My BMT

My BMT (2013)

(This is an account taken from Facebook's SAF Confessions. Am thinking it is a good insight on the changes (or similarities) made to BMT since our own. Account is dated 2013.). ;-)

About BMT (dated 2013)

So I’ve just POPed (finished BMT) in 2013 and I’m writing this to you all who are going to enter soon, be it the May batch, J2s or J1s (Its up to you if you want to take note, I know you guys are busy with PW and As).

It may be a little long but will cover most of the things that you will go through and tips to survive and even enjoy your BMT phase. Do bear in mind everything differs from Coy to Coy (short for company, like Pegasus, Raven etc), so do play by ear and learn to adapt. This is written not to disclose any SAF restricted or sensitive material but for enlistees to better cope with their BMT Life.

Initial 2+ weeks confinement: The adjustment period will be tough and long. Waking up will be hard and on some days will feel like forever. But keep thinking when your next lunch or dinner or RO (routine order, where the officer tells you what will happen tmr, which happens right before Admin Time). Admin Time, which is supposed to be at 9.30pm till 10.30pm lights out, will be tight in the initial confinement, so don’t be surprised when you have no time to call home.
Most sergeants will be more understanding in these 2 weeks of confinement and be more lax in tekaning you when you make mistakes, so this is the time to test the system and see how strict they are.

Sergeants are the ones with stripes like “V” or “^”, whom you can call "Sergeant". Officers have straight lines, bars “---“ and you call them "Sir". Try not to be late for anything.
Take everything as a new learning experience so as to psych yourself up or seem interested. Depending on your buddy, the initial confinement could be ok if he’s streetwise; or fucked up if he’s a blur douche. And yes, you’re stuck with him the whole BMT so either he wakes up his idea or you suck it up.

Your rifle will be an annoying bitch until you have your sling. Try and adjust as high as possible for more comfort. Lock your cupboards at night with the assigned padlock and turn until leaving the last number so that with one turn you can open it. This is useful for getting into the showers first, heheh.

The UMPC you may be given (ipad for sch4) is slower than a retarded tortoise but still can surf facebook.

Things to bring: Underwear (I brought 5 and washed them regularly. My section mate brought 18) slippers, coins (for vending machine, if your coy allows), snacks (sweets, crackers, dried mango, cereal. They maybe confiscated during the initial confinement period, but try and hide them and don’t get caught), "snake" powder (heat rash one), clothes hanger/pegs/detergent, toiletries (3 rolls of toilet paper+), plasters/strepsils/leukoplast/muscle rub (in case of cuts and to prevent abrasions), watch/alarm clock (don’t fall in 5 mins late. Just don’t.), plastic bags, handphones (can bring camera phone, as long not as big as galaxy S3. No chargers but iphone portable chargers are ok. My friend brought 4 portable chargers). All of these should be packed in a small CV (civilian) bag as the first bookout requires you to stuff the bag and all your bookout-items into the field pack.

High key events: Below are high key events, things which everyone has to go through and are considered “very important”. If you never go you will be scheduled to retake them. (Btw, I may have missed out some events I cannot recall now.)

Live Firing (L/F): Using real bullets for daytime firing and night-time firing. 2 whole days are spent at the firing range and 99% time you'll be waiting and get fucking bored. Try and get Marksman, which is 26/32 targets shot. Don’t ND (negligent discharge, where you fire off without permission) as you will get SOL (stoppage of leave, fucking sian. Just don’t anyhow squeeze with nothing, with blanks, with live rounds, etc.)

Route Marches: The 4k and 6k are manageable. 8k march to field camp site is one of the worst. 12k is bad. 16 and 24k are at night so not as bad... But still really fucking tiring. but don’t fall out just take one step at the time. I heard you can geng the 16k and from 12k jump to 24k, if you wanna risk it. FFS don’t fall out during 24k as it is your fucking POP, mind over matter! Leukoplast your toes/feet and wear tights to prevent blisters. Fill water bag with Gatorade/Pocari Sweat/ ice lemon tea and don’t get caught. The field pack will need to have a standard 10 ziplock bags containing like your SAF towel, uniform, SAF sandals etc so it will be quite heavy.

