A MINDEF is a Terrible Thing To Waste

Most Singaporean males will look at, think about, speak of, and otherwise see the above-mentioned acronym and shudder and swear. How many of us have given our time, our blood, sweat and tears to this faceless entity that claims to operate for the benefit of us all?

I'll take some time to speak briefly about certain people who strut around proudly proclaiming their antics in the arts of malingering and beign admitted into a mental institution. You're partially the reason the rest of us good folk have to work as hard as we do. Fucktards.

When I enlisted so very long ago, I was given a "low" medical status due to a shoulder condition, and I shared a bunk with people lacking a lung or sternum. Seriously. I will openly admit that I was fortunate in being assigned the relatively "easy" status I was, but I thought to myself that I'd repay it by doing my best when I was given whatever tasks I was. And I would say I did.

I've regretted many things in life. For a long time I regretted royally fucking up my studies when I was younger, before the army beckoned. Now, with life in University looking particularly rosy from amny aspects, I feel like I've been given a second, albeit expensive, chance to make things right.

And then the army calls us back.

Don't get me wrong. I actually think that National Service is a great benefit to a nation. It's just that the way things are run and done now, all the government is nuturing is a growing resentment (from the youths they've trained to fire rifles) towards those in power. The whole experience probably made me a better person, though it also introduced me to the happy world of swearing and cursing.

And what really sets me on edge is the fact that the army seems to revel in messing up your life.

I know a guy studying abroad now who was denied the opportunity to go overseas for a degree in Medicine because the army didn't let him leave the country, with the threat of exile looming large. I saw him every single fucking day. All he did was lounge around an air-conditioned office (with me) and make fun of sleepy logistics personnel (Travers, among them). Was that so important that they had to deny this guy a chance at realising a dream?

Today my brother was supposed to enlist. It's a day most guys never forget. So he made his way, with my parents who took days off from work, to go to the military settlement of Pulau Tekong, only to be told after several hours that his date was going to be pushed back due to him losing some weight. He was also instructed to make the journey from Pulau Tekong (via ferry to Pasir Ris) to CMPB (which is nowhere near Pasir Ris). All this so that someone could check a box in a form.

In an age where bluetooth and iPhones are as common as anything else, and where "our army" boasts technology that would put James T. Kirk to shame, was this really neccesary?

No, that was fucked up.

I, and a few others in school, have recently been told by our friends at MINDEF that our deferment applications have been rejected. Effectively, they are saying "Ha, fuck you and your education! You need to come back to camp, and pretend to get ready for the war that will happen anytime we push the button!"

WHAT BUTTON?!?

Do we really think that (a) there is a war that Singapore will be part of in the near future and (b) our stores of faulty weaponry and unmotivated individuals will even stand a chance against anything but a platoon of schoolgirls? Trust me, we'd be better off fighting with spears and shields than the spectacular crapfest that is the SAR-21.

So here I am trying to think of a way where I won't miss a full third of my semester because some lazy bastards behind a computer screen decided that anyone not in NUS/NTU/SMU isn't worth the trouble of accomodating for.

The Singaporean government has, for a long time, tried to promote a sense of patriotism and love for our country and all that our forefathers have fought and died for. I get that. But by fucking with a generation of pissed off youth, do you honestly think that anyone is going to bother giving a flying fuck about a country that has strived to hinder their own lives?

Fuck no.

I should go to Buffalo and not come back.