Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach

Like all first days, or first weeks, or first anything, it will always seem the longest.

My first day back to the PA was especially long, compared to the rest. And I'm sure that last week will seem long when I compare them with the weeks to come.

On Tuesday, the curse of the PA came upon me again as I fell sick. I'm not entirely sure what happened but by Tuesday, I knew my health condition would deteriorate when I realised I was plagued with the annoying sore throat. Wednesday, that developed into a sore throat-running nose tag team handicap match. Thursday, it transformed into a 3-1 tornado handicap match with the cough teaming up with the other two. By Friday, I was completely out-numbered four to one with phlegm adding up to the equation. Suffice to say, it wasn't the best week for me. It didn't help with the fact that this was my first week in and could have made a better impact on my newly made friends.

Anyway, physically, I couldn't have done any more to impress because I was completely out of their league. They were better conditioned, and better mentally. My friend and I were downcast with the 'weaker' ones as we fell short of being physically capable among the rest. Mainly because they have always been training since the start of NS and had been in the PA for more than a month. But as for us, we were basically on a road of physical agony after being out of action for nearly 3 months. Can't blame us for feeling so elderly after the training.

Basically, that day we had physical training (PT), we were forced to run 15 laps around the track, along with exercises in between each run.

It was a test of great endurance and I really can't count how many times I really wanted to give up because I was on the brink of giving up so many times. But the sight of one of my friends suffering the consequences of giving up these runs kept me running before finally crashing into the finish line.

The torture seemed endless. Like this lasted a thousand years and yet, the thoughts of the beautiful day when I get to ORD from this dreadful life-style kept flashing itself in my head. The things I would do. The things I could do when I'm finally done. How funny this would seem when this is all over. But at the present moment, the day I am first looking forward to would be the day I pass out as an OCT to become a police inspector.

This week has been the rehearsal week for the 128th intake and our senior OCTs passing out parade. We basically didn't do much this week but I don't think it really did me any good because I only got more envious of our seniors as they were practicing for their POP. Each time I watched them slow marched across the face of the grand stand, it only stirs up this desire in me to wanna pass out now! But then, I'm hit by the bulldozing-fact that it's still another 6 months away and this is only my first week back. How crap.

At least being OCT isn't as bad as being a normal trainee. As my friend and I entered into the rooms of the Alpha coy for the first time, I said, "We have seen what very few have seen. Things which people have only imagined was true in the police academy's best coy."

And now, I reveal it to you, what my eyes have seen.

I think my expectations were really high going into the coy, so it wasn't as outstanding as I thought =P Nevertheless, many of the things I have heard were real. There are two people to each room. We have one toilet joining two rooms together. The cupboards are more than two times the size of a normal trainee. We all have our own desks, chairs and laptop with internet connection (but many of the sites have been blocked off. Anyone with really good recommended proxy sites, please tell me! XP). Alpha being next to bravo coy, we are directly opposite from the female's bravo coy, so we've got a good coy that faces us XP ...... In a good way! It just means the FIs can't as easily spot us sleeping on our beds from the opposite coy because they're not allowed there. Ew, c'mon guys. Don't get any dirty ideas now. I must be a good boy. tsk. lol

Besides that, nothing much different ... to me anyway. There's also a mess where there's air-conditioning, fridge, TV, DVD-player, and other stuff. Not overly excited about that though.

Actually, I just realised how true my friend was in saying that when you're out in division, you wanna go back to the PA, but when you're in the PA, you really wanna get out there. I believe those words because I experienced them both twice. I remember going out to division wishing I was back in the PA. But now that I'm back in the PA, I wanna go back out!

I admit that I got nostalgic about division life during my first day back. It's normal. When you're used to one thing, the first day of change will always be the day where you'll wanna go back to the norm. I just need a few more days to get back into the gist of things. Kinda sucks though.

I think the highlight of the entire week was to finally get to talk to my former OC squad again. I saw him in the morning yesterday while doing his 2.4km run for the IPPT test but didn't get a chance to talk to him for very long because he was in a lot of 'pain' from running. lol, but later that afternoon, he managed to catch me as I was heading back to my barrack to book out. He didn't realise but I also wanted to talk with him so I didn't bring up the issue of having me having to book out. I chatted with him and to be honest, it was really pleasant. Even though I called him 'sir', it didn't feel like a trainee and OC squad talking anymore. It was like a friendly conversation mainly because I have now gotten the experience of going out into the police world and how people around your rank were considered your friends, not superiors. It was really nice and I actually wanted to talk longer but because we were booking out, I was afraid the rest of my squadmates would be waiting for me so I didn't want to hold them up. If not, I would have talked for as long as I could have. Oh well, I've got 6 months to catch up with him.

