Having gone through BMT,I've had a few experiences,and one of
them is the double standard in treatment among the companies.There
are 2 types of coys,the 'scholar and white horse' coys and the
others.
In my batch,the 59th Leadership BMT batch as well as the first
batch serving 2 year NS,Hawk coy received the best treatment among
all the coys,due to the Defence Ministers son Teo Chee Hean being
inside the coy as well as it being filled with scholars.
I was in Charlie(Cougar) coy for my BMT,and we had an MPs son
inside our coy,but he was treated no differently from the
rest.Evidently,some white horses are whiter than others.
While I may have no direct evidence,there was certainly enough
anecdotal evidence as well as witnesses to the treatment Hawk coy
received.I along with several Charlie coy recruits were attached to
Hawk coy for our range,and the standard of treatment meted out to
them was considered quite good.They had access to television on the
1st day of their range and were able to watch movies throughout the
2nd day of their range.
Similarly,for the 24 km graduation march,their coy packed
newspapers into their field packs instead of standard
items.However,the SSM of BMTC 1,the 2IC of the School told them to
repack it with standard items,which they did,resulting in them
delaying the other 4 coys going for the
march(Charlie,Foxtrot,Bronco,Jaguar) for up to an hour.
Them being offered a standard of welfare far in excess of other
coys is systematically unfair to all others,and was something that
was accepted with resignation,but is something I wish to highlight
for general knowledge of this community.
This sort of double standard certainly affects our morale and
should be changed.While the OC and CSM often determine what
standard of welfare the coy gets,there should be general welfare
rules or guidelines that CSMs and OCs should abide by governing the
standard of welfare given to their trainees.
