Signing on, signing up, and so on...

This week was primarily centered around talks by the Air Force, Navy and Army to sign on to become regulars. In short, they were 'sales' talks by the Ministry of Defense to recruit people to join the SAF. This means that those who sign on, are contractually bound to the SAF for a number of years. In return, the SAF pays for your education and provides you a stable salary. In return, you are bonded to the Air Force, Navy or Army (depending on which one you sign on to). Obviously, the offers presented seem very very attractive. The talks and speakers were engaging and there were many cool videos that were shown to us, advertising life as a regular in the army. To put it bluntly, ah gong (the Gaarment) throws money at you to help him protect the country. Sounds good right? In fact, many of the contracts feature a pay-as-you-study scheme, where the government gives you your standard pay (2k+) per month as you pursue further education. Alternatively, you can defer your studies for a on the spot payment of $20,000. For a 19 year old kid, $20,000 seems like such a large sum of money right!

It got me thinking, "perhaps, if I don't do so well for A's... sign on la". The thought kinda bounced around the back of my head for a while. With the A level results day looming around the corner, a job in the army seemed like an option that may become attractive (should the circumstances become a reality). Thus, I decided to sign up for some of their additional thoughts, just to... keep myself informed and to listen to what they have to say.

On top of signing on, this week also marked the first EI (Express Interest talk) where the CO (commanding officer) talked about the leadership programs in the army. During national service, recruits are given the opportunity to rise to become commanders. Essentially, leaders in the army. These come mainly in the form of Sergeants or Officers that attend the Specialist or Officer Cadet Schools respectively. The gist of the talk was centered around the fact that it is up to you to express your interest to be a commander in order to be considered for selection. This means that regardless of your BMT performance, as long as you do not tell your commanders that you aspire to join command school, you will never get in.

In short, throughout this entire week of talks and thoughts, one thing stood out to me. If the person entering the army is exactly the same person when he leaves the army, then it means that he/she has wasted their time. By going through NS, we're supposed to grow as individuals. To change and transform. Since we're given a free chance to change our lives, might as well go about it!