My former OC squad is on loan to the PA and will be there for 2 years, which kinda coincides with my NS life-span; even though I'll ORD two months before his loan is over. Although he isn't my OC squad anymore, I don't think I can ever not refer to him as sir. It's just like a child who has been taught to address his elders as uncle or aunty, they can't refer to them by their names anymore. It'll just be too weird. Not even when I pass out and out-rank him by many ranks, I don't think I can not call him sir. Just wouldn't feel right. Cause he was a really good OC squad. He was good to me and as a result, look at how far I got. I might not be his best or highest scoring trainee in his course of time there, but at least I will be his first 'best trainee', and he will be my first OC. That'll go a long way, I reckon.

Anyway, this could get deep so I'm not going to attempt any more lol. It's the weekend and I want to enjoy my freedom while I still can!

16 out of 22 months to go! ^^ We're on the way!

Toy Story

It's a bit weird.

I feel a bit at a lost to be honest. I thought my training days were over. Guess not.

But facts are facts. I'm going to become a trainee all over again. The thoughts of having to wake up at 5:30am all over again are a bit troubling. The thoughts of having to eat mess food all over again are a bit troubling. The thoughts of becoming a trainee all over again are a bit troubling.

I promised that I would blog once more before going in and so this is that blog. Tomorrow is the first day of my officer cadet course and I'm not very confident about it all actually. The only thoughts that comfort me are the hopes that being an officer will be a lot better in the sense that our barracks will be luxurious and our timetables will bit a lot more less packed. I've heard a lot of things which we officers will go through. None of which I can confirm right now but at least these things keep me slightly excited about what we are gonna do in there.

For now, I will have to wait and see if they are true or not.

Meanwhile, I've been occupying myself with lots of church activities. On Friday, I was asked to play for the evening service. Seeing that I could make time for it, I shrugged off the fatigue from the night shift which ended that morning to attend the rehearsal at 7pm. The service finally ended at around 10:30pm, allowing me to get back at around 12am.

Yesterday (Saturday), I left at 10am for my grandma's house for lunch before heading off to church again for the Sunday service practice. Got to church at around 1pm where we practiced till around 4pm when the second part of Friday's service continued. That ended at around 7pm. By then, dinner was beckoning so we headed off to one of the near coffee shops when we were given a sight from the heavens on a dual television screen as the Everton V Liverpool match featured live from Goodison Park. It was like a gift from heaven when one of my friends spotted the game about to start. My plans were to rush back to watch the game which I thought was at 9-10. Obviously I didn't check properly cause the game was already starting.

Having no other choice, we watched the game which ended with Liverpool winning on a pair of penalties; the second one being in injury time. About time Liverpool won again. =)

When I got back, it was around 10:30pm. Enough time for me to get ready for me to sleep at 11pm.

Today, I had to leave the house at 7:30am for the early morning run-through of the songs. Got there a few minutes late because I found a new interesting game on Facebook XP It involves using a Rocket Launcher and blasting the helpless lives of opponents on Facebook. Whole lotta fun till I die. =(

So yeah, that's my weekend. A lot more interesting than my last few weekends which usually involves me working for 12 hours then going back to sleep. It was good to be back at church and playing too. And it felt like I never really left. =D

Anyway, I don't really have much else to say - just that I'm not all that excited about going back to the PA. Who knows, maybe at the end of next week, you'll hear me saying I don't wanna be out here. lol, you never know. hehe

I'll keep this one short so I can prepare some other things for tomorrow (in other words - mental preparation; blasting more helpless people on facebook XP).

The Prince of Egypt

Luke 6

27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them.

33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.

35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

I was going to type up a blog entry based on my working-progress experience obeying this scripture but as I typed on, I found that my questions to the agony of the lack of recognition of appreciation was simply answered in the very scripture that I wanted to quote.

So instead of my usual abortion of a blog entry, I've decided that I would like to share, with whoever reads this, my current mindset as I attempt to obey the scriptures as I put it into practice.

Ever since I started NS, I've based a lot of my thinking and mindset according to how God instructs us in the Bible, and to little surprise, they were to my success. Of course all glory and honour belongs to our Lord but I am just so fortunate that I have a God who chose me to give me the instruction book to life.

And as much as it sucks to follow it at times, the rewards of having to endure such hardships are always worth it. So I'm putting my trust in what God has promised and will continue to love all regardless of what they have done to me. However, during the past coming days, I've noticed that there have been more and more recent multiple occasions when I am not 'repaid' for my relentless efforts to show the love that God has transplanted into my heart. And to be honest, I was really getting frustrated with it all because I am still human. I wanted recognition. I wanted to be repaid for my efforts. At least a simple thank you would do. But there was none of that. Worse still. It was as if they didn't realise that I was doing it.

But all that is behind me now. I don't care whether people repay the efforts I put in. All I care is that God sees what I'm doing and that in due time, my reward will be given from God.

