Every Singaporean Son

I learnt a new word last evening,"Shellscrape".

After watching Every Singaporean Son on National Geographic Channel and again on Youtube, 'Good Fren' and I realised that the soldier's national reservist experience is rather different relative to that of the NS boy back in the 1990s.

The SAR 21 is a national pride.

The recruits wear gloves while digging.

The camo cream now spreads as easily as Korean BB cream.

And then, there is this touchy-feely bit of Basic Military Training (BMT) where the recruits get a letter from their family. It's like a scene out of Survivor, meant to dramatise their breaking point. Tenssssion aaaaaaaannnnnddd... Release! *BOOOOOOMZ*

The most dramatic bit starts at the 6th minute of the video.


The big-eyed sergeant is super dramatic. No wonder he has been chosen for this segment.

"No soldier is a weakling, Gentlemen! 
It's been an honour for the commanders to train you...
To 'beh'(?) with you... through tough times...
You have seen... how tough you are...
You have stretched your limits...
Today... You... Yourself... How tough a soldier you are.
You are here to prove to them... How much of progress you've made!!
Let them be a proud parents of yours!
Let them be a proud parents of yours, Gentlemen!
You are no more a boy. You are now a MAN!
You are a trained soldier, Gentlemen.
*Signals for family letters to be distributed to the already tearing platoon full of exhausted 18 year olds.*

At this point, Blinkymummy cried.
My 21 year old cousin was like,"Har? WTF? You cried??"
=))

My immediate question was: What happens if your family doesn't write you a letter?
My cousin told me that the Sergeant would then write the letter.
Imagine if you were in that NS boy's position. Everyone around gets a letter from family or girlfriend, whilst your letter was from the Sergeant. Sibeh sian. Life no meaning.

If I had a son, I'd write a freaking long entry letter to him in English and Chinese, decorate it with scratch 'n' sniff stickers, glitter etc, and get Uncle Blinky and Tiger to paw-print on it.

And I would absolutely, proudly and willingly carry his backpack for him, and sing 'Purple light... in the valley...' until he got on that thing that would bring him across the waters and back to camp. No need for my son to feel any remorse whatsoever.