Just Follow Law

This week, I was on course for my new temporary posting as a PIC officer.

PIC stands for Person-In-Custody which basically translates into police officers taking care of people in police custody, may they be accused persons or people seeking police protection. So this is where we come in. We take care of people in our lock-up.

But of course, this means there is the possibility of unpredictable 'human danger'. The accused can at any time attack the police officer on duty with whatever they could get their hands on. This just means we have to be more careful with what we do and stuff. But then again, I will not be doing this for long.

As I said above, this is only temporary. This will only go until September because ...

... I got into the OCT course. =D

The OCT course doesn't start till September so they had to give us something to do and this just happened to be it.

Nevertheless, before the POP, my OC informed me during our graduation dinner that I had passed the final interview and am in for the OCT course. The final hurdle will be a final of the final interview at the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) sometime later. Not too sure what we have to do there but he told me that if you manage to get to the CMPB stage, it means you're pretty much through. So praise God. All obstacles were cleared!

By right, a lot of things should not have happened.

Because I volunteered for NS (before turning 18), I was 'not suppose' to have done many things. Mainly these:-

• Wear the ever respected dark blue uniform for the Singapore's Special Constable (SC) as I was supposed to be a Vigilante Corps (VC).




• Hold a gun




• Shoot a gun




• Be with the ITE squad (by right, I was suppose to be in the VC squad but in actual fact, I was suppose to be in the A-Level squad)




• Wear the Corporal rank




• Receive the PNS award




• Get into OCT

And so who do we blame for all this? I believe we referred to this phenomenal as an 'Admin Muck-Up'. Don't ask me how all this happened. All I know is that there was an admin muck-up (or at least I'd like to think so XD) and when they discovered that I had made it to the final 4 OCT selection and the top-5 for the PNS award, they realised that I was not even 18 yet. Unfortunately for them, it was too late and now I realise that big organisations can make major mistakes as to see me defy all policies that states people like me aren't allowed to do such things.

In any case, it was a wonderful muck-up and I loved how it all happened. Looking back, it's all so funny.

I even remembered the day I went for the NS registration. It stated on the sheet that I should be a 'VC' and not 'SC'. Yet on the enlistment day, I was automatically placed into a ITE group with me being the only 'A-Level' in the squad. They only recognized that I had an A-Level qualification weeks before I passed out, so that couldn't explain why I was upgraded from VC to SC on the first day.

Nevertheless, what was even more amazing was how I managed to pull through all the way into the OCT course. Actually, I am not allowed to even get nominated because by right, I am 'under aged', yet there was no ruling that said specifically that I was not allowed for this course. So to look at all this now, we really have to thank and praise God for all that has happened thus far.

I say that because I believe that the amazing stuff has not yet been completed. I got this far and I believe that there are much more to come! If God could get me into this very exciting course, surely the course itself will be even more crazy! I will be stressed out to the bone with all my work but I'm sure great results will come of it! Be it something that might praise God or not. Either way, how fun! Can't wait for the real fun to begin!

So I will return back to the Police Academy in September for the officer training. In the mean time, I will be posted to the PIC course. This whole week has been course training for this posting and I have to say, it has been great!

Not the course itself but rather the way the course has been conducted.

The course was suppose to start at 8:30am and finish at 6pm.

But our very cool OC goes, "Ok boys, we'll start at 9am and finish around ... oh, I dunno ... 4:30pm? Sound good?" The first time he said that, we were ecstatic! We were expecting something like 9am to 5pm but to cut an extra 30mins of the lesson, that's even better! But that's the least of it.

Like how he said the lesson would start at 9am sharp; our very cool OC actually rocks up between 9:25am to 9:55am for class. So what do we do before that?

Sleep!

As soon as class began, which usually started moving at 10am, he'd comment that we'll be soon be going on a short break. By 10:30am, he would finally decide that it was appropriate for a class break which will go till 10:50am. At first, we were not aware of what we were getting into. We simply agreed that a 20min break would be great but that wasn't it! We were allowed to relax even more because he would rock up at the classroom (because he would go off to his office to eat something) between 11:00am to 11:15am. What do we do during that time? We would either ..

Sleep!

Or stand outside in the corridor terrorising trainees with our Corporal rank and boy is it fun!

Resuming part two of our morning class, our OC then states that we shall leave for lunch at 12pm, no later. Obviously, this kinda motivation keeps us going and we listen. After all, we have been sleeping many times during the day already. Keeping awake in that mightily cold air-con room was not too awfully difficult at this stage.

By 12pm, we would be walking out for our 2 hour lunch break.

