Was it a waste of time? Reflections of an ex-NSman

I watched the commencement speeches given by J.K. Rowling and Ellen Degeneres and learnt something from both of these successful women.

JK Rowling's Commencement Speech at Harvard



Ellen Degeneres Commencement Speech at Tulane 2009


Both of the women here are incredibly successful in their own right. But they also endured hardship and pain before they succeeded in life.

The 2.5 years (now 2 years) of full-time national service also saw many of my fellow NSmen and NSF endure hardship and pain. Each generation will say that the next generation of NSF and NSmen have it easier. But no matter how "easy" it is, conscription is still an enforced regime and not a voluntary one.

I too had my share of failures. At my current age, I'm no longer ashamed or shy to speak of them. I was in Officer Cadet School (OCS) during my NSF but failed my junior term. Looking back from being a parent and a relatively successful career person in internal audit, I realise that whilst I was not cut out to be an officer when I was 19. Since then, I've managed to graduate with a degree in accountancy from NTU, pay off my home before I reached age 40 and completed my 10 year reservist cycle safely to the country without injury or death.

The lessons I learnt from NS proved beneficial even if NS did take up too much time for those lessons to be learnt.

What are some of the lessons taught by the Singapore Armed Forces to this ex-Conscript in the Lion City?

1. Self-Discipline
Now that I'm a parent, I can follow my daughter's sleeping habits like clockwork. I have to give some credit to the SAF for training me to sleep according to the demands of the schedule. I used to sleep near midnight and wake up around 7am. Nowadays, after my daughter sleeps around 9pm, I'll sleep around 9-9.30pm and wake up just before 6.00am to start a fresh day at work.

2. Never Give Up
In the SAF, we are trained to push on with the mission objectives unless you were injured. This meant to endure small hardships for the objective. In life, I'm now focussed on achieving financial freedom by age 45. This stretch target pushes me to live within my means, to save and invest and to grow and protect my means.

In work, this has translated in enduring tough assignments to see them through no matter what.

3. Know Your Limits
It's great to be able to go on and on and on like the Duracell Bunny but in reality we also need to know our physical and mental limits. It was in the SAF that I learnt how much punishment my body could take before my brain baulked at receiving more of it. This was especially during the dreaded Standard Obstacle Course (SOC) as well as during the Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT).

I also understood more about what my body could and could not do. Like how much sleep deprivation I could put myself before being totally ineffective. This type of knowledge is not easily obtained unless one is put through situations that demand exacting requirements.

4. Be Compassionate
My BMT saw some of my platoon mates being worst off than me in terms of either physical fitness or being ostracised by the platoon. While I endured some tough situations myself, seeing others fare equally (if not even worse) made me feel less bad as there were others who were suffering more than I was. It made me more compassionate to try to lend a helping hand to my fellow brother-in-arms when he needed it. It also taught me to always take care of the team especially during my reservist time and when I was working in teams in my career.

5. Earn Respect
One of the most powerful lessons I gained from full-time and reservist NS was about respect. It is something earned and not acquired just because you have stripes on your uniform of bars on your shoulder. I've met a number of officers and sergeants I truly respect but there were also those I would not even acknowledge them if we ever met each other outside the army camp. A number of the regulars who treated me as a piece of turd were themselves unworthly of respect. They broke regulations themselves e.g. smoking in the offices when this was expressly forbidden. Driving home after drinking a few beers in the mess (driving while under the influence). They treated subordinates unfairly and were quick to push away responsibilty from themselves.

This made me more aware of how true respect is earned and mostly from deeds and not just words. Words are cheap. The universal round of "bang bang bang" made by the mouth is limitless and equally ineffective. The real 5.56mm round penetrates your kevlar helmet and kills you dead if shot accurately. Deeds are indeed more powerful to give backing to inspiring words.

Looking back, if I had a chance to change things, I would have gone through NS with more nerve and to be more daring. However, I don't regret a thing I did as all of those failures and successes made me who I am.

I hope you stay safe in NS and learn something valuable even if it is something you do not willingly wish to be a part of.

Majullah Singapura.