No point wasting your breath, Nathan - if they didn't get the
point after all that to-and-fro on the other thread, you're just
going to keep going in circles.
For anyone who wants to know what the other thread is, go here:
http://smsinasia.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=59607
Back to the topic. I am assuming that dreamykite is somewhat
lacking in literacy, and take the question to mean, "After the
recently reported incidents in the news, do you still support the
implementation of NS in Singapore?".
First, a caveat. From the accounts I have heard from friends in
other units, my experience was rather unusual; Commandos tend to
hold a different mindset to those of other vocations within the
military. When I was called up for my vocational interview, the
whole Commando concept did not quite tickle my fancy, so I made an
effort to demonstrate the worst attitude possible and get rejected.
When a stern-looking sergeant asked me if I wanted to be in
Commandos, I asked him if I had a choice. When he said no, I said,
"What the fu(k are you asking me for, then?". To my chagrin, I
found out over the next two and a half years that it was exactly
the attitude they were looking for.
The turning point came about six months into my service. There were
a few factors involved here. First, I came to admit that come hell
or high water, I was stuck there for the next two years, and that
the best thing for me to do was to get as much as I could out of
it. Once that happened, I started taking the job seriously and I
would like to think that I made a decent effort of it until my ROD.
Along the way, I was fortunate to come under the command of a few
men whom I can respect to this very day. In particular, my OC and
platoon sergeant were professionals in the most true sense of the
word they knew exactly what they were doing, and they did it with
the minimum of fuss. I watched them closely and analysed their
method of conducting themselves, and it was an enlightening
experience that left me with a few characteristics I carry through
to the present day.
First among these is a sense of purpose. Whatever I do, I make sure
that I know exactly why I am doing it, what objectives are to be
achieved and, as a result, what the most efficient way of doing it
is.
This leads to the second characteristic: absolutely no bullshit. I
do not promise anything I cannot deliver, but at the same time I do
not sell myself short. Turning that sense upon other people, I have
a good sense of when someone at work is trying to pull a fast one
on me. My professional reputation is built upon these two
characteristics.
Case in point: a few years ago, my company contracted a senior
psychologist to customize his personality survey for us. He came up
with an initial fee of $250,000. I asked him for a breakdown of his
costs, and ticked off the tasks that I could perform myself. By the
time we were done, his fee was $2000, and I cut the six-month
process down to two months. At that point, I told him (very
politely) thanks, but no thanks.
Along the way, because we were trained to think on an individual
level, another thing I took away from NS was confidence in my own
judgement. Rather than following the pack, I reached my own
conclusions and took my own path. Case in point: in one of my
undergraduate assignments, I was the only student willing to state
that the lecturer had designed the experiment incorrectly. That
assignment still sits in the university library as a reference
piece.
One of the first lessons I learned during NS was that there is no
finish line 8-kilometre route marches went to 15 kilometres and
exercises went on forever. I still carry that as an assumption in
everything that I do, and more often than not it has served me
well. It allows me to take the quality of my work that one step
further and (ahem) in other endeavours, the ladies dont complain
about it either. 
An overarching characteristic that NS has left me with is a sense
of personal bearing. This encompasses a number of operating
principles:
- do it right the first time
- make an honest assessment of the situation you invariably pay
the price if you try to deceive yourself or others
- know and respect the rules of engagement
- keep everything, physical and mental, in serviceable order
these will come in handy for unanticipated situations
- a gung-ho attitude doesnt carry the day professionalism does;
dont go shooting in all directions hoping you will hit something
instead, take your time and make all your shots count
- at the same time, I have no time for shenanigans everybody who
has worked with me has learned one thing first: fu(k with me and
Ill shit your balls out after Ive had them for breakfast
Over the last ten years, the lessons I learned during my NS have
held me in good stead. At university, they took me to the top five
percent into Honours, and then to the top one percent of that group
into the doctorate. At work, they have left little, if any, for my
employers and colleagues to complain about. On a personal level,
they have earned me friends that I can absolutely count on, because
they know it goes both ways.
So in a word, the answer to the question "after the recently
reported incidents in the news, do you still support the
implementation of NS in Singapore?" is yes. If anyone thinks
otherwise, I pity you because you have either wasted a few years of
your life, or you are about to.