But how long can lunch go for? Taking my own sweet time walking, ordering, eating, clearing, walking, all that can take roughly 40mins. So what do I, and the rest of the gang, do for the rest of the time?

Sleep!

I'd usually sleep for an hour or so. Amazed? Yeah! I am too! Especially even after getting 9 hours of sleep every night! But there is something about that room that makes me so sleepy! I think it's the fridge-like air-con.

Would you be shocked if our OC came back at 2pm?

I would be if he did. That's what so great about this guy! He rocks up late all the time so we would usually begin our afternoon session between 2:30pm to 3:00pm. And yes, at 3:30pm, we would usually take a break which would go till 4pm.

But does it start at 4pm sharp? Hardly! As much as we hate him coming back late this time round (cause we wanna go home), he'd usually enter into the classroom around 4:05pm to 4:15pm. So what do we do for the last 15mins of class?

No no, we don't sleep. Not this time. Just endure the final few minutes as he talks about his experiences in the police force. Not too bad I guess. We just have to sit impatiently as we dwell on the thought of running free in the next few minutes. It can get pretty clear that we would be thinking about that because whenever he would pose the question, "Any question?" Everyone would answer, "Nooo."

And that's what I've been doing for this whole week and I'm sad to say that tomorrow is our last day. It's been so much fun, I'm gonna miss it. What's even more cool is that we don't have to march as we walk around the PA. That's so cool! And what's even more cool than that is that we are allowed to eat at the cafe during office hours. So we'd just go downstairs and grab some food during any one of our breaks. Why? Just because we can. Some of them would order Wanton Mee, Chicken Cutlet, Fried Rice, whatever is available. I'd go down for the hot paus (buns) and a cup of ice milo or horlicks.

Oh yes, life as a Singaporean Policeman. The Americans got their donuts. We have our sweet sweet cafe XD

Rugrats

This is another interesting attraction about Singapore.

And it's how there are quite a number of mobile ice-cream 'vehicles' that roam the streets. What I mean is that old men/sometimes women, ride motorcycles or bicycles travelling along side an ice-cream fridge. It's something like an ice-cream truck, except they don't have the tune of a jack-in-the-box 'timebomb' as they go around and they don't stop at the sight of a hungry customer. They'd usually move around and deploy at a site. One day they could be here, the next day they could be at another. Sometimes they'll enjoy the location and return every now and then.

What's interesting about these mobile ice-cream vehicles is that they sell reasonably cheap ice-cream at $1 for a block of ice-cream. I'd roughly estimate the size of a block of ice-cream at 5cm x 10cm x 15cm. I'm not entirely sure whether that measurement is accurate or not, but it's around there. I didn't even use a ruler to estimate that. LoL!

Anyway, every now and then, I'll get myself a piece. I actually had my first block since coming back when Joan was here. And ever since then, I've been having 'em.

The flavours they offer are not your ordinary flavours. I mean they have chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, but they also serve other flavours like Yam, Sweet Corn, Raspberry Risp (I think that's what it's called), Durian, Coffee, Red Bean, Chocolate Mint, and several others which I don't remember cause I don't order them. Usually I'd order Yam, Sweet Corn or Red Bean.

Then, after cutting up your block, they'll either serve it in between a 'ping kan', which means, 'crackers' or you can ask for bread. Both are equally good. As a matter of fact, you can do the bread one at home.

When I was a little kid, I'd usually take several servings of the bread-icecream combo. What I'd do is take a piece of bread and scoop heaps of sweet corn or whatever ice-cream flavours we had and eat it for snack. Generally, the ice-cream would tower the bread itself and would be difficult to 'close'. XD

It really is quite nice. If you haven't tried it, you should. Normally, I wouldn't eat bread with stuff in between (with a few exceptions), but with ice-cream, I really don't mind. Suffice to say, it's delicious.

The next blog entry will be considerably long. So I think I'll end this one here. The next post should be up in a few days time.

Singlish

Ok! I have to blog. I know I haven't blogged in a while so now, I have to sit down and blog it all out! I have so many things to blog about but everytime I come on, I blog on 2 or 3 points, and the rest all 'fade away'. Quite sad actually. If only I could get it all down in one blog entry, but it would be too long and you guys will get bored half way. Well, most of you would. Well, I would.

Coming to Singapore, I've noticed a few things that are quite different to Australia. But I'm not just talking about the price of food and the transportation. I'm also talking about how people interact with ... other people.
The most eye-catching point is how people on the train or bus can be quite inconsiderate to one another. Like for example, most elderly ladies on trains are like blood hungry wolves just preying for a seat on the train. Once the doors slide open, they'll dash to the nearest seat and plant their two round buns on it. And if there's another lady approaching, they'll have a 1 on 1 steel-train wrestling match right there and then. Screaming and shouting in who knows what language in front of a live audience. How wonderfully graphic!

