The eX-NSF
Almost 18 hours from now, a significant period in my life will end.
National Service.
Today is my ORD day.
I was never a sentimental person, perhaps only for the occasional korean movie. However, on this very day, I feel compelled to pay a tribute to the men from CEDI. Yes, no more boys but men from now on.
I still remember the day when we all first met: 14th June 2004. Our fate were decided already. We were to become the first batch of CEDI pioneers. It was in a very small room at selarang camp. Then we had a chat with Joseph. A nice officer, he turned out to be. Alas, good men do not last. Joseph left us for HQ SCE in October 2004. Till now, Joseph is the only officer to sit and eat with us. Ok, Junyao too.
I was in section 1's room for the first 4 days. Life was gd then coz there were not specs to bother us. I guess for many of us life became very controlled when the specs arrived.
We never had a cordial relationship with our sergeants. Until now I do not understand how difficult it was for us to make friends. To me, to be friends was better than being foes. But, no one took the extra effort to thaw the frosty relationship between us and the specs. Things just got worst after several incidents, the one being most forgettable would be PAC. Although I wasn't there at that time, I could feel the animosity building between us and the specs. One regret that I do have is that we and the specs didn't have a good relationship in NS.
Many of us from the platoon have been through many things together. The times when we were at SOCE for our pioneer course is by far the most memorable for me. I think many of us showed determination, courage, strength and of course, perseverance to endure through our training. I also felt that many of us were at our fittest when we were there. Training at 39 was quite the opposite. It was slack but the food was good. Haha.
Besides the 2 courses, we've been through Ex Lion(the 4 ex-LCPs), POI training, Jurong Island SOF, PAC, 8,16,24,32 km route marches for ICSB, deployments at various Kins, conventional training, Taiwan, endless parades and of course, SAI KANG. That's a lot of things we've done over the 2 years!
To Alex: Thanks for being my buddy from the day at selarang. It has been a wonderful time with you around and despite many differences we both have, I hope our positives have rubbed off each other. Rock on!
To Ying Quan: My friend from BMT. We're going to ORD together soon. We had always spurred each other on. Without your endless support and encouragement, I wouldn't have done many things. The platoon without your presence would have also lacked some spice. Eat! Sleep! Shit! Haha.
To Cedric: My crapping buddy. But sleep too much la... We always talk rubbish everytime we have a conversation. Your level-headedness has also helped to alleviate some matters. Oh ya, you initiated the 'revenge' on your bed-mate too. Muahaha....
To Sebastian: My acquaintance of 9 years. Same sec sch, same jc. Even in the same platoon in the same unit. Wth. Too much fate I guess. Haha. Cool headed and always with a rational mind. More often than not our thoughts are similar and I guess that's what make us good friends now. Thanks for being my confidante at times, listening to my rants and frustrations. Oh ya thanks for the lost episodes too. Haha.
To Chris: Super friendly dude. With many female friends. Had NEVER intro them to us before. Haha. Our friendship was taking a downhill(until your foot injury) because of my behaviour. Sorry for that. Right now I hope we're ok now. I've learnt many things from him. How to be a humble person, how to think rationally. I was always so hot-headed and egoistic then. Thanks for having a positive influence on me even though you might not know it.
To Guo Zhong: Better known as 'Hong Zhong'. A cool 'bo gah lan' attitude, hardly cares about many things. Not a bad thing though. I guess that's something I can learn because you can't care about everything all the time. A gourmet with a limitless appetite. He can eat like 3 bowls of bah chor mee. Food god. We tried to tempt him to eat beef but his faith is strong. Take care dude!
To Gan: The most matured member of CEDI. Too bad he had to leave our platoon early. We have many topics in common to talk about. Mostly about food. Other times about our experiences in life. Many stories to share all the time. Arguably one of my better friends in 6 SIR. He ord-ed in February. Oh ya, KOF god too.
To Kok Sin: The fellow with an appetite bigger than T-Rex. One of the guys who braved the Taiwan cold together with me. Your antics have sometimes bother many, including me, but without them, life in the bunk would had been ultimately boring. Haha. Sometimes I feel so exasperated when you talk, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. But that's where the fun is ain't it? Only thing I still don't understand is how do you run that way during shuttle run?
To Clarence: The guy who never eats breakfast. Fellow sufferer of the taiwan winter too. Plays a mean game of dota. I envy him coz he never gets fat. Very devout Christian and a nice friend to have. One word of advice: Get out of your house and into the streets man! Lol.
To Jacky and Zhuang Chou: You guys have/had been great platoon mates. Life couldn't have been the same without you all.
When we started out many people thought we weren't good enough. Some of them still think that way. They were never right. The achievements we had were not just measured in IPPT golds or SOC passes. Or ICSB badges. It's about the things we had accomplished together. The days and nights we spent outfield, the times we stripped the tonners, the times we marched side by side in parades. I'm very proud of our platoon because many of us not just suffered together. We grew together. In years to come we'll still see each other, be it at gatherings or ICTs. Let our bond remain strong forever.
