Introduction to National Service

I'm quite constrained as to what I can and cannot say. There are many things that the military would not like me to disclose and there is still a grey area of what I can and cannot disclose. Therefore for the purpose of confidentiality I will illustrate the feelings that I have during my trainings and talk about things that one could easily find out independently on the internet and in documentaries. Disclosure of such information could lead to jail, so it would not be an understatement to say that I am walking on eggshells outside the jailhouse and would enter it should I disclose anything I shouldn't.

As a child I never really liked anywhere that confined me to places I didn't want to go to, especially ones that decided to keep me there for the night. Enrichment camps, church camps... spiritual retreats? There are many that I attended, and on the second night of the three day two night period I always ended up crying as a child. I picked fights, I messed around and even faked being sick until I could find my way home early no matter what route I decided to take. As a result, the idea of military camp for the next two years daunted me and put me on edge years before I enlisted. You could imagine how much sleep I got the day before.

There are three initial routes you can take in national service.

• Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF)
• Singapore Police Force (SPF)
• Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)

You get placed into these branches based on your family background. For example, if you are a secondary school dropout, it is likely that you are put in the Singapore Armed Forces under a branch that requires little intelligence: the brains, no brawn (as profiling as that may sound). Of course there are other criteria, but that's classified as well. I don't know it. 

If you're a true blue Chinese Singaporean (majority race), you are most likely to be put in the SAF, probably the most physically demanding branch within the whole National Service. That's where I was placed, as well as many of my peers. I was placed in B Coy, which I soon realised stood for Bronco, which refers to a wild horse. As such we were known as the Rowdy Bronco, and that is where my NS life began.


This is Pulau Tekong. You'd think that if they had a military base they'd be more secretive about it.

Cheers,
Matthew Tan