一個新年的開始

哈哈。。。給你們了大驚喜了。

我打算用中文來寫我的隨筆了。而且，我會用繁體中文。我這樣做的原因是爲了進步我的語文能力，也是爲了讓我進步自己的寫作能力。對我來說，用英文寫隨筆和用中文寫隨筆是非常不同的。希望這種方法會幫我一個大忙，也會幫讀者了解中文，也學會一些繁體字。

我在這個月的十八號才上課。在這兩個星期中，我希望自己可以多讀聖經，尤其是羅馬書。我相信我可以從中學到很多的。我也應該多彈鋼琴了，第八級考試正在年底。聽説武裝部隊的樂隊開始收入了可以彈鋼琴的人了。（又來了，羅先生又要換職業了。。。）我明晚會有風笛訓練，希望明天可以開始吹真正的風笛了，不只是那個訓練笛管。

我現在沒話好説了。我現在要去體育館了。再見。

A post of epic proportions

Let me warn you. This post is going to be huge.

The CLT course was one of the highlights of this month. Obviously, since it took up 14 days of my holiday. I suppose it has changed me in many ways, and has highlighted my strengths and weaknesses. I realised (and so do the instructors) that I have a really good sense of urgency. Basically, I'll snap to the job and get it done in the most efficient manner possible without delay. That sort of thing. But the weakness is that I am in this hyper-alert mode all the time, without rest, so that when I go home after training, I end up extremely tired and depressed. I am blessed, therefore, that God gave me strength to finish the course and get on with my life. Constant reading of the Psalms during the stay-in week was a great comfort.

A lot of the stress from the course did not come from the course activities itself, but rather the waking up in the morning and the travelling from home to HQ and back. It was like leaving a secure area in the morning and departing for the unknown, the unsafe, the uncharted waters.

Clock-watching had a few effects. One was that it increased morale as the days went by, especially in the later part of the course. The other effect was that it made the course seem like eternity on the first few days.

I managed to get through anyway. BMT would be a little easier for me, I suppose, given that this experience has given me an idea of what in-bunk drudgery and personal admin looks and feels like.

And now for the other part of the holiday that made me really happy.

Hong Kong is a really great place. Good food, good weather, good transport and plenty of other things.

I once mentioned to Hui'en that Hong Kong was my favourite holiday destination. I shall now explain why. Hong Kong is the best of two worlds for me. It is a place where my roots and my sense of modernity combine.

I am not a Hong Konger, but I am a Cantonese. It is to my greatest regret that my command of the Cantonese language is frankly quite pathetic. Hong Kong is a place where you will hear Cantonese all the time. It is the language of my forefathers, and it is uplifting to hear it spoken by the masses, unlike my current location, where Putonghua (Huayu) has become the main tongue of most Chinese people. It is a crying shame to realise that thousands of Singapore youth are on the verge of being cut off from their ethnicities forever. I shall be the exception. I shall let no man rob me of my culture and my identity.

On a side note, I think I am acquiring a taste for Joey Yung songs. O_O

I think I'm digressing...

*Back on main topic*

I'm going to miss Hong Kong. Even now, I'm still trying to get used to the fact that you stand on the left side of the escalator on the MRT, when you stand on the right on those of the MTR. I have to get used to the MRT announcements being in English first, and the English signs being above the Hanzi. I'll miss the oh-so-familiar “請勿靠近車門”before the door closes. I'll miss the noisy (and sometimes absurdly long) escalators and traffic lights. I'll miss the feeling of being free, unconstrained by the drudgery of life back home. I suppose holidays are like that. A brief glimpse of the ideal life and then it's back to real life.

The year 2010 is approaching. I really hope that I can survive IB. I've already started reading the textbooks. Watchnight on Thursday and Friday.

I can't think of anything else now.

Aid Station

When the AFIs said this course was going to change our lives, they weren't joking. I only have five days more of the course, and yet, the past nine days have taught me so much about myself.

And I also have lost 2kg. That's something to be joyful about. :D

God really has been so good to me. I pray that God will abide with me for the last big push.

I shall be returning to the lines on Sunday night. I hope I will enjoy myself.

