Ah, I'd always volunteered for guard duty on public hols (except
Xmas & CNY). My guardroom was staffed only by 2 units, &
the other outfit couldn't consistently supply their share when they
were in transition (ORD block leave, new BMT intake, trade course).
Some of our guys had to do extra guard as a result -- over &
above the usual training programme -- with the tradeoff being one
could claim offs after exceeding a certain number of duties.
Good payoff for me since I didn't mind the stints at all -- could
basically sleep all the time after shifts, & the nights-off
during the week were enough for me to wind down anyway.
Won't burn CNY, lah. The SAF traditionally tasks its non-Chinese
troops to pow all the camp duties during the period. But no way to
siam standby assignments, & I recall being confined in camp in
1987 so that Alpha (CNY Eve) & Charlie (CNY Day 1) could
relieve Bravo (otherwise the standby BTY for the whole week). The
daily taking over was memorable, cuz those in camp had already
changed into new CNY clothes & ready for last parade at 7:45,
unless the realization hit that those booking in had the (normal)
8am deadline. By the time they changed into No.4s, drew out rifles
& meticulously took over stores, it was 10-plus before we could
book out! We ran the gamut of emotions: teasing, frustration,
grouchiness, outright cursing, then exhilaration.
