It's My Life

2 Years & 4 Months as a Conscript

My nightmare of 2 years & 4 months is finally ending in a few days’ time… boy, am I glad!

Sure, I did have a better time in the army than most other people - being posted to a camp near home, able to book out everyday, being RSM’s right-hand man and all. But all these doesn’t mean that army life didn’t suck.

For one, I am sick and tired of the camp doctors who think that 99% of the patients are malingering. Well, not just the camp MOs actually. Even those junior doctors in public hospitals (who presumably got out of the army not very long ago) treat army conscripts who seek treatment from them like shit. They seem to have something against us… even though they are/were once conscripts themselves. The situation is so bad, it’s like an unwritten rule to treat the majority of conscripts as malingerers. I am sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Next, I am appalled at the lack of empathy from staff in the higher ranks. I think the 20 to 30 years in the army for those senior officers had hardened their hearts such that they feel nothing for their subordinates. When my father was in the later stages of his illness, I often had the need to rush off to the hospital at mid-day, or had to miss work as I had to take care of him.

Chief clerk once promised me that if I ever needed to go off to take care of family affairs, she would let me go. However, the truth was that other than those times when my father had to be admitted to A&E, I was never given off just to go back to take care of him. I had to take my own leave, which was very limited. Maybe it was because those senior people have over 50 days of leave each year (compared to a conscript’s 14 days), so much so that they have this mindset that leave is an abundant commodity that they almost always never finish consuming.

One day in October or so, she spoke to me and asked me how I was doing. The conversation moved towards my unhappiness over not being given opportunity to spend more time with my father at home even though I was just hanging around doing nothing in the workplace. She then told me that she recommended giving me off-days for compassionate reasons, but ‘there were some objections’. I presume these objections were from higher authority then, which we obviously know who. I was also told that there had been some unhappiness over my poor attitude at work, to which my reply was ‘How do you expect me to be all nice and smiley when my father’s condition is getting poorer by the day?’

Perhaps I am still a little bitter over this issue, now that my father has passed away and I no longer have the opportunity to spend time with him even though I am on leave and have lots of time to spare. The army (or rather, the people in the army) denied me of the opportunities to spend precious time with him.

I know that there are two sides to this story. The other side would be that as a conscript, I had a responsibility to serve the country, over and above my responsibility as a son. But on closer scruntity, one would realise that we are currently in peacetime… no wars, no unrest and no immediate security threats that would have a higher priority over being there for my father who had a life-threatening situation. I would gladly accept my fate should there be a national crisis that required my participation to improve the situation, as obviously that would be the first priority then.

Well, at least through these 2 years, I have learnt many valuable lessons in life. I learnt a tremendous deal about office politics, curry-favouring techniques and also about the overall incompetency of the army, behind it’s overly sensationalised facade of honour, prestige and valour.

Oh, I also learnt much about back-stabbing, pretending to be busy, and idling away working hours. I also know where a good portion of the defence budget goes to - the pockets of caterers who supply food for functions, meetings and the happy hours that are held for every reason one can think of. And the wastage of all the unconsumed food… they can feed lots of African children!

Moving ahead, if I ever have the chance to leave this country and never come back, I will. I have better things to do with my life than to serve up to 40 days of NS reservist liability each year for the next 10 years.

© 2005 this lush garden within.