NS

Gones are the day...

where boys had to queue up to call their family/girlfriend using 10 cent public phones in NS. My friends, my brother went to NS today! We took a ferry to pulau tekong (some parts of it that spread out from the island seemingly untouched looked a little like the beach in The Return, with all that sky). Oh but before that, at the terminal, when we just arrived, this guy was walking around looking rather severely at all the 'enlistees' and saying things. When he came to us (remember we had barely arrived) he ordered my brother, 'Tuck in.' in front of us!! I had to laugh. Boys around were tucking in their shirts into their low jeans or already had them tucked in. And there were all these huge photos plastered on the walls, the army's publicity. 'Every soldier is a leader'. Ooooh. And after that, as you walk towards the ferry, a whole stretch of such awe-inspiring words hung from the ceiling, like Perseverance, Professionalism, Courage, Human Spirit and things like that. Well my father started rattling on 'Professionalism! Makes me think of my NS time. Wah...they told me to take a week off and go to the library and research to write a speech for the minister of defence. in the end i was so proud when mine was chosen. he was saying his speech then wah, how come sound like my one ah?' Who knows how he did it. But anyway, he was being fascinated with the parents booklet in the ferry. Everyone was strangely quiet and he said 'Eh, to be chosen as an officer, you must consistently show your abilities leh' (i know he really wants my brother to be an officer. p.s. i found out to my horror and amusement that he was once ns man of the year) So when we got to the island we were given a tour around, and at the bunks, our guide said to all the curious family members and friends things like 'As you can see! there is a mosquito net above the bed! this is to prevent mosquito bites!' and 'the cupboard is designed well. it has a drawer for your son to put his personal belongings! he can put his wallet and handphone inside this drawer!' but the funny moment came in the auditorium after the lieutenant colonel (a nice guy, but who said things like 'building brocks' and 'gones are the day' and 'it is very importance') invited the audience to ask questions and this father stood up and said, 'I am for the concept of national service, but it is very discomforting to read of fatalities in the paper. how can you ensure that there will be no torturing and what systems do you have in place...?' Oh what a tickling moment. But no one laughed. And my brother just seemed fine with everything. It felt strange thinking that he was in NS. It is sort of an adventure i guess, going into the forest and firing guns, but a really long one that you have no control over. I just hope he has fun with the people in his section and if he gets tortured I'll kill 'em. He called back earlier and sounded nicer already. I miss him.

'Where boys become men'.....