Field Camp: Holy fuck I’ve never been so dirty and not care about it in my life. Get used to high kneeling (one knee on the ground, both legs 90 degrees) and being generally uncomfortable. The rations imo are quite tasty - the pasta is not bad. Accessory pack (or the snackpack) is alright too. Sometimes even with canned salmon and canned coffee.(Yes you can choose rations and snackpack but don’t fight over them). Day 3 will be memorable. Shellscrape will be a motherbitch to dig but just take frequent breaks.

SIT-test: A 2-day thing where you and your group (different from your section mates) are presented with situations at different stations and are tasked to solve it on the go. Be confident when you are the IC as you decide the final plan after listening to the rest. Imo sit test was kinda fun and creative, but the running from station to station lugging the required items was shag. SIT-test is very important if you want to go to OCS.

Grenade: Just throw and see if hit target lor. Nothing serious will happen even with the most blur recruits (some ppl throw straight down in front of them) so can relax. 99% waiting time again.

IPPT & SOC: Aiming for Gold for IPPT (NAPFA without sit & reach) will help you get into OCS especially a good 2.4km timing like sub 9.44. A good SOC (standard obstacle course) timing, sub 4min, will also help gain respect of peers and commanders. Fastest I know is about 2:40+ which is really fucking fast. Most people fail on low wall and low rope. Got technique one, just learn, but of course need your own strength too. Save energy for the low rope on the first few obstacles and the last 300m dash, which is the most shag part.

BIC: Battle inoculation course. Happens at the end of your BMT, where you leopard crawl basically until you damn shag and apply previous battle knowledge.

Other activities: Such activities comprising of your daily routines and are mostly unimportant and merely there to waste your admin time. No, really, you don’t get much fitter doing these activities compared to training on your own. But bohpiain as army arrange liddat so you just do lor. That said don’t geng everything also, looks bad on you to yr peers and commanders. Just have lots of fun with these activities with your buddies.

Urban ops + CMS: These two are arguably medium-key events. Learn how to battle in urban environment. CMS = paintball. It’s terrible. Dreadful. Outrageously appalling. You wont have fun unless its raining and you dive around in the mud.

AGR (agility group run) / Speed Training: Run around parade square lor. How long depends on your OC (officer in command, more on structure later)

Strength training: Lift medicine balls and weights. Garang one throw higher/lift heavier

BCCT: Basic close combat training. Teach you how to shout like an idiot, I mean fight and defend people. Punch, kick, muzzle thrusts etc. seriously just have fun here.

5BX: Wake up every morning feel like doing PT, grab my shoes im on the floor gonna do some push ups, before I start, warm up with ?? counts of 5 cause when I leave my bunk im so shag I can die. Ok la I did 5BX like 3 times in my BMT, depends on your coy. Most times schedule too packed to do 5BX

Draw/Send Arms: Taking and returning your rifle to a room called armskote. Waste a lot of time queuing, signing in a book (don’t sign on the line), oiling, etc. - you’ll learn.

All in all just accept the fact you’re there and don’t be a douche to others. If you’re aiming for OCS, you don’t need to wayang, just let your results show and shine during SIT test. Going to the MO (Medical office) to geng is ok just don’t do too often and don’t miss out high key stuff. Listen to instructions and carry them out. You’d be amazed how blur some people are. Don’t be late for anything. Really. If you suay become platoon IC don’t panic, just keep a notebook write down everything like platoon strength, status strength (status = people who went MO and have excuse).
Speaking of which, Platoon 1 usually on the 2nd floor with vending machine, etc to Platoon 4 on 5th floor. Platoon 1 also first to go places, first to come back, so yeah, Platoon 1 is pretty lucky. You’ll be assigned a 4D number eg 1212, meaning platoon “1”, Section “2”, Bed number “12”, so once you get the 4D number on day one you can tell who your section, or bunk mates are by the first same two digits. Being 1201, or the first bunk probably means you’re the Bunk IC and you have a lot of shit to do so tough luck. By the way, 4 sections of 16 men each make a platoon, 64 men. 4 platoons make a company. Each platoon has 1 officer the PC (platoon commander) and 4 sergeants, usually 2 sergeants are mafakers. The whole coy has 1 OC, usually 3 bars officer i.e Captain, but just call him sir.
Other then this idk if I missed out on anything, but you can email me at mpdontfindmepls@hotmail.com if you have queries! I repeat again this information is not used to disclose SAF-sensitive material but for the benefit of recruits-to-be.

The end.

