RoboCop

Yes, well another chapter of my NS story has just crossed over in a blink of an eye ... in the blogging world that is. Whereas in actual reality, it seemed like decades. Time just isn't moving as fast as I want it to move and to me, it seems like time stops every second to catch its breath. Nevertheless, it's still moving, so that's a plus ... I guess.

Last week, we returned from our police station attachment program and I chose to return back to my division where I worked for nearly 4 months. I didn't tell anyone beside one or two so to many, it was a surprise for them to see me. But this time, when we went back, it was an attachment program to the Police HeadQuarters as well as the Neighbourhood Police Centres (NPC) - which meant following a police car to do their rounds around the vicinity and attending to different cases, which was exactly what I wanted to experience as a police officer.

So anyway, we went and to my expectation, the attachment to the HeadQuarters was really boring but the attachment to the NPC was a whole lotta fun. We were able to attend to different cases on the ground rather than having people come to you at the Police Station.

One case that I really enjoyed attending to was one noise pollution case at 3am. The location was this apartment block 9 storeys up and from the moment we arrived at the scene, we could hear the noise from ground level. In my heart I went, "Awesome! This is gonna be great!"

So we went up and found the apartment and started knocking on the door. We knocked and knocked and knocked but no one answered. That was when we started to really knock =P I, for one, was knocking on the window and pressing the door bell till I think the whole neighbourhood could hear. But we definitely knocked and called out loud enough for the lady next door to come out and reveal herself as the person who called the police.

Anyway, to cut the long story short, after a good 20-30mins of knocking, we managed to get the lady who was inside to open the door, turn the volume down and close the door on us. Oh, and she was pretty pissed at us because we intruded into her privacy as we tried to open the window to get her XP It was clear she didn't like what we did to her window hehe

Besides that, there were a whole lotta other little stuff we did during our shift that made it quite enjoyable. Just like how we were able to attend to a case at one of the largest condominiums in Singapore, the Caribbean Club at Keppel Bay. w00t! It was so much fun walking inside as an officer of the law looking cool and stuff ... but it was kinda cramped inside.

With that aside, now I'm back at the Police Academy training again =( We've got a whole lotta exams coming up and I really hope I'll be able to do well. After which, we'll be going to Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) for what should be 16 days of 'fun'. Not sure if I should be ecstatic or freaked out, but either way ... I know it's gonna be 16 days of physical and mental stress. Oh, and just as a word of warning for those who will see me after that - even though I may come out with all sorts of bulging muscles (XP), I have been told that I will look like a really dark Malay too =P Not dark enough to be an Indian, but just a dark enough to be a dark Malay.

If all goes according to plan, I will be gone on the 8th of April till the 24th of April. After which, we will be rehearsing for our POP =D Something I'm just dying to look forward to cause I know, when that comes, the day of all this stressing will almost be over! Then, if I manage to get what I wanna do after, it will be smooth sailing till the end ^^

Oh, and what I wanna do after I POP is to become a Company Commander back at the Police Academy. The current Coy Commanders say that life in the PA is really boring and slack which is exactly what I want cause then I'll have more time to do what I wanna do and not have to do something that I don't wanna do which in the end, prevents me from doing what I wanna do. hehe

And yeah, I know that since this is a public blog, chances are ... some trainees might find this site and have a read of it. For all I know, they may already be doing that because when I'm on duty doing provost, they could have searched me up and discovered my life outside of the PA. How do I know? Simple. Because I do it to my instructors =P But only because my friends told me that they found our instructors friendster account. lol

So to all the trainees out there who might read this, I say this to you. As far as I'm concerned, life at HTA stays in HTA. Never do I or will I bring it out of those walls and into life outside HTA. I do what I have to do because it's what I have to do as part of my national service. But once I'm outside, call me your friend because at the end of the day, we are all still people of this world - nothing more.

Anyway, back to something more joyful - my ORD date! =D

I have done some calculations and to my delight, I have discovered that if everything goes according to plan, I should officially finish my final day of service on the 23rd of Jan, 2009. My original ORD date should be on the 10th of Feb, 2009. But with the 14 days of leave I am entitled to, and with CNY occupying two very convenient slots on the 26th and 27th of Jan (monday and tuesday), I will be able to officially finish on the 23rd of Jan, which is a Friday! ^^ Yay! What are my plans after that? Well, at the moment, I only know I will stay for the CNY bit to do my part XP. That's for sure. When I will go back to Australia, I will have to see. Hopefully not too long because I'm just simply dying to go back!

