Getting Married! (Confinement Week Part 2)

The Rifle presentation ceremony marked the start of the second week of confinement. We were all issued our SAR21s, and from that day onward, we were "married". Sworn to protect our newly wedded wives with our lives, I felt... a sense of pride to receive my weapon (sounds damn fake, I know). To me, it felt as though I have officially started becoming a soldier. Although we have yet to test or fire it. And thus, incidents of recruits losing their rifles and magazines during training started. Rifles were stolen by sergeants when they weren't locked up properly in our bunks and magazines were taken when recruits slung their rifles on their backs, out of their sight. Luckily, only warnings were given this time. At the back of my head, I know that punishments are going t o be way worse.

Dealing with Fatigue, Illness and Injury

As confinement week dragged on, we soon hit a stretch of about 4 days of back to back physical activity. Basic close combat training (BCCT), Standard obstacle course (SOC), strength and speed training and so on. That, coupled with 5-6 hours of sleep, made many of us very fatigued. Cough and flu were also spreading around the company as a result. Injury also became an issue during this period as accidents, especially during SOC caused a few of the recruits to be relieved from duty for a few days.

My advice in short
1. Sleep as much as you can when you need it, but keep alert. (sounds contradictory, but deal with it)
2. Bring cough syrup, Strepsils, vitamin c pills, whatever. You'll need it!
3. Be careful! Assess the possible dangers of any activity, and stretch properly! Warmup conducted before physical activity are not enough in my opinion 

Wish me luck and safety! I'll see you all next week

First and Subsequent Days (Confinement Week Part 1)

Hi, everyone! Confinement period is over and I can finally taste a little bit of freedom in the form of the Chinese New Year holidays. Before sharing activities that I've been through these past few weeks, let me tell you a little about what it is like on the sunny island of Tekong.

Pulau Tekong, where the sun is too hot, and the showers, too cold,

is how I would describe Pulau Tekong to family members asking how it is like over there. The afternoon and evening sun over there was mostly scorching, with cloud cover almost non-existent. So much so, that sunburns and sweat are a daily routine for any recruit in Basic Military Training (BMT) on the island. Aside from the weather, Pulau Tekong also seems to experience time dilation (Interstellar!), where time moves much slower on the island relative to mainland Singapore. Simply put, what felt like 2 months on the island was actually 2 weeks in real time.

Many also ask about the conditions in BMT, like the food, facilities and what not. Do not be concerned! Because Pulau Tekong has extremely... mediocre amenities. Without leaving anyone to their own imagination, the bunks, toilets and facilities are all accurately captured on film, in the Ah Boys to Men series. The food, is also very similar to the meals served to parents for food tasting on the island.

In short, with regards to the conditions on Tekong, I would say that it is pretty "habitable" and "Sufficient to survive". After all, its BMT, not a 9 week holiday retreat.

Adjustment Week

Within the first few hours on the island, after saying goodbye to our parents and freedom, we were assigned to our bunks. There, I met the people that I would be spending the next 9 weeks with. Unlike the drama depicted in many NS movies, my bunk mates are all nice people. My buddy is also the direct opposite in terms of me, in all ways. So, meeting new people from all walks of life kept the first few weeks much more enjoyable that it could have been.

The activities done during the first week of BMT centered mainly around orientation lectures on conduct and behavior, which lasted for the first 3 days. It felt like I was back in JC again... Physical training (PT) only began from the fourth day onward, with an introduction to the training routines (like warm ups and stretching). 

The rest of the time was dedicated to dealing with bureaucracy and red tape. Filling up a one page form took almost an hour! By the end of the first week of confinement, I was still feeling quite excited for the activities awaiting, which brought me to the next week of confinement

Preparation!

Firstly, a disclaimer: I do not feel I am prepared for NS AT ALL

Quite frankly, whatever I’m going to share with you here will sound much more than it actually is. That’s just a fact. Furthermore, I can be very sure that no one can say that they are 100% prepared for NS. No matter your physical fitness or mental fortitude, I’ll wager that they’ll be pushed to their limits. Heck, I’ve not even enlisted yet and I’m already spouting nonsense.

So, to prepare myself for the arduous journey ahead, I’ve been running 5k twice a week, lifting weights once a week and playing Ultimate Frisbee pickups thrice a week. Once again, in my honest opinion, far from enough in terms of training. On top of that, I’ve been eating mostly homecooked food, and avoiding fried stuff.

Stuff I’m bringing with me on my “vacation”

Preparing for NS includes packing all the essentials required for survival. This will include: 50 packs of instant noodles, a bottle of tequila and Fifty Shades of Grey.

I jest

I decided to make a trip down to the Beach Road Army Market to see if I needed anything outside of the blue list that was mailed to me by the SAF. Turns out, some of the shopkeepers suggested I purchased a few extra things that I might need, or receive too little of, from the items issued upon my enlistment. These include:

an extra set of Gutters (something used to keep your pants tucked underneath your socks)

Zip Lock bags of various sizes

Some black tape

Prickly Heat powder

a Zebra Marker

an extra army shirt and singlet

a pair of army issue white socks

All of these items costed just a little over $20 but TAKE NOTE! These items are what the shopkeepers recommend you purchase. I don’t know as of now if I will really put all these items to good use. I’ll edit this post again after a few weeks in the army to tell you guys if these items are worth the purchase.

These, along with everything else in the blue list, is packed into a compact foldable bag, labelled with my initials and I'm good to go!