Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Horrors of NS

The death of 2nd Sergeant Hu Enhuai during NS combat survival training has raised an eyebrow or two as NS training is,perhaps for the umpteenth time or so,placed under the microscope of the general public for scrutiny.Actually,any of us guys who have gone through NS know the rigours of NS training is no kids' stuff,it's only the girls who seemed fascinated or horrified by it(maybe a stinct in NS would open your eyes???).And I'm sure the guys know their fair share of friends in NS who got sriously injured or something like that,enough for them to get downgraded.Of course,there are also those Oscar winners who chow keng well enough to get themselves exempted from physical duties or to get downgraded but hey,who can blame them?An army recruitment poster trumpeted that joining the army is not for fame nor fortune.Well,Jean Grey sent some of the X-Men a spoof of those posters and the modified poster rightly asked:"Not for fortune nor for fame.Then for f#$%?".And a couple of others I remember well are "Comrpomise is not an option.Chow keng is." and "Eye Power.Chow Keng.All Talk,No Action.Some thing you can't learn in a classroom."These are so true,I can't even begin to agree with them.

I am interested in a comment in today's paper about how "dunking,if done correctly,is safe"as said by an NS instructor.Well,I am sure,it is.Suicide bombing,if done correctly,is safe too.For others that is,Just go to St John's Island and blow yourself up discreetly.No harm done besides a mangled limb or two.Seriously though,I don't believe that training can be totally eliminated because one still needs to know how a particular situation can pan out through simulation and training.But sometimes I am quite amazed how these NS instructors can be so deluded.Of course,all such training activities are safe,as long as they are adhered to in the strictest detail by instructors.But how can we possibly guarantee that?There is a human factor invloved and as long as that comes in,there is always that margin for error that cannot be discounted.

I think the real horrible thing about the whole training regime is that the instructors present at training activities are not necessarily qualified to conduct those training activities.Those four instructors there,how many of them are really qualified?Have they gone through the necessary training and instructions and were true-blue instructors or were they just told to turn up and torture because they had been previous trainees in that course?If it's the latter,how would they know how long to dunk or to check for signs of stress?I guess it's easy to say that once someone is gasping,you stop.But dunk your head in water and hold it for ten seconds or so and one would be gasping too.It's not necessarily the actual physical exertion but the stress of the situation that can affect reactions.Maybe those guys are not experienced enough to discern.Why am I defending the instructors?I don't know.I know they are definitely not free from fault and has to take a great deal of the blame.No doubt about that.I don't know them personally but they might even be sadists for all I know.I am sure most of us,NSmen,know our fair share of sadist trainers or commanders in the army.But SAF also has to take the blame and they like to push it down to individuals(I am guessing that's what the article is doing,the organisation has its conscience clear.What the hell?Someone dies attending your training and you hold no fault AT ALL???).It has always or usually been the case and this is it again.It's time they stopped trying to paint themselves as white as snow.

I have a friend who also went through a POW training and got his shoulder dislocated bad enough to get downgraded to become a storeman.I am sure he was the envy of the battalion then.I guess in a way,the physical rigours of NS training can take its toll sometimes and claim its victims here and there.While thousands survive because they can,one or two unlucky chaps can meet some unexperienced or perhaps demented instructors and suffer needlessly because they are not up to it.The instructors then have to know who can and who can't.I can forgive instructors who are inexperienced but as regards to those sadistic ones,they only become so because they are in a position of power.And who gives them the power?The organisation.So can the organisation exempt itself from blame?

Personally,I am sure most people would want to chow keng through NS unless well,I can't think of any reason not to.Because at the end of the day,what's important to us?It's our lifes outside that is most important to us.Ok ok ok,save me this protecting the nation crap.In times of war,we will fight,even if it means taking up kitchen knives so all patriots out there,save your vitriol for some more worthy cause...like animal rights.Save the chickens,for instance.As long as we know how to load our weapons correctly,shoot reasonably well and perform our individual roles and tasks well enough,leave us well alone.Why do people have to take their training soooo "seriously"?Am I contradicting from what I said earlier?Of course I am.Training may not be diluted but they can be moderated.At the end of the day,you can get a knowledge of the feelings of being dunked and then you go home.Full stop.In a war situation,no amount of simulation prepares you for it sufficiently.The situation will be different no matter what one says.

I,myself,muddled through NS keeping a low profile which is a very wise choice.I didn't get picked on by instructors nor commanders very much.Which was a good life then.I learnt to shoot,read topography and handle signal equipment like any others and I'd think I can handle myself in a war situation.And I didn't had it too hard because my instructors were also the chow keng type and didn't bother with the " siao on" stuff,just as long as we learn the skills and do it well enough.So instructors,see...why be so hard on your men?And remember too,these guys could be supreriors to you in the outside world one day...the horror,the horror(movie buffs,know which movie that came from???)

The topic of NS always bring up mixed reactions from guys.There are good times and bad times.Funny moments and disgusting acts.We take it,grin and bear with it.Nothing special.But at the end of it all,we want to go home in one piece. So for sadistic NS instructors,I tell you,the guy you are dunking is someone's child too.What's the fun in doing these kind of stuff?Well,I don't understand the psychology of a sadist anyway so maybe that's fun to be had somewhere I don't and can't find.Tsk tsk tsk...