In Continuum.

When the Ramp Falls

Speaking of outfields and the unbearable heat all around Singapore(In fact,the world),i think it is only fair to give everybody a glimpse of what happens in a M113,under such extreme conditions.I know it's not like we travel through terrains with frozen ice caps,or sand dunes with rocks at a boiling 80 degrees,but i guess since i am probably never going to get anywhere close to the above mentioned weather conditions,this is as good(or bad)as it is going to get.

One thing i loved about Indian outfields is the fact that you never sweat during Indian outfields.I guess part of the whole reason why i hate outfields so much is realy because of the discomfort it causes,the way your sweat soaks up your uniform,and the way it makes your skin itches,when it gets into your eye,and when everything just feels so fucking disgusting.That's what the Singaporean outfield provides,endless discomfort and disgust.I'd like to see that in an advertisement one day though.You know one of those advertisement from Singapore Tourism Board,showing Merlion at Singapore River spurting water or children having a good time at the Siloso,or a bunch of teenage girls carrying bags of harvest from Zara down at Orchard.Next scene: Hot sweaty solders crawling through bushes in Singapore and getting mosquito bites all over and smelling like rusty garbage bags!

Anyway,i'd like to take you to a place where you'd probably not enter.Im speaking to the ladies of course,since all guys go to NS.You are at the back of a M113,and the ramp is closed.You dont really know what to expect,which is understandable since the discomfort of NS is highly classified.It's top secret in NS.because the government probably wants parents to think that their sons are in good hands,not.So the ramp opens,and time stops ticking.There is a sudden break,and you find yourself looking into the vehicle,horrified.

This is a typical scene in a M113,stopped in time or not.Eleven twenty-something men crowded into this hot,squeezy vehicles like tunas in a can.The bench is made of metal,with the top of the hatch opened and four men standing up there.Sun pours in through that,and heating up the benches and making them feel like oven grills.With our asses baking on top of those,the smell is already excruciating,and that is not even taking into consideration the sweat that accumulates over the past three days or so.

With our shoulders to shoulders,knees to knees,we are squeezed up next each other in absolute discomfort.The remainder of the spaces left in the vehicle is taken up bby weapons,just leaning against the sides and waiting for a jerk of the vehicle to send it crashing into somebody's knee cap.That is usually followed by a loud scream and something vulgar,then everybody would accuse the owner of that weapon and swear somemore.

In one corner you have the food,the drinks,the things you need to survive when it comes to your diet.You'd probably see a bag of trash in one corner,with disgusting looking 'food juice' smeared all over,and flies attacking the half rotten leftovers.It'd be a much more interesting sight if it rained though.Mud chokes the bottom of the vehicle,with rainwater overflowing the floorboards,and the seats covered in mud.The men's pants are soaked with the same muddy liquid and into their underpants,and of course whenever the standing personel decides to climb above,chunks of mud will comes sailing through the air and into your hair.

All in all,fucked up.

So i'd really like the Singapore Armed Forces to include such scenes and information into the next Singapore National Anthem Music Video shown every morning at 6am.Im not the type of patriotic person,crying over a flying national flag,or thinking about how our forefathers managed to build a city out of nothing,yada yada.You might argue that i am not a Singaporean,and therefore i will never understand the hype around national day parades.But then again,i dont even see myself getting hyped up about Taiwan's independence day.In fact,i dont think there are a lot of country more crazy over the nation's birthday than Singapore.What is a 'Nation',anyway?It's not even a living,breathing human being.And whoever thought of the "Let's all hang falgs of our country outside the windows" idea?Sounds rather Japanese to me,the way they forced people to hang the flag of the rising sun when they were in town about sixty years ago.

So yeah,let's save the laughing faces,the people doing Taichi,the kids flying kites and working adults discussing some financial schemes that could potentially boose the company,and indirectly the country's economy.Let's save all that,and insert the scene from a m113,and see the patriotic level of Singapore go into a landslide on the "Love Singapore" scale.

Dont get me wrong,i do like Singapore despite the weather.But really,i just hate the M113 and the propaganda.Not really the lies the government tells,but rather the things that they dont.When the ramp falls,everything goes.