En Fenrik

I am getting quite excited about the CLT course. I hope it stays that way no matter what it actually turns out to be like. Today, I find out we have to stay-in for nearly a week. This should be interesting. I am praying that I will be an example of God's glory during the course. This is the perfect oppurtunity for me to do so. So God help me. Amen.

Restlessness

My daily routine now consists of PT, pipe practice and reading. I am anxious to get the new set of uniform next week to start working on it. Hopefully it comes with the OCT rank slides.

Pipe practice at PA tomorrow. Quite looking forward to it as well. Nearly finished reading Geoffrey Bennett's Nelson The Commander.

Anniversaries

There is something about the anniversaries of historical events that really gets me up and going. Today, for example is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I’ve got a picture of the fall on my desktop just for today. For me, these events mark key points in human history, points which define our mindsets till this day. The fall of the Berlin Wall, for example, is the enduring symbol of freedom, of unity. In some sense, it echoes the immortal words of the Deutschlandlied – “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit für das deutsche Vaterland!” It is the powerful imagery of common people tearing down walls of oppression to achieve their freedoms and liberties that really enthralls me. It’s the same for other events. Powerful imagery that shapes the way we think and form opinions. The handover of Hong Kong in 1997 represented the end of an empire that spanned the globe. D-day represented the beginning of the fight to take out Nazi tyranny once and for all. Trafalgar proved that Britannia ruled the waves. All these events have their own particular imagery for their significance.

But one symbol that really moves me is the red poppy of remembrance. This is not the same poppy used for drug production; although that’s the sort of confusion I seem to be getting around this time of the year. Because it grows on disturbed ground, it grew among the trenches of the Great War. The imagery is best described in John McRae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” – “In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place.” In Singapore, this flower has no cultural significance except for perhaps the connotations of opium production. It explains all the weird looks I get, and it explains the long stories I have to tell people whenever I have to explain its significance. It really bugs me sometimes when Singaporeans have no idea of the suffering soldiers go through in war. Perhaps it is because Singapore experienced war as a civilian population, and the people protecting us were the British. What is taught in our textbooks and is often emphasised is that the British lost. True, but it stops short of the experiences of the Diggers and Highlanders on the ground. The textbooks often praise the Malay Regiment, but they forget all the other regiments present. Imagine fighting thousands of miles from home and the enemy is right at your doorstep. In Hong Kong, the pillboxes had the names of the streets of old London Town on them. They missed home. So we have homesick soldiers fighting a losing battle. After the surrender, they are sent to crowded POW camps, and then some are sent to die working to build a railway for the enemy. This is one of those truly depressing scenarios that have failed to have been brought across.

Remembrance Day commemorates the fallen Commonwealth soldiers. Singapore is part of the Commonwealth. Fine, we had not many local combatants, but that is beside the point. Allow the words of Atatürk, leader of the Turks at Gallipoli to bring across my intended message. Maybe they are slightly out of context since the Turks were the enemy but the words are still applicable anyway - “You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.”

Let me say this, that there is no shame in showing our gratitude to those who have fought for our freedom by remembering them. In fact, the ceremony yesterday at Kranji was extremely humbling. I saw, in front of me, a Royal Marine veteran with the South Atlantic Medal (with rosette) across his chest. I then realised he was one of those who fought and yomped to reach Port Stanley. I suddenly felt very, very small.

However, what really had my blood boiling yesterday at Kranji was that some uniformed groups did not remove their headdress during the prayer. Commander Haycock had already asked all uniformed personnel to remove headdress, and then he did so himself. All the foreign colonels and captains solemnly removed their caps. And the cadets and officers of the uniformed groups stood there without a clue as to what was this strange foreign protocol was, that gentlemen should remove their caps when they are praying. Ignorance should not, and should never be an excuse, when it comes to ceremonies bordering on the near-sacred such as these.

When will we ever learn?

1st Post of November.

Next year's Chem is a nightmare. Even the Course Companion's first chapter is so complex. I still haven't worked out how the mass spectrometer works. Need to start mugging now or else, no six points for next year...

On a side note, my 2.4km timing went down to 12:15 from 12:36...Hopefully I can reach 11min by December and 10min by the next NAPFA.