NATIONAL SERVICE 24-12-73

Silent Farewell

It was early in the morning of 24th Dec 1973, mother had prepared breakfast of coffee and bread for me. It was still pitch dark outside my kampong house. I slung my bag over the shoulder with all the necessary items I had packed the previous night. I was going away for 3 weeks from home. Till this day, I will never forget my mother squatting by our washing area next to our kitchen. She was crying silently as I walked off. She did not want me to know and I pretended not to notice her and we both said nothing. I didn’t wish to aggravate her grief any further.

'Passage of Manhood'

Seat on the bus on this cool December morning to CMPB, I started to feel excited and began looking forward to start the “Passage of Manhood”. The seniors I knew were always bragging about their units and all the exciting exploits. I just couldn’t wait to find out which unit will I be posted to. Would I have the same excitement and adventures I heard so frequently, I asked myself?

Awaiting posting

We assembled at CMPB camp at Tanglin. There we were packed onto 3-tonners. There were some familiar faces from RI. We were met by officers wearing the beige Navy uniform. Instantly we knew we were headed for the Navy. The Navy was never a part of NS as all navy personnel was “sign-on”. Straight away excitement led to anxiety and disappointment. I knew all naval officers were trained overseas, so there goes my chance of becoming an officer, I thought. Sense of sadness gripped me as the army trucks took us to Sembawang Naval Base, where the School of Naval Training was located.


I was still wondering and puzzled why on earth I was selected for the navy. This must definitely be a new scheme. Only time will tell.

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P.S. I will be taking 2 weeks break from blogging.



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