Also, another thing which surprises me, is how train passengers can get quite inconsiderate when the two doors open. Generally, people in the train will pack towards the exit doors when the train nears a station. And then of course, they'll pack on the other side of the exit doors (ie. the station platform) too. With this in mind, imagine a colossal collision between two groups of people trying to get to the other side. It's like the Lord of the Rings when the two armies of Middle Earth charge into battle. Only difference is that it's on a Singaporean train. Usually, the ones on the platform have more 'fire power' and will usually win the fight of who gets to the other side first. I reckon this is pretty inconsiderate because if the people who are still on the train get stuck when the door closes, they'll have to wait to drop off at the next station and then go back. That's down right ridiculous. That shouldn't happen. Why couldn't the people on the platform just wait a few seconds till all the people who wanna get off, get off? Then, and only then, will they be permitted to push and drag [people out of the train] as the doors close. Silly people.

haha! This is a good one! (and pretty disgusting and disturbing and disrespectful to the female gender. Kinda) I just found out that, ...

... asian women can grow leg hair ><" Don't kill me ladies! My name is not Boaz Ang, and I don't live in Singapore. lol, it's pretty bad, but I have to blog about it because it's something I thought didn't happen to asian girls and to my dismay (which costed me dearly as it hurt my eyes), it does! However, since coming here for a month, I've managed to see 2 girls with hair on their legs!!!! ewwww!!! I mean c'mon ladies! I did know that you can grow leg hair, but that's why there are shavers for you girls too! Please use it and also please remember that I'm not living in Singapore and I am definitely not asian. Don't hurt me. I don't feel so good.

Ok ok, enough of that. Now let's talk about something much more comforting. Something we all like and love. Something we call food. mmm, here in Singapore, there's a lot of food to go round and they're all real cheap. That's something which differs quite a bit from Australia as you can get a bowl of noodles for $2 here whereas back in Australia, it would probably cost $7-$8.

Let me give a run down of some of my 'favourite' foods here in Singapore.

(Warning you may get hungry! View at your own risk!)

Readers with a low tolerance for attractive food who tend to squeal, squeak and scream are adviced to turn away now.

Prawn Noodles (Cost: $2-$5)

At the moment, this is the number one dish that I love eating right now. Maybe it's because mum can't cook this so I've been pondering on the thick brothed up soup made from boiling prawns and pork bones. Oh baby!

Hokkien Mee (Cost: $2.50-$6)

I like hokkien mee too because it's nicely coated with a layer of gravy and not swimming in it or dying to suck something up. It's just right. I dislike food which 'suck up' your saliva making you thirsty. Plus the gravy is usually made out of the same broth from the prawn noodles, but maybe a bit more concentrated. Yum!

Mee Poh (or Pork) (Cost: $2-$5)This used to be my favourite dish of all the others. I still remember ordering this everytime we went out for dinner. However now, I don't know why but it doesn't really appeal to me anymore. It's still nice, but I don't get overly excited when I order this.

Carrot Cake (Cost: $1.50-$5.50)

Yum, still like this. Generally, I'll eat this for breakfast because it's not too filling but also at the same time, not too light. For those who are wondering what it tastes like, it's salty and the texture is similar to that of rice cakes, just not as hard. You could basically put it on your tongue and run it through the carrot cake pieces. It's that soft. The main difference in ingredients between the black and white carrot cake is that the white one has no soya sauce and sweet sauce but instead has an egg or two cracked over it.

Mee Goreng (Cost: $2.50-$4.00)

Those in Australia, I now show you the real version of Mee Goreng. Nothing like the instant version of Mee Goreng. It's red, it's slightly spicy and it's 90% better than the instant version. The only thing I don't like about this dish is that it's red, and if I happen to be wearing a white shirt, it could mean public disaster.

Big Momma's House

Firstly, let me start off by thanking the Lord for a good few days. For everything that happened during the weekend until now, it has been nothing but good. Thank you Lord.

