Month: January 2004

  • Singapore men are the new women

    So says my platoon mate Dilbert Chua, 433rd Battalion Singapore Armoured Regiment Bravo Tactical Team Seven Section One Second Light Anti-Tank Weapon Gunner and journalist. He makes that sweeping statement while we clean our new SAR21 rifle after a day at the firing range, and after receiving a phone call from his girlfriend, who has…

  • Welcome to Buangkok, a million miles from care. In fact, a million miles from anywhere

    Today, I managed to see other people apart from my family, by visiting my platoon mate’s new flat in a new housing estate called Buangkok. I went only because I was curious to see what Buangkok looked like. It is very far. You can see Johor from the upper floors. It was a very nicely…

  • Symptoms of fire

    Symptoms of fire Last week during ICT, we were treated to the usual round of lectures, done by instructors in an army of the 21st century – powerpoint slides, flash animations, the works. Lectures usually precede practical field training, and despite our sniggering, they usually help in our understanding of what we’re supposed to do…

  • A breakfast menu

    A breakfast menu Once upon a time, not too long ago, but long enough to feel sentimental about, I cooked up to three meals a day for the girlfriend. We lived off Anzac Parade, on Lenthall Street in Kensington. Just the two of us. In the summer, she had a job at the Hyatt Regency…

  • Absolute discomfort

    When we’re not sick, we forget the aches, the drowsiness, the struggle to have control over our faculties. I think I am talking about what it will be like in the next week during in-camp. No matter how much I prepare myself mentally for the training, it never seems adequate for the gradual shock of…