One Day At The Zoo

One Day At The Zoo

A man who had just gotten out of prison was visiting his local zoo when he saw people throwing money into the monkey enclosure. The primates there were doing simple acrobatics and getting rewarded. "That's an easy way to make money," the man told himself, and promptly left to steal a monkey suit and return that very night – not before also pinching a bottle of whiskey to boost his courage.

The next morning he awoke with a hangover and to the ruckus of those very same monkeys. There was also that familiar "kerching" of money hitting the floor and bars.

But despite all that, the man felt far removed from the action; something wasn’t quite right. It was then that he realized he had broken into the wrong enclosure, and that a giant gorilla was now observing him quietly from a far corner. Terrifyingly, it got up and knuckle-walked over.

The man turned a sheet of white and promptly fainted. The gorilla sniffed at him, looked at the crowd, and became immediately horny. He picked up the man and started humping him doggy-style to the delight of the crowd, who was by now beginning to ignore the other primates and start throwing money at the new 'attraction".

The harder the gorilla worked, the more money the crowd would reward him. There were fratboy hoots and calls and at one point, the gorilla even thumped his chest in response. So long, it seemed, the gorilla had not had any carnal action.

For two weeks, the poor man was trapped in the enclosure and getting his bottom ravaged. But strangely, it wasn't as bad as it at first seemed. At times he didn't even feel anything at all! Prison, he reasoned, had been worse; especially in the showers!

But he dared not resist the obviously bigger gorilla and would always submit. At night, he retired to his corner and sought the comfort of his whiskey bottle that was now becoming something very precious.

Meanwhile, the gorilla would pick up all the money thrown at him, pile it all into a corner. He would count them and even grunt with a certain protectiveness. This made the man feel even worse. He wondered if the gorilla was one of those “educated” ones who could even sign (language).

In the third week, the man lamented the small fortune he would have made had he not crept into the wrong enclosure. Then one morning he opened his eyes to find the gorilla missing. A note and a crumpled $5 bill were placed where the fierce beast once sat.

The note said: "Bro, next time, get a better monkey suit! Yours is butt ugly. Haha, no pun intended. Here’s $20 for your trouble. Not! Hahahahaha…"

To that, the man responded by crying. He drank the last bit of whiskey and curled up in his corner. In the morning, however, he was feeling much better. Pretty soon he was doing cartwheels and forward rolls to which crowds would still respond with good cheer even if not as vociferous as before. The money continued to fly in.

The man he was grateful and like the gorilla, he piled his takings into a corner and counted them before he slept. This time, he slept better.

Moral of the story? That money doth soothe the most savage pain? There’s a silver lining to every dark cloud? Learn sign language? Well, in many situations, it’s just best to turn up in a better monkey suit or else you might just get f***ed. Every salesman knows this. ;-)

The end - by TC Lai 5th June 2018 (first posted to D10 Whatsapp group). 

Vesak Day Durian Party

Vesak day Durian Party - 29th May 2018

Once more, succulent durians from Huang Kiat's supplier at Hougang Blk 682

This end-May is short season for durian (two weeks). Actual season in July. Durians are Black Thorn from Genting Highlands (mid mountain). 

Thin husk, small seeds, rich yellow flavour. We also had the jin feng or Golden Phoenix. Lighter in color, slight alcohol taste, slightly milky and fibrous. Small fruit but very small seeds.

Some early birds, on-time birds, haha.

Roger Liew dropping in. We ran out of durians but HK opened a tapowed one for him. Hope HK had enuf to bring home. ;-) 

Compliments of supplier. Nice. Just ripe.

This time we insisted on compensating HK for his durians, esp for those of us who tapowed also. 

After durians, once again headed to nearby Sin Heng Kee for excellent No. 1 porridge (all too full, so tapowed to go). 

Lucky not so crowded as we went there before the dinner crowd. Still, we waited for 14 mins. Tong and Alex packed for their families too.

Exercise Mt Kinabalu

Yes, above cloud level. When sun rises, you can literally see shadows on the clouds. ;-)

A lot of activities to do in Sabah besides climbing Mt K. You can raft, canopy walk, go snorkeling at nearby island, visit museum, soak in hotspring and relax at the wide Tanjong Aru beach. ;-) There are many suspension bridges to visit and bounce on! There's also coconut toddy!

Ok, down to basics: My trip then had May 1st sandwiched in mid-week, a Wed and public holiday. So I took leave either side.

