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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - he just a A soldier obeying his orders!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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Nicholas Yong
Reporter
Committed to my country
February 23, 2009 Monday, 04:50 PM
Nic Yong gets a medal and muses on the importance of NS.
SAF GAVE me a medal last week.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t for any particular act of heroism that I had performed.
Instead, the SAF Good Service Medal is awarded to all NSmen who have completed two years of full-time National Service and 3 High-Key In-Camp Training (ICT) programmes.
So my latest ICT, which took place last week, effectively marked the halfway point in my 10-year reservist cycle.
There was the usual banter throughout, especially at the range, where some of us re-defined the term "bobo shooter", for someone who is consistently unable to hit the target.
At one point, some of us were carrying heavy equipment in a wooden crate shaped rather like a coffin. Predictably enough, someone started wailing and yelling the name of one of our platoonmates, as if we were at a funeral.
Then at the end of the ICT, we came to the presentation of medals, which is always a rowdy affair.
We received our awards to cries of "sign on!" and "extend reservist!"
Those who got medals marking the end of their reservist cycle got the loudest applause, with cheers of "MR (Mindef Reserve) loh!"
Servicemen in the MR no longer need to be called back for ICT, but are still liable for NS until they reach the statutory age of 40 for non-officers and 50 for officers.
In spite of the fact that most servicemen have never really come close to actual combat, one does feel a strange sense of pride at receiving an award like this.
Call it a rite of passage, or simply the knowledge that you are one step closer to the end of your 10-year cycle. You simply feel that you have paid your dues.
Amidst the endless arguments about the meaning of citizenship and nationhood, it seems telling that NS is a requirement for the children of new emmigrants to obtain citizenship.
Does citizenship need to be earned? Many argue that it is the gift that keeps on giving with all the special privileges that you benefit from in perpetuity in the form of tax breaks, GST credits, and so on.
They add that it should not be given away cheaply, with NS the key factor in determining how committed one is to the Republic.
In my case, I see it simply as performing another role: A soldier obeying his orders
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Nicholas Yong
Reporter
Committed to my country
February 23, 2009 Monday, 04:50 PM
Nic Yong gets a medal and muses on the importance of NS.
SAF GAVE me a medal last week.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t for any particular act of heroism that I had performed.
Instead, the SAF Good Service Medal is awarded to all NSmen who have completed two years of full-time National Service and 3 High-Key In-Camp Training (ICT) programmes.
So my latest ICT, which took place last week, effectively marked the halfway point in my 10-year reservist cycle.
There was the usual banter throughout, especially at the range, where some of us re-defined the term "bobo shooter", for someone who is consistently unable to hit the target.
At one point, some of us were carrying heavy equipment in a wooden crate shaped rather like a coffin. Predictably enough, someone started wailing and yelling the name of one of our platoonmates, as if we were at a funeral.
Then at the end of the ICT, we came to the presentation of medals, which is always a rowdy affair.
We received our awards to cries of "sign on!" and "extend reservist!"
Those who got medals marking the end of their reservist cycle got the loudest applause, with cheers of "MR (Mindef Reserve) loh!"
Servicemen in the MR no longer need to be called back for ICT, but are still liable for NS until they reach the statutory age of 40 for non-officers and 50 for officers.
In spite of the fact that most servicemen have never really come close to actual combat, one does feel a strange sense of pride at receiving an award like this.
Call it a rite of passage, or simply the knowledge that you are one step closer to the end of your 10-year cycle. You simply feel that you have paid your dues.
Amidst the endless arguments about the meaning of citizenship and nationhood, it seems telling that NS is a requirement for the children of new emmigrants to obtain citizenship.
Does citizenship need to be earned? Many argue that it is the gift that keeps on giving with all the special privileges that you benefit from in perpetuity in the form of tax breaks, GST credits, and so on.
They add that it should not be given away cheaply, with NS the key factor in determining how committed one is to the Republic.
In my case, I see it simply as performing another role: A soldier obeying his orders
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