we had 2 days off after our pop (passing out parade) before we had to report to changi commando jetty to get the details of our postings and our final dispersal from basic military training (bmt). reaching the jetty, we gathered in 3s as a platoon. as we had passed out, we acted cool. after all, we were no longer recruits. despite the fact that we were still lowly privates, the feeling of being no longer a trainee was intoxicating. yet, there was an air of apprehension. on one hand, we were all sad that we would be leaving each other within minutes, but on the other hand, we were eagerly looking forward to know where we were posted to. soon enough, the posting list came. one by one, my platoon sergeant called out. it was weird to hear us being addressed as private so and so... and it was understandably so after 3 long months of being addressed as recruit so and so.
and then my name was called, private sim, officer cadet school, 2/85 infantry officer cadet course, echo company. hurriedly, i made my way to this group of people that had already gathered at the `ocs' signage. there was an indian sergeant. he was smiling broadly, so broad you could really appreciate the stark contrast between the white of his teeth and the black of his skin tone. that was arthur leo. sergeant arthur leo to be exact. one by one, he smiled and welcomed us and asked us (very politely too) to load up the 3-tonner. he was such a damned nice sergeant. such a contrast from our sergeants in pulau tekong! heng ah! we thought! in no time, we were on our way from the eastern end of the island to safti where ocs was located (the place has been renamed `pasir laba camp' since 1995 when safti moved to safti military institute) in the west. the journey was one helluva long, yet none of us fell asleep (which was surprising). in fact, we were all so filled with anticipation about what ocs was like that we were all lost in our own thoughts.
that was jun 1985. that was the time when tuas was not even developed. nor was jurong west extension. or jurong point. or all the factories in tuas. the whole place in the western end of singapore was one helluva deserted. there were graves. there were small kampongs. there were small one lane public roads that were in need of repairs and that only sbs service 175 served. that was the state of affairs in jurong in those days...
in no time, we arrived at pasir laba camp/ safti. the gate looked huge. for all of us, it was the first time we actually stepped into a camp on mainland. and a camp that had a gate too! the 3 tonner drove into the camp. foxhound avenue the road sign said. we did not give too much attention to this signage. we did not know how foxhound avenue would come to be so etched into our memories over the following 9 months.
and then my name was called, private sim, officer cadet school, 2/85 infantry officer cadet course, echo company. hurriedly, i made my way to this group of people that had already gathered at the `ocs' signage. there was an indian sergeant. he was smiling broadly, so broad you could really appreciate the stark contrast between the white of his teeth and the black of his skin tone. that was arthur leo. sergeant arthur leo to be exact. one by one, he smiled and welcomed us and asked us (very politely too) to load up the 3-tonner. he was such a damned nice sergeant. such a contrast from our sergeants in pulau tekong! heng ah! we thought! in no time, we were on our way from the eastern end of the island to safti where ocs was located (the place has been renamed `pasir laba camp' since 1995 when safti moved to safti military institute) in the west. the journey was one helluva long, yet none of us fell asleep (which was surprising). in fact, we were all so filled with anticipation about what ocs was like that we were all lost in our own thoughts.
that was jun 1985. that was the time when tuas was not even developed. nor was jurong west extension. or jurong point. or all the factories in tuas. the whole place in the western end of singapore was one helluva deserted. there were graves. there were small kampongs. there were small one lane public roads that were in need of repairs and that only sbs service 175 served. that was the state of affairs in jurong in those days...
in no time, we arrived at pasir laba camp/ safti. the gate looked huge. for all of us, it was the first time we actually stepped into a camp on mainland. and a camp that had a gate too! the 3 tonner drove into the camp. foxhound avenue the road sign said. we did not give too much attention to this signage. we did not know how foxhound avenue would come to be so etched into our memories over the following 9 months.
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