The reason why I've said all this was to hopefully encourage those of you who are walking my same path, or even those of you who haven't started yet, to keep persevering. Don't give up. Never give up. Cause at the end of the day, everything will be made right by God.

When I first went into the Police Academy for the first time in April, I lived upon a couple of Bible verses. But these two really stood out to help me through.

Luke 9:48
Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest."

Being the youngest in probably the whole of the Police Academy, I realised that greatness was possible. All I had to do was lower myself to be the least among the rest and I would stand out and be the best. And at the end, it happened! The key element was humility. I took the time to see to it that everyone in my squad was ok and would talk to them every now and them. Even if it was just a simple hello and a short chat. At least that kept me on par with everyone else and as I did, I made sure I didn't develop a big head. I think at the end, everyone basically supported me to get into the OCT course and it was really touching because comments were made when I was in for the running for the course. My good friend Raimy told me one day that he and the rest of the squad will revolt if I didn't get into the course. lol, thanks guys.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

My desire was to get into the OCT course. I don't think I need to say much about this other than a lot of effort was put in. This was one of the few handful of verses I kept on my heart throughout the duration of the training and sure enough, it was helpful for me as I received the desires of my heart. =)

And when I moved on to the police station, God had another scripture for me to carry - the one above. I've been trying as much as I can to put it into practice and boy is it hard. It took a lot of effort to see to it that the payment for my efforts were not rewarded. I kept doing things to show the love again and again, hoping that people would see that there was something different about me. Being the only christian I know in the station, I had to stand out from the rest, and I believe I've done that.

Yesterday at work, I was really touched by the words that were mentioned from the regular officers. One particular officer told me that they will miss me. And really, even those few words made everything worth it. At least it told me that I was not going unnoticed. And they were nice. I understand why I've faced some troubles working with them due to my 'different' character and speech - it's because the life of a policeman can be really really boring. I'm not talking about the experiences that policeman faces time after time, but rather the repetitiveness of it all. Some of these guys have been in there for 20 years. Imagine the things they encounter day after day during their work. After a while, it can get a little stale, as do a lot of other jobs. Which is why after a long time, someone like me rocks up and they are suddenly having a lot of fun. Of course there were times when I would question why they were saying the things they were saying to me, but now, I understand. It's like a breath of fresh air to them. At least if I can give them that bit of spice in their police life for that short while, that'll do.

And if I thought the appreciation doesn't end there, during the beginning of my shift last night, I was bombarded with invitations to stay on and not return to the Police Academy for my officer course. It was actually quite nice to know that these people felt this way. I couldn't help but laugh it off and hope they weren't serious. There were even threats that they would tell one of the Heads to block my move back to the PA. How funny.

My next tour (day and night shift) will be my last. I have no idea what they might possibly do to me but I know for sure that I will miss working there. The friends that I've made. The laughs we've had. The funny moments when we would make fun of accused will all be but memories. I really had a good time working there actually. The working hours were crap but the moments were gold.

Coming out to division life was a good move. It gave me exposure and I reckon more trainees should be doing this. When I go back, I will definitely have a greater understanding of the police system and will probably have a greater advantage when it comes to studying later on for the exams.

Anyway, I'm glad for how my NS life has turned out and is turning out so far. I will have experienced so many things that only a small handful will ever get to experience. I've realised that at the end of my NS, I will have a large wardrobe of different police uniforms. Maybe one day, when I accumulate all my different uniforms, I will post them up so you guys can have a look =) At the end of the day, I should have four different types of police uniform. XP All different from the rest.

For now, the end of this chapter of my NS life is coming to a close and another one will soon re-open. Hopefully I will find the time to blog when I come out from there each weekend. But I don't think it will be a problem. So to all my friends in Delta division who might read this, it's been an honour serving NS with you guys. All the best and I will hopefully see you guys again!

Band of Brothers

Argh, I've gotta blog. I've gotta blog.

I was telling Tiffany just a few moments ago about how I have to get to the 'determine whether to blog or not' stage before getting to the point where I decide to blog. But somehow, I've managed to skip that stage and just went straight into blogging. Why? I'm not quite sure why.

I've been meaning to blog, but after putting it off for so long, I don't really feel like blogging.. Something's gotten into me these past few weeks that made me feel and think differently from what I've been used to.

I think it's cause I haven't been able to get my way these few weeks that I've gotten a bit agitated with the smallest things that I don't usually get agitated about. Like what happened yesterday after my night shift. It was a Sunday morning and I was taking the morning bus back to my grandmother's place. As I boarded, I realised that I was practically the only one on the bus. That made me think that I was gonna get back earlier than expected because it's a Sunday morning and people won't be out too early, so we should zoom right pass all the bus stops and arrive sooner.

