i'm turning 21 this year. This makes me old. Senior. Aged, in fact.
Save for the scare few others who are further up the age ladder, 21 is really vintage among the freshers here. People i meet are usually 18,19 or 20, and there are girls who are 17 - they'll graduate at 23!?! We s'poreans have lost 2 years(1 for girls)! The issue of national service is, interestingly, a talking point for s'porean males meeting others. "seriously, the military?" is something i've heard. Even to those who will have to serve later (eg Koreans).
To those who are currently serving and those who will, i'll like to invite you to look back upon your time before enlisting. Your previous behaviours, attitudes, actions, thought process, etc. Then contrast it to the time after you've completed your time.
As much as it would've been appealing have been able to save 2 years and start university, i've come to realize that much have come about from my time in ns. For myself, it has been a time of unexpected growth; in self-belief, maturity, confidence, perspective and faith. I can see myself very different from my days in sec. sch and jc. The perspective of others from different backgrounds. How our thinking differs from fresh sch leavers through interaction with pple in uni. Crucially, I've found my faith shaken in ns. Less an earthquake but more of frequent tremors over a prolonged period. Rejection by unis 5 times wasn't the best for the heart, but as you guys and friends have often told me, God will light your path. It was very hard to take; waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel in a place called Jurong camp.
Now though, i look upon those 2 years and i really treasure them; treasure them as with my jc and sec. sch days. They've taught me things i couldn't have learned otherwise. God worked in ways i couldn't see to help me mature both as a person as well as in faith.
Before leaving camp on ORD day, just take a moment to look back, smile and praise God for 2 years of guidance and love.
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2 comments:
Hmm, this post is a good one. I guess I should have written something (or more properly, will write something) like this when I disrupted. I wish I could be as mature about it as you have been, clearly. Although I've only served for about 6 months, I've only found my faith strengthened. Maybe it was due to the tough time, though most probably due to the lack of things to do in the army.
That said, I think I became more cynical after that as well. Through the process of self discovery, I've learnt things I really couldn't have learnt otherwise. This includes the bad stuff as well, I suppose.
2 years is a really long time. Kudos to you for finishing it. :)
Totally incoherent on that one. ARGH. Blame it on the lack of revision addling my mind! RAWRS. Though you get the drift. ;P
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