Wednesday, November 14, 2007
33rd NCO Camp@Nee Soon White House

It's Wednesday! Wednesdays are significant. It marks the mid point of the week, and once you're past a wednesday noon, it means you're nearing the end of each working week.

So here I am, spending a Wednesday evening at my computer at home, waiting for my No. 3 uniform to dry in the drying machine. And I dont think i'll be making my way back to camp tonight.

So I heard, tomorrow the 33rd NCO Camp kids are coming up to the White House for an SAF Bands tour. I was appointed as one of the 10 tour guides to bring each group of Band/Drum Majors around the White House, explaining to them what facilities this majestic dome boasts. Some kinda act to attract potential full time musicians with the SAF? Never too young to start. Ha. And yes, that is why I'm home to wash my uniforms cos they both stink already and I can't bring kids around in a stinking uniform.

"Welcome to the SAF Bands White House. Our Vision is to join ranks of the world's finest armed forces bands."

I'm kinda excited about being OGL tomorrow. The tour is just a small part of this entire familiarisation programme. But somehow, I found it really interesting to finally educate a group of people, about who the SAF Bands really are. That we don't actually sit around and sing and dance all day; that we actually MARCH AND PLAY, and do parades on parade squares under the hot sun; that we wear UNIFORMS and NOT COSTUMES. Fuquan and I actually spent some time last night reading up manuals and doing up our handheld little notes for reference when we bring these kids around. Kids ask weird questions. And we cannot afford to start stammering with our uniform on.

It is amazing, how much pride I take in being a Military Musician. No, nothing near sucking up. But really for a PES C soldier like me, being a Musician appears to be more meaningful than, say, being vocationalised as an Admin Support Assistant. No offence, it so happens that my vocation allows me to do something I really enjoy. And it is undoubtedly a vocation that allows you to see alot, because Musicians travel from camp to camp all the time.

Nuff said! I'm not even near ORD. Shall not get all lyrical and snap into this "I'm going to miss NS mood."

Tomorrow, Sunil, Weekiat, Andy, Joel and Frankie are dekitting already. And they'll be gone in two weeks. Gosh. It's another group of my friends leaving.

I told Encik Ong "Sir, Sunil is also leaving in 2 weeks."

Encik Ong replied: "Really? 2 weeks? So fast ? Oh my goodness..."

Accompanied with a headshake that essentially means "Ah, my tuba section's shrinking and i dont know what to do..."

Till again!

Labels: a night at away from camp.

Saturday, November 10, 2007
November!

I'm back again! With 3 months worth of events ready to be summarised into 1 post. Although really, I think I'll prolly just go on about really recent events.

It's been another cycle of emotional ups and downs during the past 3 months... With the new musicians being posted in without my ABSM attached to Central Band for an international tattoo at Kualar Lumpur, I was tasked with the responsibility to take these new musicians in hand for a few weeks. I had to be their babysitter, disciplinarian all at once; making sure they knew the rules, that they had room for accomodation etc. That stressed me out quite a bit, especially since my superior left me with expectations.

Consequently, I was away from everyone even more frequently, hiding in the office, almost getting married with work. Stress, and the lack of company just got the better of me, and I kinda like lapsed into another few weeks of unhappiness. Guess I sounded and looked really stupid. But thankfully for me, Hong Kong came!

Yes, on the last week of September, I left for a 5 days HongKong trip with some NS mates, Zhenhua, Zhongwei, Yiming, Kevin, Timothy and Derrick. If I actually remember to do so, I should do an entire post on it. It was great. It was, really the best getaway for me from the loads of files, documents and responsibilities back in camp.

October was generally uneventful. But I'm feeling alot better now, with more smiles and fun in life, less tension, less obsession with work. I see positive growth in my friendships.

November comes. And Zhenhua along with Junyang and many of my other friends in other units have ORDed. They've become so much a part of my NS life, now that they're gone, everyday seemed a little less meaningful than it was. It was fine initially, seeing everyone go. But as it gradually happened, these last few months of service for me began to slow down. And it will only get worse, I suppose, with Joel, Weekiat and Sunil leaving. And then Miah, Zhongwei and Yiming will leave.

Till then.

Labels: updates from a long time.