Snippets

1. It's in times like this that we are reminded that sometimes, when God does not grant us what we desire, it is because He has something better in store for us, cos in His infinite wisdom He knows what is best for us... and or... He knows that what we desire may not be good for us.

2. My thanks to everyone for their thought and prayers for my grandfather. His operation yesterday morning was a success and he is recovering well. I pray that he will be able to be discharged within the next few days.

Footdrill Instructor Course

Yesterday was the FDI Course Passing Out Ceremony, being the end of a series of lessons which culminated in the Brigade General Inspection and the course examination.

As for me it was a pleasant surprise when they named myself with three others (from the officer and NCO groups) to have done exceptionally well during the course. A nice gesture on the part of the organisers :)

Perhaps the next one would be the Gold course which would be next year...

Snippets

1. It is said that a pitfall of climbing the ladder is that at the end of it, you realise the ladder was leaning on the wrong wall.

2. I wonder if this ladder can be said to be of a certain Organisation.

3. It is not too late for the leaders of the Organisation to right the ladder to lean on the correct wall.

4. But whether they wish to do so is another matter.

----

1. When involved in any Other Organisation for a good cause, I put in my best and inspire my fellow volunteers under me to do the same.

2. But in a certain Other Organisation, the inertia comes from the top.

3. It has reached the extent that I do not think I will meet my minimum obligation to The Other Organisation this year, to be considered efficient. But what is the point of doing things for the sake of just clocking hours? Would it be better to focus my efforts on one Organisation which appreciates it rather than diversify?

4. Being involved in The Other Organisation has given me the opportunity to receive training ordinarily not available in The Organisation, and add value to myself as a member of The Organisation.

5. Next year upon graduation from NUS, I will be given the option as to whether to continue my service to The Other Organisation or not. That decision will be made on information available at that time, as well as the leadership of The Other Organisation.

some 2 months updates

I realized I have not updated in almost two months. Back then I was still having my internship at Sembawang E&C, which proved to be a good exposure to the industry itself.

Since then, other things have taken place in between.

- NDP Duty

I was on duty as part of the first aid support which meant that for 5 Saturdays (3 NE shows, preview and actual day)

Overall a good experience except it was kind of marred by the fact that the organizers did not want us to stand at the spectator stands for certain reasons which I guess I will never fully understand. But nevertheless I got to observe the NDP parades and fireworks 5 times..

I am generally more interested in the parade and ceremonies segment, not at all with the show segment though… but I like the grand finale, when we have the singing of the national songs which we know and love “Count on Me, Singapore,” “We are Singapore”, etc culminating in the recital of the Pledge and singing of the National Anthem.

Sad though that this display of national pride is only seen during this period of time.

- St John FDI Course and Annual Brigade General Inspection

This was some kind of unfinished business for me, since I dropped out of the first FDI course in 2003 due to my NS commitments back then. Of course, that also means I ended up helping out for AGI as one of the colour ensign, something I thought I would never be doing after my promotion...

Anyway, I was pleased to know the trainers were none other than the respected Mr. Firdous from the SPF and Mr. Oliviero from the SAF. We would be learning from the masters themselves. A pity this did not include the sword drill which would have made it a Gold FDI course, but I learned sword drill during my NPCC training. But then again, since when does SJAB use swords?

My guess would be when they are doing a Trooping of the Colours a la SAF.... but that would be a long way off...

- CPR AED course

This was a refresher course for me due to the fact I was originally trained in Singapore General Hospital. However, during the examination I was annoyed by certain condescending remarks on the part of a certain senior brigade officer (whom I shall not name) … but that’s life, people come along and make comments, some helpful, some not, some plain annoying...

- JCRC Handover

This closed a chapter of my hall life – as I put in my MSN nick, the end of an era, and the beginning of another. It was indeed a smooth transition and I am glad that although many people had their misgivings about some of the team at first, they are trying their best and I am sure the hall is in good hands.

Some thoughts / Kefikiran

Pada hari ini saya sedang tulis ini di pejabat. Saya tidak bawa kamus saya. Jadi, karangan ini mungkin ada lebih banyak kesalahan daripada karangan yang lain. Saya minta ma'af.

Saya sangat gembira kerana saya lulus peperiksaan dengan baik. CAP saya naik ke 3.4, tetapi saya perlu belajar dengan rajin-rajin untuk ambil hormatan kedua di bawah.

Saya tidak tahu Persatuan sedang ke mana. Saya pun tidak tahu ketua-ketua kami akan membuat apa ketika nama kami sedang jatuh. Mungkin mereka mahu bermain politik sahaja, mahu ambil banyak pingat... ahli-ahli yang lain sedang keluar Persatuan. saya sedih di atas keadaan ini. Sebenarnya, mungkin kami boleh tunggu dan lihat sahaja...

Tulis ke sini, saya mesti balik ke kerja. Pada masa lepang saya akan menulis lagi.

Jumpa lagi!

something interesting.

Corrupted files

I found to my chagrin that my VIP report (both to school and to company) which I had been working on the past few days had been corrupted.

Super crazy - good thing this is only Week 3 and not Week 7 (when the VIP report to school is due.)

VIP's been fine so far, a nice bunch of colleagues who have been a great help in bringing me up to speed with what is going on here...

Anger and Disappointment

Which path are we taking, St John?

999 may be outsourced

OK for those not in the know, SCDF may be outsourcing some of the calls for the 999 ambulance service to private ambulance companies. That's of course still in the pipeline.

NOW that's a golden opportunity for The Organisation! Hope they are not too blind to see and let this opportunity bypass them AGAIN.

Kursus Bahasa Melayu Saya

Saya akan menjalani peperiksaan Bahasa Melayu esok. Ia peperiksaan terakhir saya pada semester ini.

Saya sangat seronok belajar Bahasa Melayu. Di Singapura "Singlish" ada banyak kata-kata Bahasa Melayu contohnya: senget, mati, malu, jaga, "potong jalan" dan lain-lain. Sebenarnya, semasa kami belajar di sekolah rendah perlu mempelajari dua lagu Bahasa Melayu: Lagu Kebangsaan Singapura "Majulah Singapura" dan lagu Hari Kanak-kanan "Semoga Bahagia".

Selepas saya belajar Bahasa Melayu, saya boleh menahami kata-kata ini. Saya pun boleh menahami notis-notis di Bahasa Melayu, terutama apabila mereka ditulis dengan Bahasa Inggeris, Bahasa Cina, Bahasa Melayu dan Bahasa Tamil.

Pada hari esok, saya akan habiskan modul "Malay 1". Guru saya pernah bertanya saya akan belajar modul "Malay 2" tidak. Walau, ia harap kalau pada semester depan akan "timetable clash"... kalau tiada "timetable clash", saya akan belajar modul "Malay 2" supaya memperbaiki bahasa Melayu saya. Saya mungkin belajar Bahasa Melayu hingga modul "Malay 3" ketika semester terakhir saya. Saya dengar pelajar-pelajar yang belajar modul "Malay 3" akan pergi ke muzium dan mendengar (dalam Bahasa Melayu - tiada terjemahan Bahasa Inggeris) cerita Lt. Adnan semasa Perang Dunia ke-2.

Setuju, saya akan diteruskan latihan saya.... pada pukul 11pg esok saya akan menghabiskan peperiksaan saya!