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These videos of SAF volunteers training show why everyone should join them

2016-07-04 , 10:01 am

To many male Singaporeans, going into NS, pushing to your limits and enduring the dirtiest period of your life is compulsory—while it makes many of us a stronger person, we often forget that we’ve become a changed person. Of course, that’s not for everyone—for me, I’ve often put the soft skills I’ve learnt in NS to my work, counting my working hours down to the minutes and ensuring that discipline is ingrained in every single second whenever I’m in the office.

Recently, there has been a number of videos showcasing the training by the SAF Volunteer Corps. SAF Volunteer Crops is for Singaporeans and PRs who do not need to go through the mandatory NS (e.g. females or new citizens), and gives them an opportunity to go through the SAF training and also to contribute to our society

Having been through two years of NS, I can’t deny that their training is much less “xiong” than ours, but here’s the key difference: theirs is voluntary. Mine is compulsory. I’m sure given the choice, I won’t have signed up for it, so kudos to the trainees in SAF VC for stepping up and getting dirty for Singapore’s peace.

Today has a journalist who went through the Basic Military Training and aptly summed up what it feels to be on the field. Here’s one takeaway: the normal BMT we’ve gone through in Tekong is much tougher, but we’ve got more time for the transition from citizen to soldiers, and more time to train.

Here’s another series of videos by cyberpioneertv about their training. I’m sure the teacher would go back to school with a louder voice, and maybe be “arrowed” to be the discipline master!

After going through the videos, do you feel like joining them? If not, here’s some reasons why you should don on the military fatigues:

You’ll learn to push yourself to your limit
Let’s do a simple experiment, shall we? Raise your hand to the highest. That’s the highest now? Okay, now raise it even higher. Do you realize you could go even higher, even when you initially thought that you’ve raised it to the highest?

In reality, we’ve seldom pushed ourselves to our limit because we set a number to where we can go, and firmly believe in that number. If you would suspend your belief, or change your belief, you can go even higher—if you’re earning $2,500 a month and think that’s your limit, think again. Your limit is apparently $25,000, not because you think so, but because someone else has done so.

You’ll learn to appreciate little things like your bed and a shower
Ask any NSF what they’ll like to have most during an outfield, and chances are, they’ll want either a normal meal or a normal shower. During outfield, whatever entitlements privileges we have are taken away from us. And we as humans would only cherish when we’ve lost it. So, what goes?

You’ll start to respect NSFs and regulars
Maybe you’ve been Stomping people in uniform for not giving up their seats. Now, you won’t do so—trust me, anyone who has worn that uniform would respect anyone in uniform.

You can experience what your kids / spouses / parents have gone through before
Always wondering why guys’ eyes would light up the moment they chatted about the army? Now, you’ll understand—there’re just so many things to talk about in the army, you’ll now know why NSmen could spend two weeks just chit-chatting in bunks, in the jungle and sometimes, even in the toilet.

You’ll be more disciplined
Self-discipline is a soft skill that every successful person has—sacrificing a few weeks to be a disciplined person is just so worth it. Also, discipline would make you a fitter person, because going on a diet and exercising regularly requires not time, but discipline.

So, if you’re really interested, check out their website here. And, erm, just in case you’re curious…reservist training is just as tough, but it’s much more enjoyable. So enjoyable that some of us look forward to it every year!

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

These videos of SAF volunteers training show why everyone should join them

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