Today the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) celebrated “SAF Day,” a day in which the men and women of in the Armed Forces dedicated their loyalty to the nation. Back in the days of service, SAF Day was probably the biggest point of division between the official and the real. As a member of the SAF, it was an exceedingly important part of our calendar. There was always a parade (attended by the President) and lots of promotions. It was the time when “best units” were announced and that got senior management very excited. However, we on the ground level didn’t really care much for SAF Day for a simple reason – there was no public holiday attached to it.
Having said what I’ve just said about SAF Day, I’ve
actually become fervent believer in the SAF or at least the institution of
National Service. I’ll never tire of saying it, the most “educational” part of
my life was in the two and half years of national service. Sure, I have a
degree from a respectable college but to me, what is important is not the paper
but the process of getting that paper and the truth is, university was a
wonderful party but exposed me to very little beyond academia.
The army, by contrast, opened up a world that I never realized
existed. Suddenly I had to get on with people who thought I lived in a bubble
for the simple reason that my official address at the time did not start with “Blk….”
I was effectively an outcast but at the same time I found the guys who would
become my brothers from different mothers. The army was, I believe the first
time in my life that I actually achieved things that were not bought for me or
things that I was guided into. My father will probably vomit if he read this but
the first time, I got my chin up the bar felt more like an achievement than
getting my degree.
In a world where kids are increasingly sheltered from
the world outside their own bubble, National Service has become even more
valuable. The computer game generation needs to understand that life,
especially in war, is brutal and nasty. People often forget that you actually
have to be uncomfortable in order to change and adapt. Its one thing to be able
to fly up a low wall on a computer graphic. It’s another story when you’re carrying
your webbing and just dashed 700 metres before you physically scale the wall.
That experience humbles you because you realise that the task is real and it
requires something within you in order to get done.
Its very clear that the SAF has a mission to be able
to defend Singapore from any external threat. It’s something which has never
been tested. However, that doesn’t mean the SAF is redundant. If anything,
modern life has made the SAF more relevant in its role of making the youth of
Singapore discover the realities of life, of living life beyond that bubble
that we’ve been led to believe is a natural state. For all that I might have
complained about being in the SAF, I’m grateful to the institution and the people
there who made me.
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