Secondly, I'll like to say that I managed to grab Gold for my NAPFA test. A score of 25 out of 30 was what I got. Surprisingly, I didn't do as badly as I had thought. Fortunately, with God's help, I was able to pass with quite pretty flying colours. These were the results:

This is a very close replica of the result slip that they gave me. The only difference is that mine is very similar to a receipt and the typing is quite puny. So I reckon this result table looks just as nice if not better :)

I really have to thank God for this help in getting me ready mentally and physically. More so physically because when I left Australia, I was still ill and felt like a pig; seeing that I usually eat in large quantities and exercise in not so large quantities. Obviously, I had to shape up before I left, and yesterday when I did my final morning run in preparation for the NAPFA test, I was on the verge of collapsing because I was breathing so heavily. Not to mention how I was unable to train for 3 days, so of course this did play a factor in my struggle to be physically ready. I remember saying after the run, "Lord, You better help me! I'm going to die if You don't, so please, HELP!"

Low and behold, He did! I was actually the fastest on the track for the 2.4km run as I ran all 6 laps at a considerable pace without stopping. Even though my legs were screaming in pain, and my lungs crying out for air, I did it in 11 minutes. I reckon, when I go to the army, I should be able to cut 2 minutes off the time, as we would have to run 2.4km in under 9.44minutes. No worries mate.
Everything else that I did was pretty good. The only thing I was quite disappointed with was the Broad Jump. I got above 240cm when I was in Australia. I dunno why I didn't break 240cm when I did it today. Maybe Chariz didn't record it properly when I did it =P Chariz! It's all your fault! You brought my hopes up! Now, I'm crushed! *weeps pathetically*

Nah, I don't think it was Chariz's fault. I think I just didn't try hard enough. I thought it would be really easy so I didn't really add any 'ummph' to it. If I did, I believe I could have done a little bit better. Meh, it's still good. 3 points is still gold XD

Believe it or not, I was actually the 'star' on the field. I came in first for all the tests and I believe I was the only one who actually completed the 'purpose' of the NAPFA test, ie. the purpose of going there is to get Gold or Silver. I believe I was the only one to get Gold as no one else got Silver. It was amazing, and of course, I give all glory to God for His creating my physique. Surely if He didn't, I'd be sitting at home, slugging all over cheese crackers, hoping that for some justified reason there's a purpose in getting out of my seat where my fat fliters through the cracks of the chair. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

Truth be told, I really didn't expect to shine above everyone through the test. I was there simply to pass the test and get the 'prize'. I knew I could do well in half the tests. What I didn't realise was how I was able to do well and excel through the tasks ahead of all the others. All in all, it was great fun to come in first :)

On Sunday, Amoz and I were invited to a BBQ for dinner at pastor's house. Unfortunately, Amoz had an army function and couldn't attend. I ended up going down myself, seeing that I would be in church in the morning and at night, I might as well go and not be a party pooper. I went, and to my amazement, the food was excellent. It was one of the best BBQs I've had. For those who know me, I am very critical of the food and wouldn't give any dish a whooping score of 9.5 out of 10 if it was just 'average'. However, this time, I have to say that I'd give the food at the BBQ a score of 8.5 to 9. In my books, this is really good. If I get the dish a 9.5, you know you've stolen my heart and I would consider taking your hand in marriage, lol.

I wasn't expecting much from this BBQ, but after taking the first bite, I was taken on a magical joyride somewhere over the rainbow. Almost everything was really really really well done. Everything from the potato entree to the pepper crab main, was really well done. I ate and ate and ate until I couldn't eat the ice cream desert, which turned out to be nearly a dozen tubs of Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream. (In actual fact, I was quite content with the food and eating icecream would have ruined the 'memories' of the night. So I decided not to eat it. Plus, I don't really have a sweet tooth). All in all, almost everything was delicious. The only 'bad' dish that night was the chilli squid. As much as I love chilli and squid, this was really quite too much. There was simply too much chilli, it spoilt the dish, so after taking a single piece, I had to decline the rest because it would burn your mouth and there wouldn't be any more fun in eating if you were panting in agony of the burning sensation in your mouth. Besides that, everything else was awesome!

Anyway, the reason why I've retold this story was because of the funny table conversation which took place at our table. It goes like this, there's this 'large' lady who really likes to talk a lot and it just so happens that she loves food, and this skinny guy sitting next to her. I sat just across from where they were seated, and I could hear everything. Then, there are 'extras' in this story, so let's call them extra1, extra2 and extra3.

Scenario: Pepper crab has just landed on our table, and everyone is complimenting on the deliciousness of the dish.

