I have finished my soul searching and will say this.I will fight
for my country.I wish to join the elite units for the prestige
partly.I feel no shame in admitting this.I wish to serve my country
as something morer than a mere infantry soldier,though that is a
respectable vocation.That is my ambition
As for ego,unashamedly,yes,I join partly for ego.I will serve my
country in whatever capacity if I am posted even to a non elite
position.though preferably a combat vocation.I will fight beside my
comrades and give the mission first priority over my life.If it is
for the greater good of the nation,then yes,our lives are secondary
to all other objectives.A mission first,all else is
secondary.
As for pride,I have pride in what I feel is my heritage as a
Singaporean and as a Chindian.I just wish to do my duty.I am if
anything,determined to go through with the tough training,as I am
determined to show people what Singaporeans are capable of,even the
weaket of us.For if you serve in the SAF,I feel you should take
pride in what you do.You are protecting your society,your
people.For some,you are given a chance to redeem yourself and
contribute to the greater good of Singapore.As a soldier,you are
representing yourself to the world as a defender of your nation.In
these turbulent times,soldiers are needed more than ever and it
saddens me to see people trying to skive off and just cruise
through their service.Previous generations before us have gone
through it to defend us.If not for them,we would not have the
security that we have now.We owe it to them,to our descendants,to
our future generations,our families,to serve in an honourable
institution that is not perfect but I feel does its best to do its
duty,to defend a society that takes it for granted.
I also wish for a return to the training standards of the 60's or
70's,well,to match the israeli's in their toughness for
training.Safety is all very well and good,but sometimes accidents
happen and they cannot be avoided all the time.We need mentally and
physically tough soldiers,disciplined and intelligent,who can hang
with the best of them.I mean come on,air-con barracks?Give me a
simple tent.Throw us into tough training and we will pull
through,Singgaporean men must either adapt or show their weakness
to their comrades.
At the moment,for most NSF's it seems to be just a game,but living
in our part of the world,it is highly turbulent.To the west,Aceh is
embroiled in war.To the north,rebellious Muslims are being cleansed
by the Thais.To the west,Mindanao seeks independence frm Manila.The
JI have sought to bomb us,Muslim traitor residents of Singapore who
would kill their own people to achieve their aims.Their loyalty
should be to their country,NOT Islam.The Koran states that you must
put your country above your religion.And of course,there are those
threats that are covert and won't be revealed,to avoid panic.We
should throw the TSR to the air and forge new training standards
that equal those of the Israelis,to have tougher PT and harder
living conditions in the barracks,to conditions ourselves.We must
train as we would fight.
I explicitly state that only some extremist Muslims are
responsible.From my view,most Malays are loyal to Singapore and
would make good soldiers.It is in their heritage.I just feel that
the JI terrorists who are Singaporean should be charged with
treason and left to contemplate their deeds,the betrayal of their
homeland,before being shot through the head.Traitors like them must
pay the highest price.