Here are the May calendars for 2019 and 2020.

May 1st falls mid-week in 2019; on a Friday in 2020

Either way, it is a four-day leave that has to be applied, so some advance warning or offset (like off-in-lieu) or planning is called for.

A two-year headstart??? :-)

Mt Kinabalu is not difficult to climb. Much of it is a general public national park with manicured paths, etc. You can find ordinary folks on high heels going there for a day trip. 

It is when beyond 4500 ft that things get a bit more rustic. Just. But still, clear paths all the way up.

Some parts of the forest has been called "mythical" due to its lovely nature. There are quite a few side trails to see waterfalls, unusual plants like Rafflesia and Venus Flytraps, and many orchids. Climbing Mt Kinabalu is not exactly climbing - no "real" mountaineering aspects. Just a long hike. And though air is thin up there, you'll get used to it soon. It's only 14000+ feet up. Certainly not Mt Everest! 

This probably a fake sculpture. The real plant is about a metre across and 2m tall! And very stinky. Smells like dead body.

Imagine yourself at the peak. ;-) The one of the right is the one you can get up to - Low's Peak. There is a can with a signature-book inside. Don't forget to leave yr name there. Your guide will probably remind you. ;-)

Time to fall in for Mt Kinabalu, guys! ;-)

So far we have the following folks:

1. Willie Lim

2. Koh Tiah Ann

3. Tong Ping Heng

4. Barry Lee

5. Chew Phit Seng

6. Encik Karu

7. Chan Boon Kiong

8. TC Lai

9. Lim Yew Meng (?)

10. Karam Singh (?)

11. Dennis Yeo (?)

12. David Ling (?)

13. Bennett Tan (?)

14. Gerard Lee (?)
15. Eddy Sim (?)
16. Teo Choong Seng (?)
17. Lim Yew Kuan (?) - new house ho-seh buay?
18. Gulam Mohd (?)
19. Liong Kok Kee (?)
20. Teo Kian Meng aka Jipun Kia (?)
21. Lim Chee Hwa (?)
22. Seto Weng Kee (?)
23. Alex Lim (?)
24. Cheong Siew Chong (?) - skip classes for four days?
25. Poh Ian Chiak (?) - confirm or not?
26. Robert Yeang (?) - bro, counting on you to get well fast!
27. Sam Lock (?)
28. Tan Liang Teck (?) - SAF biscuits again? ;-)
29. Danny Lee (?)
30. Liaw Choon Meng (?)
31. Seah Boon Teck (?) - bring some adventure stuff?
32. Fabian Khoo (?)
33. Ng Kheng Hua (?)
34. Lee Chang Tze (?)
35. Stanley Ling (?) - bro, coming back?
36. Vikram Sharma (?) - bro, coming back?

37. Adrian Tan (?)
38. Chiang Ho Soon (?)
39. Mooi Kok Keong (?)
...
40. (?)(?)(?) (Eh, don't make me list everyone leh)

Initial agenda:

1. Arrival, some sights, makan (old school wan tan mee breakfast?), etc
2. Suspension bridge sightseeing, toddy sampling, etc.
3. Climb Mt K
4. Canopy walk, hotspring soaking (to relax those muscles), etc
5. Rafting
6. Off-island snorkeling
7. Makan
8. Museum trip, shopping, bye bye

Note: Activity list will also depend on what the adventure tour agency can provide or hook up with.

So quick, set and lock it down now. Think: Any wedding, grandchild on the way, 2nd honeymoon, etc., people in hospice you need to hurry a bit (just kidding!), send wifey to shopping trip in Bangkok, etc...whatever you need to get out of the way in Year 1 to make Year 2 happen.

Only can siam in Year 2 if death in the family. E-scooter catch fire is NOT AN EXCUSE (unless house burn down also). Having excess manboobs, NOT AN EXCUSE (you will be excused from hotspring). Having a boulder-sized paunch NOT AN EXCUSE (you will fit right in with the mountain landscape!)  

So...sign up now.

Good Friday Durian Party

Some of us will be having an impromptu durian party this Good Friday holiday. Durian at Hougang (Dennis' regular supplier.) :-)

Add caption

Did this poster after 13 confirmed going. ;-)

==== BELOW IS THE WRITE-UP AND PHOTOS OF THE EVENT THAT FOLLOWED====

As this Durian Party was held on Good Friday and the beginning of a long weekend, not all D10-ners could attend. Quite a few had prior holiday plans. And Danny was an 'if' as his mom was hospitalised after a fall. We wish Danny's mom a speedy recovery.