Anyhow, that's just a quick review of what has been going on here for me. I will try to update again before I head off to OBS at least. Can't promise I will update so often now because it's just getting harder and harder to update as often as I did in the past. But for now, this will have to do.

Eddie's Million Dollar Cook Off (Part 2)

3rd June, 2007 (Tuesday)
For the first time in a long while, I was finally alone in the bunk. I had remained back as the others went for the POP drill at 8:30am, leaving me behind as I prepared myself for the interview set at 9am. Normally in the academy, there would be people everywhere. Hardly am I able to get away from the sight of people, yet alone the constant gibbering. So to finally be alone, for those few minutes, it was nice.

During that time, I was able to soothingly read my Bible without people yelling at each other. And as time approached, I got dressed.

I had absolutely no clue who else was in the run for the officer course. I merely assumed that there wouldn't be many and I was gonna have to compete with the best.

"I'm here to report for the OCT interview, sir."

"Ok, wait there."

Waiting in a little corner next to one of many desks filled with random office items, I hovered around a small area looking like a trainee who has no clue what awaits him.
After hovering for a minute or so, I was told to wait at room 37.

"Do you know where is it?"

"Yeah."

"It's just down the corridor to your left."

"Room 37 right?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you sir"

We had most of our classes at classroom 37, so I knew exactly where it was. But one thing strange was the fact that one classroom fits 40 people. And if I was not mistaken, the OCT selection should be minimal - not more than 10 at least. Nevertheless, I wandered across to the room and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. As I pulled down the handle, I was soon confronted with the assurance that no one was in the room as the door still remained locked.

'I'm early I guess. I'll just go to the toilet first.'

When I came back out, I tried again to see if anyone had entered as I was away, but no one had unlocked the door. So I stood outside the room, waiting.

waiting ..

waiting ...

waiting ....

waiting .....

'He did say room 37 ... right? ... yeah, I even asked him again. There can't be any other room 37s can there? ... nah, somethings not right.'

I was aware that if I left that room, I would be left to answer for my lateness if I were to return again, but it was better than standing there waiting for someone to come. Surely something was wrong.

"Sir, you said room 37 right?"

"Syndicate room 37."

"Syndicate? Where's that?"

"Just outside this door, make a left."

"OhhhHH!!!"

"Don't act so blur now, you're gonna become an OCT" another officer in the room commented. I responded with a somewhat embarrassed laugh as I quickly made my exit.

The room was literally next door down a narrow corridor. I had no idea that these rooms existed despite having some signs up above at the entrance of the corridor saying "Syndicate Rms 34-48".

I knocked on the door and pushed it open. No one was in the tiny interrogation room. The small air-conditioned room would be way better than standing outside in the humid air. So I proceeded on in.

There was a table with 4 chairs, one on each side. I went to sit on one of the chairs and as I did, I suddenly realised that if some officer walked in, I shouldn't be seen sitting down. So I decided that it would be appropriate if I stood up. Bouncing off the seat, I decided that the best position is to stand 'at ease' (senang diri) in front of the wall which faces the door.

So there I stood. Waiting... waiting... Not long after, I heard voices. Voices coming from the corridor.

'They sound like officer voices. Oh crap! Maybe I shouldn't be in the room! Argh! I can't get out! It's too late! The door handle is opening! Don't move! Ahh!!! I'm gonna die!!!' The door handle went down, and the door slid open and there at the other end were 5 other candidates.

"Oh ... phew! Why did you have to stand like that?" they asked me.

"This is how I stand ... naturally." I replied.

There were 6 of us going for the first OCT interview that day. Four from one squad, and another guy along with myself from 2 other squads.

That interview was to determine how well we could project ourselves and to see how much confidence we had in speaking. As Police Inspectors, we had to be able to present our ideas and other things like that; so we had to be able to at least talk to the four officers in that room.

The other five candidates found it a bit 'unnatural' for them but I was quite ok. They told me that I was perfectly fine. My interview with them was like any other conversation for me because of my exposure to other countries of different cultures. So talking in that room to four people about my life was a piece of cake basically.

However, I did stuff up one bit. I knew it was a mistake the moment I said it and I tried to cover up and try not to highlight what I had said.

What happened was, one of the officers asked me 'why do you think so many of your squad mates failed the exam?'

When he asked that, the truth came out which I should not have said and already had the intention before the interview to not say it if they asked me. Yet, it leaked out and I regret saying it cause it got my OC in trouble, so to speak.

"Well, most of them were sleeping in class but our OC tried. He tried to wake them up whenever they fell asleep but eventually, he gave up and said that this is your basic training. If you fail and recourse, it wouldn't be his problem because he's already played his part. It's up to you to play your part. But also, they don't study. If they had put in the effort to try to study in the barrack, I'm sure most of them would pass."