However, that wasn't really the case. Just because there weren't anyone at the bus stops, and just because there wasn't anyone who wanted to get off at each bus stop, the bus driver had to 'make sure' no one was coming, and would slow down till the very last moment when the bus was just about to come to a complete stop at each bus stop to decide that no one was really coming. That really irritated me. I was on the verge of going into a state of rage that morning but thought to myself, what has become of me? Why am I getting so ticked off like this so easily? I've gotten irritated so easily about such a non-life threatening ordeal. Something's happened.

I've also noticed that since going into the police world of division life, I've become some what less mature and more playful. Reason being, that's the level I find myself communicating best with the people there. No offence to any of my fellow officers who may read this, but the majority of the people there have sunk to a whole new level of lifelessness and because of this, there is hardly any one there who is willing to have a good meaningful conversation about things that are worth talking about. It's become this new routine of mine to endure whatever childish acts that they enjoy playing in the police station which would sometimes mean making fun of an accused with a helium-like-voice or laughing at a robber who is scared of a cockroach.

I may be digging my own grave if someone from the station reads this but there are 40 year old men in there who have the exact same personality and characteristic of a 12 year old child. Heck, even our station sergeant would play pranks with our fellow NS security officers. He'd call them on the phone to come to the charge office because he has something 'important' to show them. Upon arrival, he would eventually be caught hiding in one of the rooms at the back while posing in a squatting-like position giggling at them. Oh and he wouldn't do this just once or twice? Oh no. There were multiple occasions when he would play such pranks. And I've heard that it started long ago, so this wasn't something new.

This is just one of the few sad cases that I've heard about. I'm sure there's more, but I haven't unearthed them just yet. But just looking at the situation they're in. Or, the situation I'm currently in, I won't have to look far for a sad story. I mean working two days, one in the morning and one at night, then getting two days off, where's the sanity of having a purpose filled life in that? It's barely possible to wanna plan something the following week because of the irregularity of the system. And even if you wanted to take leave, and you get it approved, it just takes one joker to take MC, and there goes your whole plan of travelling overseas. I've been called back twice, and I have barely been here three months. That just shows you how miserable things can get.

Well, one thing leads to another, and by the end of it all, it's a sad life you'll be living. I guess the only thing that keeps us NS men sane is the fact that'll all end in less than 2 years - some more than others. If I compare the life and the sanity of the NS men with the regulars, it's clear to see the difference of a more meaningful person with a person who's trapped till retirement.

That's the thing. With almost all of the police officers there, there's no where else to go. Most of them are trapped in there with no other possibilities of starting a career else where. Mainly because they didn't have a choice due to the lack of education and had to join the police force for some sort of income. And because of the lack of education, they don't have anywhere else to go. That is the most common reason for all the regulars I've talked to who wanted to get out but couldn't. There's no where to go.

They're all telling us to no join. Do not sign on. It's like the souls who have already chosen their life in eternity by not following Jesus and have gone straight to hell, shouting at the souls who still have a chance to take the path of a christian. But some of us are just too stubborn. Some of us are just too blind. By the time we realise, it's too late, and we're stuck with no where else to go. I'm so glad I'm not stuck.

There is something about the people here that strikes me as amazing. I haven't really encountered anything of the sort during my years of travelling and to see this, in Singapore of all places, I've been touched and realised what I've been missing out.

Brotherhood.

Basically, there are two things that people do around here that make the 'brotherhood' around here such a nice place to live in. One, most guys call each other 'brother' or 'bro'. I haven't really encountered that many people calling each other or strangers by that title. And it's really nice actually. If you don't know what to call someone, just call them brother. If you don't know their name, just call them brother. Lol, that's how useful it is. And it's nice as well. Imagine the situation for yourself cause I really can't be bothered setting a scenario. lol

The other thing that makes the brotherhood here so much more visible is how everyone waits for one another. Or if someone wants to go to the toilet, we'd go together. I failed to realise this when I first came here, and when my friends asked me, I'd reply my usual and give them an honest answer like, "Nah, I'm good." That's how I did it in the past! I'd say if I wanted to go or not because there wasn't any point in me going if I didn't need to go. But now, it's different. Even if I didn't wanna go, I'll go. Just for company. And it's nice. I'd now ask my friend if he'd wanna go for breakfast and stuff, and I notice he'll usually answer positively and we'd co-ordinate it such that we'll be at the canteen together. It even went to the extent of climbing 4 storeys just to wait for our friends to change clothes before heading off together. I was kinda reluctant to go up that time because some of us could have gone home straight, but that just shows how far brotherhood goes around here.

Well, I can't be bothered with anymore blogging now. I hope that's enough to show that I'm still alive and well .... or something like that.

In exactly 2 weeks time, I will be in the Police Academy again, so expect at least one more blog post before then. And when I come out from there, after my first week of confinement, expect another blog update. Hopefully I'll come bearing good news. In the mean time, my days of division life are numbered. =D =(