In the end, quite a turn out and rightly so. Durian this season is plentiful with plenty of good grades going at rock bottom prices. Plus the caveat was welcoming back newly found Willie Lim and back-from-India-posting, Alex Lim.

Ian Chiak was also a surprised last minute addition - flying in from Myanmar, making it the Shi San Tai Bao (十三太保) - literally, 13 Princes - of movie title of yore. (See poster above. I parodied it to 十三太饱, the last 'bao' being 'full'. So the title becames a funny, The 13 Full.

Thirteen who indicated they would come and attend this wonderful feast.

You could say my premonition was incredibly accurate as we were all quite full from durian AND porridge. Scary, sia.

Wefie (from left, clockwise): Willie, Alex, Dennis, TC, Ian Chiak, Khen Hua, Choon Meng, Ping Heng, Yew Meng
Karu, David, Barry

Above photo with Tiah Ann joining in later. Alex couldn't eat the durian as he was having a bad throat. Despite that, great of him to join us after recently returning from a work stint in India. Welcome back, bro!

We had quite a few boxes!

Dennis was the perfect host as usual, walking back and forth constantly asking after our preferences and checking if his fave vendor there had the respective kinds. In this way we managed to sample quite a variety of the spiky fruit, first christianed by famed naturalist Alfred Wallace in the mid-1800s when he went to Bukit Gombak to collect insect samples to send home to London, as the "King of Fruits". The durians we ate from Ah Wei (the stall vendor help) ranged from D13, maoshanwang, ang hei to small durians that held impossible fruit. It was like lifting your armpits and finding a sleeping bag there!

To those who could not make the trip, this could well be the regret of the year.

All the fruits we had were just ripe, fleshy, and with seeds so small that one could stick it up the nose! 
Best of all were the durians from Pahang, which had all the maoshanwang creaminess and musang king bitterness. The D13s were more for those with a sweet tooth, something Kheng Hua enjoyed and ordered.

However, with the good Pahang durians only arriving after 7 pm, Dennis had the good sense and consideration to order before hand. Thus those we had came in take-away plastic boxes cooled the night before in the fridge and thus were certainly less "jerlat" to consume. The warmer the durians, the creamier it gets... Just like milk.

At the end of the feast, Dennis also encouraged us to tapow as the durians were exceptional. (They were!) The whole affair was very generous of Dennis and grateful we all were. It is true of what Dennis says: "Got good stuff must share!" Now we just need to know what Dennis likes and pamper him some! (Pity there are not many fair-skinned women at Clarke's Airbase. Karu, pls take note!)

The soft, creamy, niam niam bitter taste durian from Pahang. If you have to eat one durian in a year, eat this. 

Ok, Willie had told me he was not going to eat durians at this feast, which was contrary to the whole idea of the gathering. But present he should be as the latest "foundling". So I offered him good ice cream instead.

The choice was Haagen Dazs. Good ice cream that's also easily available at the neighbourhood Giant supermart. It has been like that since Giant took over Shop 'n' Save.

The ice cream Willie had was Strawberry flavour. I chose this over chocolate as it was less heaty and also because I used to date a girl from the East who was crazy over this flavour. And so I came to like it as well. This flavour of Haagen Dazs has real strawberries in it and when chilled, tastes even better! It's light and a good pick-me-upper. It is the same with Jap Meiji strawberry ice cream.

In any case, if Willie could not finish his tub, he could always share with his significant female other later!

FYI: Giant Supermart is having a 2-for-1 deal right now. Three tubs for the price of two. So, not only are durians cheaper this season, ice cream too!



===PORRIDGE=== 

Sin Heng Kee Porridge address is:
Blk 685 Hougang Street 61, S(530685)
Hrs: 7 am - 9.30 pm Everyday 

Porridge: One-For-All, and All-for-One!  (And yes, it is the No.1 porridge that's best! If you liek tubes -aka intestines - order No.7 like Ian Chiak did.) 

Afterwards we adjoined to nearby Sin Heng Kee for excellent rural porridge. I didn't know that Hougang had such a famous boutique porridge place.

