NO LONGER A RECRUIT .

After what seemed to be months, but actually 9 weeks - we finally survived BMT and officially PASSED OUT and graduated! Although I didn't actually get to participate in the parade (literally like 3 out of 14 in my bunk participated and the rest was down with fever and what not and we all had MC so we had to fall out from the parade which was quite sad)

with the family who came for the graduation parade wew

Something worth celebrating about and it's probably the first major milestone in our two year national service stint, passing out as "trained soldier" and entering the next phase of NS in our respective vocations and units. 

As I'm in the pes c cohort, we only spend 4 weeks of our BMT in Tekong, followed by 5 weeks of vocational training. However the course for my vocation training is longer than 5 weeks so after the block leave we would have to continue the training (which means we wouldn't get our formation badge so soon yet T-T), but it has been quite a fulfilling and interesting experience so far for my training, as we learn things which we would definitely not experience as a civilian.

"I wanna be an IRA soldier" ; one with (most) of the IRA dudes

Life at Sembawang Camp is pretty different from what we have at Tekong. My bunk was on the 5th floor of the block so imagine all of us carrying our heavy duffel bags up to the 5th floor on the first day when we arrived - all of us ended up perspiring and panting like crazy at the end of the five floors which seemed to be forever. In Sembawang Camp, we have either metabolic exercises/swimming on alternate Monday, Wednesday and Fridays - which I found to be rather useful as we get to exercise, keep fit and stay healthy while most of the times were spent in lessons for our vocations. But unfortunately I didn't get to learn how to swim at the end of like 5 or 6 lessons, but I somewhat could cover the basics.

Also it was nice seeing my Tekong mates again after so long!! Although it's a pity we didn't get to take an actual group photo together due to timing clashes, it was nice seeing everyone again :)

I was really thankful for my Tekong section mates and was rather worried at first about meeting new people here, as we all come from different companies and some of us already have our own group of friends. It was awkward the first few days but thankfully my bunkmates were all very welcoming and friendly which helped alot in bonding and becoming closer. We seemed to hit off quite well and without fail every single day I would be laughing non stop and they would be laughing at my laughter LOL. Super blessed and thankful for this group of people which made everyday a little more bearable. I would definitely consider myself lucky to meet two groups of people whom I could connect well with throughout this BMT period in both Tekong and at Sembawang.

Of course, there would be people whom we cannot connect well with and might have an dislike for them, but most of the times I would just try and close one eye and ignore but sometimes it's really just too much. Living in a communal space requires everyone to play their part to keep the space clean and tidy, taking care of personal hygiene and stuff so everyone can be healthy and not fall sick easily, but despite numerous requests some people would continue living the way they want to, which has ultimately caused several of us to fall out during the last week and eventually missing out in marching at the graduation parade. Unfortunate but well we meet people from all walks of life in the army and it's fascinating to wonder and see how they went through the past twenty or so years of their lifes with that mindset.

Introducing the "mentally retarded" bunk 1

To a new phase of NS life as a private and hopefully a smooth sailing one with more fun moments with the squad ~