NS : Part 1

This is going to be the first series of entries dedicated to all my friends whom i've met at Kulim during my 3 months in National Service.

GETTING READY FOR NATIONAL SERVICE

My adventure started on the 11th of November (SPM going to start and you give me this DARN letter...make me no mood to study nia) when I received the "special letter" from the Ministry of Defence.I can still remember how I got the letter from the postman.Our conversation went like this:

Postman:Jonathan Tan Hao Lin...Siapa budak ni?
Me: Saya la...apa pasal?
Postman: Haha...hang ni kena jadi askar untuk 3 bulan
Me: Heheh...( Ma Chao Cheebye )
Postman: Nah, surat untuk kamu dari Kementerian Pertahanan...HAHA
Me: Ok...( KNNCCB just get the f*** out of my house )

Anyway the letter consit of:
1)A letter congratulating you for being selected ( How sarcastic )
2)A booklet containing the necessary details ( Not very helpful either )
3)Medical forms
4)Deferment forms
5)M-16 forms ( a.k.a I DUN wanna be responsible if you get shot form )

What the heck....even if I get the letter now I can't do anything because SPM is just a few days away and i'm not going to do this NS crap until December!!So I chucked the letter into my drawer and hope by some miracle it will rot and turn into dust and I won't have to report myself to camp XD!!!SPM came and went...while everybody were rejoicing that the exams were over,I on the other hand was counting the days before I have to go to boot camp.At that time I was still trying to accept and digest the fact that i've been selected for NS...I really didn't want to go and of all people it was Robin who kept on asking me to defer it and go to Concord with him.After some serious consideration,I decided that there's no point in deferring NS,i'm not a whimp who uses education as an excuse to "escape" from NS...i'm going to face this challenge head on like a man.

My Medical Form

The Highest Ranking Doctor in the OP Department

One of my medical reports

It was only at the end of December did I really start to settle my NS stuff...I did my medical on the 24th of December and I opened my Bank Pertanian account on the 28th of December.I really have to thank Ming Siew here for telling me that there's a Bank Pertanian branch in Jalan Tengah...Thank You.It was only on the 29th that I really started to buy my "provisions" and packed my bag on the 30th.On the30th night me,alex,zhe (replacing andre),derek,lee xin and our beloved simon went to passage tru india for our belated singapore victory celebration.That was the last time that I saw my friends before I went to camp.

LEAVING FOR 3 MONTHS

Jan the 1st...the day that I've been "waiting" for for has arrived.I woke up at 0730hrs in the morning...went to take a shower and then continue packing my stuffs that i've left out so far.By the time I finished it was about 0745hrs...shoots...I have to report myself at PISA at 0800hrs.Cilabai laut...only got 15mins how to make it in time to PISA?!?!So off I went with my dad at the wheel and burning rubber along the way towards PISA.Miraculously we got there at 0810hrs....not bad since I live quite some distance from PISA.The scene at PISA was chaotic...there were "people sea , people mountain "of UNHAPPY people there.The whole area was fully packed and to make matters worst the registration table was only 20feet long and behind the table was an entire car park full of UNHAPPY people!!!It was hot,stuffy,sticky,irritating,annoying...ect. and we poor UNHAPPY people had to stand in line for more than 90mins.

Me(unhappy) and my bus that never left...

For most of the 90mins I was cursing everything I could see...I was cursing the people in front of me for being slow,the people behind me for pushing,the guys beside for being sweaty and smelly,the noisy parents for their generous contributions of noise pollution and to the Ministry of Defence for selecting me in the first place.Finally I got to the registration table...registered myself and got my bus ticket.The time then was roughly 1030hrs.While I was queueing up,my sister and my dad already found the bus which I was SUPPOSED to take to Kulim.It was then that I met up with Ming Siew who had already been at PISA since 0700hrs ( recap: at 0700hrs I was still in slumberland ).So we said our goodbyes in front of the bus and got on to the once again hot and stuffy bus.Just as I was about to sit down on my seat...some jackass came aboard and shouted "Semua orang turun...bas tak boleh jalan".That was it...first I'd to queue up for so long and now cannot use the bus??CHEEBYE leh...KNNCCB...STUPID MOTHERF*****G NS!!!!So off the buses went without us and we poor UNHAPPY people were stranded at PISA.I can still remember Ming Siew coming up to me and said...No need go dee la..stupid bus wan.History shall always remember this day as THE DAY OF THE BUS FIASCO.

Since my parents had to go back to work...I had to tumpang Ming Siew's car to camp....I was very pai seh at that time.On the way to camp we stopped by at the nearby town of Lunas to eat duck rice(don't ask me why) for lunch.We were joined by Ming Siew's schoolmate and soon to be our campmate called Loh Jia Min a.k.a. mata sepek( her nickname in camp).My first impression of Lunas was YOU-CALL-THIS-A-TOWN??It was like a ghost town.The town has only 1 main road and thats it.Its like a Penang road with old run down shop houses on its banks and some residental housings behind it...and that my friend is Lunas.After having our Last Meal of decent food we headed to our Final Destination....Kem PLKN Bukit Besar-The home where bright youths get brainwashed for 3 months.When we arrived there,my first impression of the camp was.....

To be continued....
Next time NS : Part 2