Tong and Kheng Hua went ahead to chope seats and place their take away orders, which proved a long queue (see pix above). We later discovered that eating there was faster than ordering tapow.

Sin Heng Kee is famous for their "No.1" porridge and so we ordered that. No.1 had fish, pork, liver, tubes, etc. It was indeed a belly-warming and heart-stirring recipe! Afterwards, we were seriously full both from durian and porridge. Ian Chiak, true to his liking for innards, ordered No.7, which had tubes (aka intestines), if I am not mistaken. In bak kut teh, he liked kidneys more than liver. (I mean he has told us how he liked to consume various wild meats, which in TCM terms, is not a bad diet to embrace.)

The tres excellente "No.1" porridge. Yew Meng kindly treated us to this. 

In the end, this event was a wonderful impromptu gathering to trade some jokes and indulge in some talkcock moments. Also a chance for us to meet newly-found Willie, who have had a tough week, what with his church founder, Rick Seaward, (formerly of Calvary Charismatic Church, now Victory Family Center) killed in an auto incident in Brazil. And today, having to attend his senior pastor mom's cremation service as well. A double whammy, and solid that he turned up at all!

=== JOKES ===

Karu also shared some jokes, two of which were medical:

Aye, Aye, Aye...

A guy goes to see his doctor: "Doctor doctor... Whenever I drink kopi or teh, my eye hurts. With Milo or Horlicks, nothing."

The doctor checks and finds one eye red. He gives the man eye drops and sends him home, none the wiser of what is wrong with the man.

"Let me know if it hurts again," is his parting advice.

The following week, the fellow returns with the same problem. This time his eye is redder still.

"Come, I'm leaving for lunch. Join me and we can talk about your condition at the nearby kopitiam."

There, the man orders kopi, one of his fave kopitiam drinks. The doctor sees this but doesn't say anything.

The man drinks.

"Ouch!' exclaims the man. Sure enough, his eye hurts again.

"John John John..." says the doctor, in a manner not unlike that of a patient parent.. "Next time when you drink kopi or teh, please remove the spoon first. It's poking your bloody eye out!"

=== Next salvo ===

Balls Out

A man goes to see you a doctor about a headache that refuses to go away. The doctor's prognosis is that the man has to have his balls cut off. "It will relieve the strain it is causing from the base of your spine to the top of your head," he counsels.

However, the man refuses to accept the suggestion, thinking how preposterous it was. He then decides to seek a second opinion. Then a third. All come back with the same advice: "Cut off the balls!"

Unable to bear his headache anymore, the man grudgingly agrees to have his balls cut off. To his amazement, the remedy worked and he could finally walk around with a smile on his face again. The scowl pulled long by his crusty balls gone for good.

One day he goes into a gentlemen store to look for underwear. He picks out the usual briefs and proceeds to pay for them. A senior service staff at the counter notices him. He looks him over and then at the briefs. He then says: "Sir, you know, right. If your briefs are too tight, you'll get a perpetual headache! I think you have picked briefs that are two sizes too small!"

At that, the man grabbed his rather empty crotch and wailed.

=== Alex back from India ===

A sample of domestic India plane.

After an almost 4-year stint in India, Alex of Murata Electronics Singapore shared this harrowing story of one time making a domestic flight.

The air-conditioning inside the small plane he was in - probably an ATR with that just one central aisle (see pix above) - was not working. Air inside was very warm and stiff. Alex put up a hand to check for airflow again, and found the vents to be extremely hot to touch. What's going on, he wondered.

Soon white smoke drifted over from the front of the plane as if to answer him. It wasn't an answer Alex was prepared for.

Neither the passengers too, it seemed.

According to Alex, no one panicked, everybody was calm. Or maybe the event was too shocking to comprehend.

I mean smoke filling up an aircraft cabin must be serious, right?

Yet the air stewardess moving through simply swatted at the smoke as if it was an everyday affair.

The smoke soon got thicker and alarmingly so. It shocked Alex. Is nobody seeing this? he wondered, not without thinking if his survival was at stake.

Could the engines be on fire? He asked his companion to peer out of the window to check. No fire. The props of the aircraft were still where they were and performing admirably.

Inside the cabin, the smoke continued to issue forth and build.

Er, shouldn't anyone say something?

Eventually, the captain of the plane did get on the intercom PA and announced that the aircraft's aircon had died. That they had in all probably 10 minutes left!