"So wait, your OC allows your friends to sleep in class?"

"Yeah well, he said that you should play your part to pay attention and study, and he will play his part to teach. But OC really did try his best. He tried to keep them awake but they wouldn't listen."

"I see ... mmm"

From that moment on, I knew I did the wrong thing. And that my OC was in trouble.

To Be Continued ...

Daredevil

The days of basic training are about end.

It seemed like only last week that I first walked into that academy as we were directed to some classroom to be stripped searched. But all that really happened 3 months ago. And now, we're left with only 5 more days till we have to vacate our barrack.

But during those 5 remaining days we have there, we will be practicing for our POP.

My dad warned me that we will have to train all day long for our POP and he was right. Yesterday, one of the FI who was conducting the POP drill said that starting from next week onward, we will have to train in the morning, after lunch and in the afternoon which may extend till evening. Just the thought of all that scares me because just the morning drill alone made me wet my entire polo-T shirt and some bits of my pants. Just imagine the drills after lunch in the hot sun, and may I mention that the hot season in Singapore has finally arrived. I'm gonna have arms as dark as armpit hairs and a brain as steamed as a cooked dim sum. That's because our attire throughout the POP practice drills will be the police peak cap, white polo-T, dark blue police pants and black-once-shiny-kiwi drill boots.

Help.

There are things I could say about myself about what I've been doing in the police force but I really don't feel the need to promote myself in informing the whole world of what I've been accomplishing in there. I just wanna say that whatever I've done and whatever I've been able to achieve in excelling in whatever areas, I owe it all to God. Without His hand upon me in there, there wouldn't be a chance of me getting all these wonderful things and so I wanna thank Him for all the blessings I've received.

However,
There are some things I can note that you guys already know; like the great instructors that we got.

Our FI is the best in the academy because he even told us, he doesn't want to be strict because there are other people already treating us like robots, so he wants to have some leniency with us. He will close one or two eyes whenever it comes to some things because he acknowledges that we are all humans and that we need to have some 'luxury' items to keep up our morale.

Also, our OC is definitely the best OC around. At least I think so. He's a great man and I really admire him for his integrity and attitude towards things. We are his first squad and I hope he found some joy in taking us despite the little annoyances that we cause him at times. XP Well, of course I never create any problems for him XD

I mentioned this to my friend about our OC the other day as we were marching back from the classroom:

"You know, just looking at our OC, he isn't really all that much to look at. Just by judging his outer appearance, you'd think he was some scrawny little nerd with not much of a life. (haha, ok .. well, maybe I didn't use those words. But it's to help you guys visualise his build and appearance XP) But after getting to know him, he's so much more and a lot wiser than we think. He deserves so much respect for what he has done for the police force and the effort he has put in to get this far. He has a really strong character and I can see why his wife married him. It probably wasn't for the outer appearances but probably for the other great traits this man has."

Bedazzled

If I compare my upcoming weeks with the time I had to work, I would be sad to say that the upcoming weeks are gonna be lots and lots of pain.

On the 3rd of June, we will be involved in the Police National Parade (PDP) which means I will be missing out on church that Sunday and we will be experiencing a lot of turbulence in the PA from Monday till the end of the parade.

Basically, we will have to perform our Police Defensive Tactics (dojo) in front of a live audience of 7,000. That is the number our OC informed us on Friday. On top of which, he warned us that there would be a good number of foreign commissioners or something among the stands. Sounds fun.

But quite frankly, I'm looking forward to it. Not the training bit but the performance. I would love to be among the several hundred of us on the parade square performing. The only fear in mind is the embarrassment of moving wrongly during the course of the performance. I'm sure if that happens, it wouldn't be too hard to spot the mistake =S I just hope I will be confident and alert enough to prevent that from happening.

Anyway, when I said 'turbulence' above, it meant we will be having really tiring, really troublesome timetables from Monday till the end of this parade. Our intensive dojo training is scheduled every night from 7pm to 9:30pm, which means we will be 'on duty' from 6am till 9:30pm each night. Not to mention how we have to sleep by 10:30pm. So yeah, not too much fun if you ask me.

Also this week, we will have another 2 shooting frames where we will have another chance to rectify our scores.
For the shooting system, we are given 6 frames. All of which are live rounds. Your results are based on your results after the 6 rounds of 300 bullets (if I'm not wrong), totaling up to a score of 600 points, have been shot. The highest rank you could get is marksman, followed by 1st class then 2nd class. After which, any result below 2nd class will be considered as a failure. If you fail, you will be allowed a re-take. Then if you still fail to pass, you will have to re-course the entire course again to retrieve a minimum rank of 2nd class.

