remember the day when i got my psle results, i got so upset that i ran into my room straight away, not talking to anybody... i cried, and refused to eat... my parents were there throughout, not talking, jus doing little things that made me felt better. "grades ain't everything, you can still perform..." i'll never forget thsoe words. thanks.
remember the 4 years in gan eng seng school, how initially i was a misfit, but my ncc brothers helped me and not leave me in the lurch and i once again joined back the team, those 4 yrs became the moulding yrs of my character and my most enjoyable, innocent and trouble-free yrs. i'll never ever forget the 28 brothers that i had. thanks.
remember the days in jc, when being the only of 2 ppl from my school, struggles to fit in, feeling like outcasts, that my frends in jjc, pjc and sajc were enjoying their days with the comfort of some gessians. then decided to move ona nd made soem of the closest friends that i have ever made in those 2 yrs, some friends that till today i'll never forget. thanks.
remember how i struggled through the 1st yr at all my subjects, screwing up at every available opportunity, and jus not sure what is wrong, or if i'm not that bright. inconfidence set in. but i pulled together, and magically, things took for a better turn in j2 and didn't let myelf down. the smiles on my parents face i'll never forget, the words they spoke to me when i got my psle results echoed through my head there and then when i got my results. i may have not arrived, but at least i have defeated my odds. thanks.
remember the days before army, all the feelings welled up about and around. the days when i first got into army, the few weeks that progresed through, those bmtc mates that some i may well never see again, but we all shared that moment in time, a common bond and experience that i'll never be able to forget. within that 3 months, a journey that will never be able to repeat itself was passed. the day we all got out jockey caps and graduated from the school, proud and not caring about wad the next 2 years pose for us, we were on top of the world at that point. thanks.
remember the 1st 4 weeks in OCS, when army, navy and airforce all joined in a common wing, we all shared good times and bad times together, going through boring-to-the-max lectures, military histories. we struggled throught it all but made it past it, proud cadets of OCS.
remember the days when we were at taiwan, 4 days out in the mountains with jus me, gab, haresh, dzarrin, kangfei as company for each other. we encouraged each other than we hv yet to found 1 checkpoint by 1st day evening, we pushed hard, we cheered each other on when we had to bash 500m of forest upa nd down a hill to reach checkpoint November. and when the crunch cam,e when we have to decide if we should sleep the 3rd night or proceed up the mountains for our penultimate checkpoint, we came to a decisiona nd stick to it closely, we never wavered during our move up and nobody argued or scolded each other. we jus presed on, amid the darkness and dead of the night. when we conquered ex red beret, the feeling of overwhelming joy could not be described, it can only be seen from our faces in the video cam... precious images from the no-so-distant past. thanks.
remember brunei, remember the 3day navex, how we were totally despairing at possibly failing the course because we only found 1 checkpoint by 2nd day afternoon, remember how gabriel constantly prayed for all of us, and our morale was absolutely rock bottom. we held on to each others company, we pushed and pushed hard we did, and by some miracle, his prayers seemed ot be answered, we subsequently found our last 2 checkpoints, and we managed to complete the course. thanks
remember ex chillbone, the 2nd night, the nite of all nights, when we had to sleep near the river bank, we found ourselves in the middle of a heavy thunderstorm, and our campsite was almost flooded, the rain ocntinued to pelt on us throughout the night. hunger, fatigue, cold all slowly began to set in, our bodies shivered violently and we huddleed close to each other for warmth, hugging close to the group as close as our physical limitations may bring us to, it was a night to remember... and not to mention the last 500m dash down to the end point with only 30 mins to go and 1 hill right infront of our eyes, we couldn't believe our ill-luck, we struggels to past the hill and we were almost delirious. th tot of sleeping in the jungle for 1 more night jus made us sick. we dashed down hard and the adrenaline rush was simple unbelievable, unheards of acts were done, carrying 2 fieldpacks and weaopns, bashing down almost inpenetrable forests, scolding a air cadet along the way (hehe) and finally making it tot he end point, jus 10 secs on time. we crossed and the rest is fond history... thanks
remember the days when we came backt o ocs, as damn proud as we can be and should be, we were the kings of the cadets, we've made it, we were close to it, in fact, we have almost arrived at the doorstep of the home of the officer corps and were about o be initiated into it. remember the day of selection for the parade commander, how it was a nerve wrecking process but i held my nerves, and for the first time in foxtrot wing, pme and twohill were selected as the parade comdr and the parade 2ic... all our wingmates and platoonmates especially were happy. we trained hard, and not everyday were smoothsailing, the 1st 4 days were down in the dumps, was scoled by SSM and threatened to remove form the parade appointment. but then twohill, sgt desmond all came to help me, voluntarily without any hesitation, they helped me on both nights and eventually i got my act together again. the day we threw our peak cap couldn't be anybetter, we sang the OCS song loudly as we made our way down the stairs onto the parade square and when were were commissioned as officers, nothing int he world could have defeated us at that moment. we had arrived. we walked the path that many other batches have went, and we walked down it with style. thanks.
remember the subsequent days of commissioning, much stuff happened, it was unforgettable, it was a period of highs and lows, ups and downs, feelings and emotions fluctuated unpredictably. thank goodness it was over, it was a moment in that that hopefully will erode in times to come. thanks anyway.
remember how i first got my men, and tried to make sense of the meaning of command, i groped around in darkeness for a lamp, i had to come to understand how does 2 pcs worked. eventually i did, and then comes another shocker, my fellow pc left. it was another period of groping around, and finaly after 2-3 months, i got my momentum and i was happy, happy working with my men, happy for the privileged relationship i have with them, happy to the their single pc, the stress and chore of other admin and the command prob aside, i was happy to be with my men, and was touched by their gesture during my bday, a single note which i proudly hang in my office, and a bday cake which i'll never forget. these are my men, and i treasure them as close as my own brothers. i wonder how they'll react shoud i pop in a visit next yr after i ORDed. thanks.
these are times that i can never erase from my mind, these are the times that should my memory fail me in ages to come, i'll want to keep it in words, these are the things that mould me to the men(or old boy?) i am today. these are the people that have truely touched my lives and left a indelible mark on it as we all moved on and parted ways. these are the days of our lives, the time of my life.
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