Alex told me he thought the captain meant the world was going to end in 10 minutes. But actually it was touchdown in ten minutes!

As you could imagine, 10 minutes in a smoke-filled cabin is very much like eternity in Limbo Land, you know, that place between Heaven and Hell after you'd died. So I could sympathise with Alex on how he must have felt at the time.

(If, in that interim, a buxomy stewardess were to approach me, then I would think I had ended up in heaven. It is in my bucket-list to expire in the arms of a double D lady with lashes so long butterfly kisses are like a Pharaoh's frond fan). If it was one of those very senior and bochap flight stewardesses from Qantas Air, I would know I was a bad boy and be sent to my room without dinner, durians, and the Internet. If it was a handsome air steward with a twitchy little finger, then I'd know it would be hell and I'll be buggered for the rest of end-time!)

In the end, even though the aircraft cabin was filled with smoke, the plane landed safely and did not catch fire. To Alex's relief.

Outside, he could see that the airport's fire services were all assembled and ready for action.

My, my, what drama and trauma to go through in a day's work!

==== Next ===

On another occasion, Alex spotted an emergency door that was clearly dented. He pointed that out to an air stewardess who simply shrugged the matter off. The plane took off just the same. So domestic air travel in India is not for the faint-hearted. *Sweat

I am wondering if people clung to the outside of the plane just as they would trains in India.

Just two of the many stories from today's Durian Party and talkcock session. Plenty more for the next round. Cheerio guys, and keep well till then.

A loose screw could make a lug loose as well. So tighten your watch screws from time to time and maybe apply super glue to prevent them from coming off. Super glue can be dissolved with nail polish remover.

This gathering was also a good time to repair the D10 watches of Barry and Ian Chiak as Dennis had brought along spare screws and a couple of extra new watches. The D10 watch is well-made and definitely value for money at $120, but its screws and lugs could become lose after prolonged use. So some regular maintenance is needed to prevent both the lugs and lug screws from falling away.

(This Panerai lug design is actually very convenient for changing straps. No fidgeting with springloaded pins, etc.)

Two new watches were passed to Willie and Alex. Guys, welcome to D10 Timekeeping! What is D10 Timekeeping? I would like to think it is looking forward to the next talkcock session. *Big smile!

Meanwhile, keep ticking and prospering, bros. Not waistline, just anything but. And Happy Hols!


=== Liaw and His Cadet Tee ====

Oh, if you look closely at the above gathering photos, you might be able to glimpse Liaw wearing his OCS cadet tee. The very one with the OCS badge and red and orange shoulder stripes. Man, amazing how he could still fit into that tee-shirt and eat all that durians and porridge, haha. Zhan!

Liaw wore the same OCS tee (as shown here on Seto) to the Durian Feast. Fantastic! Should have taken a clear shot of him in it!

- TAMAT.

Finally, the Last D10 Member is Found!

Today is a HUGE day in our D10 Reconnection journey.

The final missing member of our platoon is located and importantly, rejoined.

He is none other than our very own Willie Lim.

I remember him back in OCS as a devout Christian, always bible in hand outside the corridors of our OCS barrack. He was taller and bigger sized than me and it was always great to have him help out in weapons carry, bashing through jungle, etc. He was always cheerful (no doubt aided by a positive Christian outlook) and gung-ho; a demeanor that often brought levity to an otherwise serious platoon proceeding, especially during mission topos and training overseas.

He also had his own way of thinking and that often made our PC Ang say: "Lim Willie... Must be different!"

Whether he was quirky or into his own Christian world, it was never a doubt that Willie was a good chap to have about. He as also pretty sportive.

I recall sparring him in the boxing ring. It always felt a challenge as he was bigger and rather bullish. A good thing I took karate-do in my teens and thus was not so easily put-off.

I think in boxing we all took away some important personal lessons. But the one thing we all can agree on is how tired our arms would become, often hanging limp by our sides after each training session. Our triceps were certainly still soft as tofu during those fresh NS years.

Finding him.

I knew he was devout - and from SAJC - so my first search was if he had become a senior member of a church.

I made calls to SAJC but they were fruitless, as were searches on the Internet.

How about Facebook? As a resource it was useless. There were just tens of Willie Lims...many not anointed with a profile photo. So, how to identify if any were our Willie Lim? Of course at times I would send a Messenger message to enquire. Thus far, no replies.