So far, I've only managed 70 points which means I am still a long way from getting marksman. If God is willing, I hope to get marksman to boost my chances of getting what is in-stored for me.

At this point in time, I am torn between two 'postings'. Despite how I mentioned in one of my previous posts about getting into the SOC, I learnt on Thursday that it is possible for a NS man to get the Inspector rank. In the police force, the Inspector ranks pretty high up there. Not as high as one of the senior officers, but high enough to be considered 'respected'.
Besides how I would love to have that high a rank, I am also interested in the salary behind it. Reason being is that when I go back to Australia, there will be many things I will need to buy and so with a nice attractive salary in the balance, I am really torn apart.

It's either SOC or Inspector.
SOC training is extremely difficult. That's how difficult I have pictured it to be. I have prepared myself mentally to expect one of the worse scenarios possible. One of which would be hearing the officers shouting outside to report now as I am in the toilet doing my business. Another one would be officers coming into our bunks in the middle of the night for an inspection or worse still, a PT session. My brother told me that he had to do that in OCS. They called them to fall in late at night to have them do a PT session followed by them getting fully dressed for combat. And if OCS is like that, I can't imagine SOC.
Another down side to this would be the ranking I could get. I believe the highest rank that NS men can get during the 2 years there is only Sargent. Before coming to Singapore, I had set my mind to get to the highest possible that I can achieve. If I do go down this path, I would have to set aside that goal and do what I can with the opportunities before me.

Having said all the negative points about SOC, let me just elaborate on the several positive points about SOC.
I know that when I come out of there, I will not only be strong physically but I will be strong mentally as well. That is something not many people can withstand and if I do manage to strengthen my mental endurance, I believe I would have an upper hand in many situations in life. But is going through all that training really worth it? That is the question.

Another reason that really got me interested was the uniform of the SOC officers. It is so freakin' cool! Besides the standard SOC body uniform which looks like one of those mechanics except coloured in dark purplish-black and boots which weigh up to 1kg each, it was the maroon beret that got me hooked. Apparently in wikipedia, it labelled the maroon beret in Singapore as 'Commandos', which suddenly got me really thinking. If the SOC's berets are maroon, and the Commando's berets are maroon ... that it would mean that SOC would be something like the Commando course!
lol.
One other reason why I want to join the SOC are the skills that they offer the trainees. They will teach us a whole bunch of things that many people will never get to learn and I don't know ... an offer like that, it's a bit hard to refuse. I won't go into too much detail about what they offer because I really just can't be bothered XP But that is something I am really considering about this.


As for Inspector, I'm interested in the course because of two main reasons - the salary and the rank. Another sub-point would be how it might be an office job. I would have thought that after excelling so much in all the categories, an Inspector would be outdoors doing something. Then again, it isn't the case. If that does happen to me, I might consider keeping fit at the side like going to the pool every now and then like I do now. I tend to swim every Saturday morning now just to keep fit.

Anyway, back to what I was saying, Inspector. The salary that they provide is the figure that I have been eying on since my bro told me his pay as an army officer. Money is a very important thing in this world and as a young person who is on the verge of starting a life, money is very crucial. Even as a christian, I still think the need for money to begin some sort of a life is very important. I need a car, I need to help my parents unburden the financial load, I need to start supporting myself in most areas, I need some pocket money for transporting necessities, and believe it or not, I need to save for a future family. And the list goes on.
Also, after working for 2 months, I realise how important holidays are. haha, yes yes. A mere two months is really nothing but I finally understand why people save up for holidays and if I start working too, I think I would love to go on a holiday and with this extra money coming in, it would definitely make life a whole lot easier.

As for the rank, I mentioned above that I wanted to reach as high as I could during my time here and I believe if I reach Inspector, that would mean a whole lot to my determination to achieve. I really dislike making goals or promises and not fulfilling it. Not fulfilling this would be just as bad because I had already set my mind on it. Actually, I wanted to join the army to become an officer because that was what my dad and brother did during their NS time. But after discovering I wouldn't be able to, I decided to just do my best and see how far I can get. So this was how I decided to 'achieve', and when I said achieve, I meant to achieve high. Retrieving the Inspector rank would really mean a lot to me.