CPL(NS) Geng
31/05/2006
National Service.
Today is my ORD day.
I was never a sentimental person, perhaps only for the occasional korean movie. However, on this very day, I feel compelled to pay a tribute to the men from CEDI. Yes, no more boys but men from now on.
I still remember the day when we all first met: 14th June 2004. Our fate were decided already. We were to become the first batch of CEDI pioneers. It was in a very small room at selarang camp. Then we had a chat with Joseph. A nice officer, he turned out to be. Alas, good men do not last. Joseph left us for HQ SCE in October 2004. Till now, Joseph is the only officer to sit and eat with us. Ok, Junyao too.
I was in section 1's room for the first 4 days. Life was gd then coz there were not specs to bother us. I guess for many of us life became very controlled when the specs arrived.
We never had a cordial relationship with our sergeants. Until now I do not understand how difficult it was for us to make friends. To me, to be friends was better than being foes. But, no one took the extra effort to thaw the frosty relationship between us and the specs. Things just got worst after several incidents, the one being most forgettable would be PAC. Although I wasn't there at that time, I could feel the animosity building between us and the specs. One regret that I do have is that we and the specs didn't have a good relationship in NS.
Many of us from the platoon have been through many things together. The times when we were at SOCE for our pioneer course is by far the most memorable for me. I think many of us showed determination, courage, strength and of course, perseverance to endure through our training. I also felt that many of us were at our fittest when we were there. Training at 39 was quite the opposite. It was slack but the food was good. Haha.
Besides the 2 courses, we've been through Ex Lion(the 4 ex-LCPs), POI training, Jurong Island SOF, PAC, 8,16,24,32 km route marches for ICSB, deployments at various Kins, conventional training, Taiwan, endless parades and of course, SAI KANG. That's a lot of things we've done over the 2 years!
To Alex: Thanks for being my buddy from the day at selarang. It has been a wonderful time with you around and despite many differences we both have, I hope our positives have rubbed off each other. Rock on!
To Ying Quan: My friend from BMT. We're going to ORD together soon. We had always spurred each other on. Without your endless support and encouragement, I wouldn't have done many things. The platoon without your presence would have also lacked some spice. Eat! Sleep! Shit! Haha.
To Cedric: My crapping buddy. But sleep too much la... We always talk rubbish everytime we have a conversation. Your level-headedness has also helped to alleviate some matters. Oh ya, you initiated the 'revenge' on your bed-mate too. Muahaha....
To Sebastian: My acquaintance of 9 years. Same sec sch, same jc. Even in the same platoon in the same unit. Wth. Too much fate I guess. Haha. Cool headed and always with a rational mind. More often than not our thoughts are similar and I guess that's what make us good friends now. Thanks for being my confidante at times, listening to my rants and frustrations. Oh ya thanks for the lost episodes too. Haha.
To Chris: Super friendly dude. With many female friends. Had NEVER intro them to us before. Haha. Our friendship was taking a downhill(until your foot injury) because of my behaviour. Sorry for that. Right now I hope we're ok now. I've learnt many things from him. How to be a humble person, how to think rationally. I was always so hot-headed and egoistic then. Thanks for having a positive influence on me even though you might not know it.
To Guo Zhong: Better known as 'Hong Zhong'. A cool 'bo gah lan' attitude, hardly cares about many things. Not a bad thing though. I guess that's something I can learn because you can't care about everything all the time. A gourmet with a limitless appetite. He can eat like 3 bowls of bah chor mee. Food god. We tried to tempt him to eat beef but his faith is strong. Take care dude!
To Gan: The most matured member of CEDI. Too bad he had to leave our platoon early. We have many topics in common to talk about. Mostly about food. Other times about our experiences in life. Many stories to share all the time. Arguably one of my better friends in 6 SIR. He ord-ed in February. Oh ya, KOF god too.
To Kok Sin: The fellow with an appetite bigger than T-Rex. One of the guys who braved the Taiwan cold together with me. Your antics have sometimes bother many, including me, but without them, life in the bunk would had been ultimately boring. Haha. Sometimes I feel so exasperated when you talk, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. But that's where the fun is ain't it? Only thing I still don't understand is how do you run that way during shuttle run?
To Clarence: The guy who never eats breakfast. Fellow sufferer of the taiwan winter too. Plays a mean game of dota. I envy him coz he never gets fat. Very devout Christian and a nice friend to have. One word of advice: Get out of your house and into the streets man! Lol.
To Jacky and Zhuang Chou: You guys have/had been great platoon mates. Life couldn't have been the same without you all.
When we started out many people thought we weren't good enough. Some of them still think that way. They were never right. The achievements we had were not just measured in IPPT golds or SOC passes. Or ICSB badges. It's about the things we had accomplished together. The days and nights we spent outfield, the times we stripped the tonners, the times we marched side by side in parades. I'm very proud of our platoon because many of us not just suffered together. We grew together. In years to come we'll still see each other, be it at gatherings or ICTs. Let our bond remain strong forever.
CPL(NS) Geng
31/05/2006
