Last Updated on 2016-05-19 , 1:43 pm
Anyone who has been in the army would be familiar with the yellow box: it’s one small area, usually packed with millions of soldiers, smoking and chatting about everything and anything. To some, it has become their second home—if you can’t find him in the bunk or in the office, he will most likely be at the yellow box. Some laojiao soldiers (i.e. reservists) would draw their own imaginary yellow box in their bunk and smoke to their heart’s content.
The yellow box offered some form of respite, especially when there were no training and everyone was just waiting for the RO to be out. In other words, like what a season soldier (okay, it’s the words of many reservists) would say, “Shooting is to kill enemies in the battlefield. Smoking is to kill time in the camp.”
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So you can imagine the surprise when it was announced today (12 April 2016) that from 1 June 2016 onwards, smoking would be banned in SAF camps. In addition to that, reservoirs, more than 400 parks and all MHA premises will also face the same restriction.
According to media reports, SAF bases and camps will be formally included under the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act. If we’ve not interpreted it wrongly, it meant that previously, it were the rules to ban smoking in SAF camps, but now, it is the law.
This comes as a surprise to NSFs, NSmen and Regulars—staff isn’t able to smoke in their uniform outside the camps, so what would smokers have to do if they want to smoke?
And for stay-in personnel, would it be an ultimatum for them to quit? Or would they now request for more outfield (get it?)?
Or maybe, they’ll follow one of the SAF core values?
It’s currently unclear how the ban would be implemented, but this sudden announcement, if really implemented in camps without any exceptions, would certainly cause more “imaginary yellow boxes” to be drawn.
Top Image: Alexandru Nika / Shutterstock.com
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