/left in a push up position with your buttocks in the air.

I really can't think of anymore at the moment but if I do, I will mention them in the next post. Also, I'll try to elaborate more on some of the stuff as time goes on. In the mean time, it's time to rest for me.

If you guys want to ask anything about my 'adventure' feel free to comment your questions! =D