Was at West Coast Park last night...
Saw this troop of soldiers(recruits, I presume) doing route march around the park, "Lerp, your lerp, your lerp right!" Wah. Brought back fond memories of those BMT days in Tekong. Anyway, this bunch of soldiers were already 'better off' in a sense, getting to do route marches on mainland Singapore! It's like within the visibility of the civilians, HDB housing, and even in front of MacDonald's! They were singing "Old MacDonald's had a farm, yee yah yee yah oh..." when they passed Mac. Cheesy, but that's just how they would entertain themselves.
Wah, to think of it, those route marches at Tekong were definitely memorable. The ultimate 24km route march especially. Gosh. I didn't even bother to sing much during the march. I remember that while marching, my mind was thinking of a lot of things. It was as if I were walking through many reflections that happened in my life. Incredible. But, extremely emotional. Somemore, with the exhaustion. Physical+emotional taxing. Then again, they were very good trainings and experiences.
Yeah, I admit I used to be quite emotional back in NS days. Especially the initial BMT days too. Cos it was quite a drastic change from civilian life. But I appreciated what I learnt and went through back then. Looking at the current batch of recruits, they seriously are getting better treatment. Tekong now is like 'chalet' to them. I heard the food there now is GOOD.
Somehow, I feel that when NS life is better in terms of better standards of accommodation, food, and even training methods, some 'raw' moments of the training-to-be-tough process are compromised in the process.
That was why even though I did dread going through field camps back then, I know that all these were meant to keep me stronger and tougher - physically and mentally. So, I prep myself to welcome all the training. And I made it.
Maybe you wouldn't believe it, but I really do treasure those NS days. Even up till now, I'll occassionally reminisce those fun and laughter, soil and sorrow we went through back then.
A pity I didn't sign on right? I will NEVER sign on. Haha. Some things should only be experienced once.
And once is enough to leave an impact on you for the rest of your life...
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