Lady: mmm! Wah! So nice wan! *sucking on the crab*
Guy: Yahhhh..!! Valy nice! (yeah, very nice)
Extra1,2,3: *suckling noises*
Extra1: *suck saliva* but you know ah, the meat ya? A bit dry no?
Everyone: yeah uh?!
Lady: Yeah, I think I know. The crab, overcook!
Guy: Must be lah. (that must be it!)
Everyone: *with crab in mouth* mmmmm!
Lady: If you overcook ah, crab dry wan! Then not nice already.
Guy: mmmmmm (I understand you perfectly! You are so very intelligent!)
(Pastor's wife comes over to table)
Pastor's wife: So how is it?
Lady: Wah! very nice! Only thing ah, the crab overcook.

Around The World In 80 Days (Part 3)

I didn't think it would be this hard. Mentally, I was prepared to leave, but I wasn't prepared to be strong by myself. I imagined it to be a bit easier. I thought I would come here, and get enlisted in January and limp my way through the Christmas holidays. Sadly, since the announcement that I could only get enlisted in March, I went downhill from there.

My world went from bad to worse. My world came crashing down as I realised that I would be here for 2 years. I didn't know how to deal with this. So I went back, and contemplated on what I should do. And as a guy, I did some thinking by myself. As I sat in the living room area with my grandma beside me, I reflected on the situation as she told me stories about our family. I tried to pay attention to her, and responded with occasional grunting noises, but I was too distracted with the situation I was facing. Eventually, I managed to temporarily pull myself together. The only thing that kept me going was how I knew that Corliss, Sylvia and possibily the Tohs, would be at my parent's place that night, so if I called back, I wouldn't be so sad.

So that night, I called back, and to my delight, I was able to talk to the two girls. After that, I felt much better and a bit more happy. I ended the night with a bit of tele and I went to bed at 9:30pm.

I told my grandma that I would follow her to the market to buy some food for breakfast. I woke up at 6am that morning, and we left at 7am. I had decided that I wanted to eat some Carrot Cake because I haven't had it in a while. For those of you who don't know what Carrot Cake looks like, it looks like this.

I had the white one because it has eggs and are usually crispy.
So when we got to the stall, there was this line of 5 or 6 people. Generally, when there's a line, it means the food is good and people are willing to wait in line for the food. And usually in Singapore, the stalls have really fast service cause they need to be fast to accomodate the large number of customers. So we decided to join the group of 'suckers' to have our Carrot Cake. Unfortunately, it took us more than 45minutes to get our food. Was it worth it? Well, considering I haven't had Carrot Cake in over a year, I guess it was ok. Nice to have it in my stomach again. lol

After my breakfast, I packed my stuff and took a cab to my other grandma's place. It was the first time I took a taxi myself. Usually it's with my mum, dad, auntie or grandma. So you could say that it was another step of independence when I took that cab.
When I got off, I met Amoz and we went up to the house. I unpacked my stuff and soon got bored. I then took out the PlayStation and started playing a bit. After that, I helped wheel my grandma to the dialysis centre. For the rest of the day, I just spent most of it on the internet, trying to come to my senses about this Singapore situation.


Sunday morning, I met Amoz at Tiong Bahru MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) Station. We met there at 9:30am and were on our way to Aljunied, which was where the church was located. There, we met up with one of Amoz's friend from his BMT (Basic Military Training) batch and went to church together. The service was very different to what I have been used to for the past year. In a way, it was good to be back in the presence of God among people on fire again; but I must say, it's gonna take a bit of getting use to again. Just gimme time.
That night, I went out at 12am to look for a coffee shop that had the English Premier League on the tele. My dad told me that the shop next to my grandma's dialysis centre has an all day-all night coffee shop, so I went there. However, when I got there, the tele was not on, and the place was also packed, so I didn't wanna create a scene, telling them that, "I wanna watch soccer on the tele, so can you please turn it on for me and by the way, I need a table and chair to sit on. Also, bring me a cup of coffee and don't be stingy with the sugar."
In the end, I wondered around a bit through the cool night in my sleeveless shirt and finally found this closed coffee shop with a plasma tv suspended on a pillar. The match ended at 1:50am, and I went home and slept.



The past few days for me have been hellish. I haven't been sleeping much, and I've never been so depressed. I've really tried to be positive about the situation, but I think it's going to take time. Time to get over Australia, and time to make friends. In the mean time, I'm trying to live through each day on the internet, talking to whoever comes online. At the moment, my dad is trying to find me a job so I'm just waiting.
During this waiting period, it's bad in the sense that I have so much time to myself to think. And everytime I do, I think about the wonderful memories of the past, and how I'll never be able to have them again for a very long time. Everytime I look back, it hurts. There's this pain in my chest that hurts when I recall the house in Geelong, the church, the people, the close friends, the life. It was a bad idea to look at the photos. It was a bad idea to think.