1987 - a new phase

it would not be complete for me to just leave my last post on "completing my ns" without mentioning how it ended. you see, i was a march intake batch. this meant that by the time i enter uni for my tertiery education, i would have only served two years and three months - three months short of the usual two and a half years. so, for a "normal" conscript, he would have to disrupt his military service and serve the remaining three months during his annual academic break. anyway all these did not matter to me.

i signed on (i became a contract military officer).

you see, ever since i was a young boy, i was a fiercely independent person. my mum had brought me up that way. i did not want to be financially dependent on my parents and by the time i was in junior college, i gave tuition to fund my own studies. and given my personal dislike towards my dad's tendency to openly show off things (money, achievements, etc), i learned to keep such information away from him.

towards the last half year of my stay in itd (infantry training deport - the name of the military basic military school back then), i was sent for my company tactics course (ctc) and then basic intelligence officer's course (bioc). i understood at that time that these courses were meant to prepare me for an intelligence position during my reservist. so i went for the courses. in ctc, i had the opportunity to interact with many regulars and combat units. it was interesting and i enjoyed the camaraderie with the men. it was such a contrast to my itd tour where i was an instructor and where recruits held me up in the highest esteem. also, my buddy was a regular singh and i had the opportunity to speak to him and asked him about how it felt to be a regular. he spoke a lot of about the financial independence and that attracted me a lot. to me, apart from my love for the field and the combat stuff, i could also enjoy financial independence from my dad. hmmm... good.

however, by the time i finished my ctc, apart from a low grading (as all nsfs did), i got disillusioned by how some of the regulars behaved. they had huge attitude problems i thought. and that was it. i went back to itd for a month plus before going for my bioc. i did well in bioc. despite the presence of many regulars, i excelled. i was eventually awarded the best trainee for my course. if anything, bioc turned me around. my winning of best trainee told me that regardless of service status, nsfs could also emerged top as long as he did well. that made me think very hard about signing on, which eventually i did. i went for the interview and was asked if i would consider taking up maths or military studies or history. i replied no, i'd rather do biology. and i spoke of how passion would drive me further in my pursue for knowledge. i was also asked if i would consider an overseas scholarship instead of a local award. i replied no too. i did not want anyone to know i had signed on, especially my dad.

i signed on the dotted line not long after i graduated from my bioc. as i said, i was an independent person. i signed on without even consulting my parents. i only told my mum about it the night before i went to sign my contract. i remembered her saying it is ok as long as i am ok with it. that was it. i signed the contract. it was on april fools day (actually thinking back, perhaps i was foolish! ha!). and i made my mum promised not to tell my dad about it. i did not want him to start telling people that i have signed on. i was sure he would go around saying i earn xxx amount of dollars and that i was a rich person.

i was a regular officer on course when the nus academic term started in jul 1987.