However, despite my indecisiveness, it all comes down to one thing, and one thing alone - what God wants. There was a reason why I'm a Singaporean and there's a reason why I'm in the Police Academy at this point in time. So it all depends on what God wants for me. If He wants me to join SOC, so be it. If He allows me to get the Inspector rank, so be it. I really don't care. I just care about what God wants me to do there. Now that's gonna be interesting.

What might be even more interesting would be if one of the officers were to ask me straight to my face and say, "Son, you have been chosen. You now have two choices. Where would you like to go? SOC? or Inspector?"
If that happened, I would probably break down and cry.

Billy Madison

Not really in the mood to blog about the things I've been doing because basically, I haven't been doing much during the past few days except using the internet, playing my clarinet, playing the guitar, playing PlayStation, juggling the soccer ball, swimming, running and blowing my nose. That's right. I've been sneezing the past few days and I don't know why, but I usually get all watery. (ewww) I don't think I have a cold cause it doesn't stay long. It's an on and off thing. So I don't think it is.

Since I'm not in a mood to blog on the things I've been doing, I'll blog on the things I need to do or need to hopefully get around doing. I hope to accomplish all these things during the time I am here in Australia. Some will be completed in the near future, some further down the track. Nevertheless, I hope to fulfil these 'goals' during the two years I am here.

1. Prepare for the NAPFA test and get gold for all 6 tests. The 6 tests consists of chin ups, sit ups, standing broad jump, sit and reach, shuttle run and a 2.4km run. To get gold, you must achieve a minimum of C for all test, and getting a score of at least 21.


2. Get a job. Since I'm here for another 2 months till I get into the army, I might as well get a job, earn some money, and be merry.


3. Improve my chinese and teochew. I find myself speaking a lot of mandarin here in Singapore and a little bit of teochew at home. Hopefully when I return, I should be able to converse in fluent chinese. LoL!


4. Get close to mastering the clarinet. I really want to play the saxophone, and in order to do that, I need to master my clarinet, then I can play another two instruments! Then comes the issue of money..


5. Play for the church and get better at drums and guitar. I can learn so much from the people here. Best to learn while I'm still 'young' ><"


6. Learn ballroom and maybe break dancing. As I mentioned in one of my blog posts several weeks back, I hope to learn this during my second year here. It won't be as tiring then as it will be in the first year.


7. Get 'tanked/buffed' to the point where I'm satisfied. I have a picture on how 'tanked/buffed' I wanna get, and hopefully I'll get to that point. Once I get there, it's all downhill from there, hehe. If not, I'll have to work on it when I return to Australia.


8. Get rich ... ... ... er. I'll need money before I return. I'm so glad NS pays quite well. Then I'll have a more 'flexible' budget. ^^

If I am able to accomplish most, if not all, of these things, I would be so happy in knowing that I managed to fulfil the things I set forth in completing. Let's see in the year 2008, how I'm going.

In the mean time, I plan to take each day as it comes.

In The Middle

And so it begins.

The journey into my new life begins here. Well, maybe not here exactly, but I will retell the adventures of my new life here for all to read. A brief outline as to what I hope to accomplish next year, and the years to come.
- Get recuited into the Singapore army as soon as possible in the year 2007.
- Brush up on my chinese and teochew.
- Learn ball room and possibly a bit of breakdancing in the year 2008.
- Master one or two more instruments.

I've started this blog mainly for the reason that since I'm going to the army next year, I might as well start everything again. It'll be nice to look back, and read all the misadventures of the army life. Should be very interesting in a few years time when I'm all old and wrinkly.
Year 12 And I - 2006


My blog title, "In The Middle", consists of several meanings which I find are very appropriate for my current situation. For one, Singapore is situated somewhere near the equator which is why I'm gonna suffer when I go back. Another obvious reason is how I'm the middle child, and how I'm always being neglected for being too old, or not being important enough to deserve mature attention. There were other less important reasons as to why I chose this title but I don't think I'll go into them because these are the two most recognisable reasons.
It wasn't easy for me to come up with a blog title appropriate for this blog, because I'm very picky. Whenever I want a good, usable, title/name, I always need it to be full of meaning for not only myself, but for my readers as well. Why have a blog title which I have no relation with? I mean, wouldn't it be weird if my blog title read, "To eat or not to eat?" or "Me chicken, You Jane" lol, I actually did come up with very similar blog titles which have very little, to no meaning. Maybe it's how I have no creativity when it comes to outstanding phrases. But when I do, I need it to be rich in meaning. I guess this is as close as it gets. I like it actually. I like it very much.

Currently, the blog is still under going one or two more configurations which will be sorted out shortly. Shouldn't take all that long. Hopefully in the next few days, it will be completely sorted out.