Sometimes, i look around the camp and wonder just how lucky I am, to be in 3DA. Life here has been really really good, on the overall. Yes we do have times when work needs to be done and we make sure that it has been done properly with no compromise, there are times when we go outfield and get all drenched in sweat, and there are times when we get to slack until we are so bored of slacking! (like now) just on Saturday, when I was on the way to Sentosa, i met James. James is my bunk mate when i was a combat engineer in 30SCE! Man was i surprised to see him there! Of course now that we are in different camps, we do what almost every other soldier does when he meets up with his old friends - talk about life in camp! Thats what also happens to allow soldiers from different aspects bond together. Its like... A good place to start when chatting with a new friend ;)

He was telling me how bad life is like inside there, in terms of the privileges that they have. Heard from him that it is still bad, but less bad than during our trainee days. Sometimes when i book out of my air force camp, and see the civilians walking around just outside my camp, i wonder just how lucky am i to be posted over to 3DA. And the operators here were posted straight from BMT, so they have absolutely no idea how it is like to be treated in my previous camp. Okay some background info, from bmt, i was posted to 30sce (combat engineers) and then over to Signal Institute to be trained as an IC2 signaller, before being posted to 3DA. So lucky me managed to transfer from army to airforce! Life is extremely extremely different. Frankly speaking, it feels more like office when i am in camp, rather than NS! Which is good. Everything here isn't all green in colour alright. Thank God I was posted over to here, after hearing from James that they can't bring radios into their bunk, and given that the bunk is really stuffy, its totally not conducive for any studying. People either read or sleep. Almost all of the time, the latter is chosen. They just came back from outfield, so just slacking around waiting for the next one! Comparing with my bunk, i am really really LUCKY. mine has single deck beds which are really awesome, curtains, radio, TV, PS2,etc etc. We basically have a lot more freedom here and really, this place doesn't look like an army camp. You know, if we don't actually know how good others' life are like in other camps, we would just assume that our camp is like any other army camp. Not saying that my camp isn't good enough, but rather in 30sce, if they don't know how the other camps are like... Then yeah.

Frankly speaking, I was so so keen to recourse during my days as a signaller trainee because i really hated 30sce and based on the norms, we were supposed to RTU (return to unit). Luckily, i got posted to 3DA instead! Luckily things here work a whole lot more efficiently and its less rank conscious here too. I just wonder how everyone's NS life can actually differ by so much! At least in here, it's conducive for studying and we are actually encouraged to go upgrade ourselves so that next time when we go out back into the civilian world, life would be more fruitful. There are so many different vocations and stuff but hey that's what bonds us all who are serving NS together. I know it's not really right to be comparing things this way, but having seen and been through probably the worst and now leading this current life here, the operators here have no idea how lucky they actually are to be able to be posted straight from BMT. Of course they also do have their trainee life and their fair share of shit but at least now, they too enjoy the same privileges as me, privileges that my fellow comrades fail to enjoy in their camp in Jurong. I once questioned myself, why treat soldiers like this? Why not let them have some form of entertainment and brighten up their lives rather than leaving their brains to rot. Of course i did pose that question to James and his thoughts resonated with mine. He ended by shrugging his shoulders. In life, its only when we have been through a great deal of hardship do we actually learn to treasure the things that we have around us even more. We tend to take things for granted when our lives are all so dandy.

Of course the time comes when we have to bid each other farewell since we have to meet our friends. Gone were the days when I used to have such a negative outlook of my life, because I always dreaded having to book back into 30sce when my weekends are over. Even though the weekends are there for me to enjoy, the thought of having to go through another hellish week Just sickens the weekends. I'm glad and I'm grateful that life is a whole lot better now. Even my parents are so much happier now that i dont go home having such a rubbish and negative attitude!

He offered me his homemade sandwich before leaving.