Sunday, March 16, 2008
blog
i do not know where to start from... was it from the day of enlistment on Jan 10 2008?
all i know is that, on that fateful day, 50 clueless guys came together (some say involuntarily). as said by my pc in his signature australian accent, "Welcome to cougar company platoon 3." that was just the beginning.
oh man, it was one heck of an experience.
first, the field camp. who can forget the high kneel + fieldpack overhead just because one of us was caught sleeping during stand-to? the arty strike and the fast march while changing campsites? the rifle overhead + duck walking? how section 1 and 2 manage to get horland-ed (i.e. lost) during night walk and somehow managing to stumble our way back to the harbour area?
what about the various night pt sessions just because our platoon had the worst ippt passing rate during the diagnostic test? how we got tekan-ed so badly for falling in late in the morning that we were never late in the morning thereafter? how we were the only platoon that never got to use the annex room cos we were doing night pt at the only time the annex room was open?
how about the 16km route march which we just sang our way through? our 24km route march (which seemed to go on forever) was just one heck of the display of the bond that we had. in the words of sgt amin, "you know what's the difference between platoon 3 and platoon ****? just look at the way you all march in step." the times when we decided to go one-for-all, all-for-one and just knock it down automatically... ooo how sweet they were.
section 1, my section, rarely late, but contains 2 most colourful characters of the platoon in charlie and shalam. section 2, the noisiest section but best bonded. section 3, best remembered as sgt hari's section and a good mix of personalities. section 4, the section which knows how to have fun best (and whore food like nobody's business).
pc 2lt allan, one of the nicest person i ever met. demostrates the phrase "leading through example" to the fullest.
ps sgt hairol, one of the most able sgts in the company. can speak well though with a surprising lack of vulgarities. any wonder why he is the asst csm?
sgt amin, super nice sect comm who treats his section really well, not that he does not treat the platoon well either. never forgot how he shielded charlie from being charged.
sgt hew, whose accent ("predominantly british") earns him the nickname "american", knows how to be nice and yet ensures performance and helped me out a lot when i was platoon i/c.
sgt hari, the sgt whom i respect most. can tekan us to half-death and still explain the rationale of the tekaning. never disagreed with a single punishment he meted out to us. learned to respect him more after the little skirmish during field camp.
sgt goh, looks slack but ain't slack. knows how to lighten up the atmosphere when necessary.
what about the rest of the commanders? 2lt na ("how was ur day?" "outstanding, sir!" "lanjiao lar!"), lta hazwan ("god damn it!" "why, gentlemen? why?"), lta wai tat ("i can do more pull-ups than you (referring to wayne, former hci canoeing capt) with my eyes closed"), ps chee wee ("reference row reference row readeeee?"), ps chan ("i am very welfare one"), ps salman ("f-king hell" "you cheeeeeeeeebaiiiiiiiii"), sgt max ("cheebeh!"), sgt huang and his 'twin' sgt terence, cpl faizal who seemed to defy the stereotypical strict adf cpl image, csm staff sgt chan ("tio my hokkien way boh?"). and of cos, oc capt rashik.
that day, before pop parade proper, csm went to shake everyone's hand personally. what a fitting way to end bmt. after all, during enlistment, he seemed so strict ("when you say, 'yes sergeant major!', you jolly well say it out loud!"). yet, he seemed the total opposite during the handshake. you could tell that he was proud that we managed to all pass BMT successfully.
when it rained just as we were standing there on the parade square, it dawned on me that the past 9 weeks were gone in a flash, but not wasted. could felt tears trying to well up in my eyes when singing the songs on the parade square but miraculously, i held them back. after all, as the sign at the tekong ferry terminal said, "It's not what you leave behind, but what you gain in the days ahead."
i have gained a lot for the 9 weeks. yet, with 3 plt sgts ord-ing, it's sobering to know that the company will never be the same again. commanders will come and go. all of us will get scattered to different units. i will no longer be shouting "platoon 3, fall in!" across the same corridor in the mornings. pc allan's signature post-ro "when i say mooove, you mooove. moove!" + hand movements will now only exist as part of my memory.
nothing will be same again.
but, one thing will never change.
i was part of Cougar company, batch 01/08, platoon 3.
for that fact, i reside safe in the knowledge that my bmt wasn't wasted.
shermon blogged @ 10:14 pm
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