After each failure to find him, I would take a break and hope something of him would appear in a Google search later. (Hopefully good news!)

I would also wonder each time I came across a Christian organisation, if Willie Lim belonged to it.

This happened one time when I passed by a Family Victory Centre near my place. I thought about it but left it at that.

Then last week, I came across a flyer from VFC. The thought of Willie's association returned and I sat down to do a Google search. I used the keywords: Willie Lim, 55

A search result with Willie Lim's name finally turned up. It listed him as a volunteer at an VFC outlet. Could it be him? Well, it was a week-day morning so I put a call to the VFC HQ. Turns out there was a Willie Lim but he was helping out at a VFC pre-school. I made some inquiries and left my number. Days passed and I forgot all about the matter.

So imagine my surprise when just the other night (Friday), I checked my phone at about 1 am+ and received the following text:

.

It was like seeing something really amazing... a lost locket or special childhood toy! And he had seen our D10 blogs!

(By this time, I had completely forgotten all about me calling VFC and trying to locate him (such was the frequent disappointment of looking for folks). It had turned out that my reach-out to VFC was fruitful. And here he was, sending me messages and even a photo!

It is really nice when an old friend is willing to reconnect.

Apparently after Willie Lim learnt I was looking for him, he went and checked up on me on the Internet, trying to affirm if I was actually doing work for D10, not for some tax collector from the IRS or "dai yi long" (debt collector) from Geylang (haha).

So, it was a fantastic day for D10. For Chee Hwa, Willie was his buddy from BMT days. He was Tiah Ann's D10 buddy. I am sure his SAJC mates will be thrilled to re-acquaint with him.

So with this, the search for D10 mates officially comes to an end. With Willie found, it behooves folks like Adrian, Mooi and Ho Soon to finally find peace of mind and circumstance to reconnect with the rest of us at Platoon 10, Delta Coy, 1/82 IOCC. We wish them well and patiently await that day.

- Happy like bird! as they say, heheh. ;-)

84mm Life Firing. Willie there holding the dummy round. Me on the gun. Fun times. ;-)

The Taiwan Di Xia Jie Incident (1980s)

Background:

This was an interview done with Poh Ian Chiak on 24th Feb 2018 to find out more about the infamous di xia jie incident at Kaoshiung's notorious underground mall in the 1980s. Platoon 10 had their R&R there in 1982 as part of OCS training. In 1985, Ian Chiak was already a "regular" officer.

Ian Chiak:
Anyway, it should be the year 1985. 4 SIR went to ROC for High Noon brigade exercise and the normal battalion exercise, Starlight. It wasn't anything eventful until R&R. R&R was in Kaoshiung. Normally we would leave the place in two batches.

Half the battalion would come back one day earlier than the other. Just before the whole battalion left the night before, I was having a drink with my unit MO (medical officer) at a piano lounge. So we didn't know anything about the di xia jie incident until we returned to the hotel. What happened was some soldiers got injured and they called our hotel for the MO's room.

Once the MO got this notification, he called me. I was in my room and together, we went downstairs. At the time I was (supposed) to be the 106 commander. But in every exercise the 106 was undeployable, so I was pulled to become an infantry company 2IC. But the soldier involved in the incident was a 106 soldier. Or more precisely, the 106 platoon sergeant and his soldier; the two of them.

And so I was asked by the MO to go along to see the soldiers, who were already back at the hotel. Therefore, what I am about to describe is what was related to me, during my investigation into the matter. I wasn't physically there at di xia jie when the incident happened.

I wasn't the official investigating officer either, but I had to find out what happened. They were my men. The IO was usually someone higher up because this actually became a huge case.

So WHAT HAPPENED WAS about two to three soldiers - my 106 men - went into a shop.

But before they got in, the shop owner told them to leave their bags outside, that it was not allowed in the shop. That particular shop sold tee-shirts.

Tuck Chong: Isn't it strange to leave their bags outside?

IC: They (the Taiwanese) had their tricks.

So soldier is soldier. Cannot bring in so they left whatever bags they were carrying outside. They then went in and bought a few things. Some were there to look-see look-see, not buy anything.

When they walked out of the shop, the owner started accusing them of stealing/shoplifting.

Of course the soldiers denied the claims.

The owner then said: "Okay, let's search your bags."

True enough some tee-shirts with price tags still on were found in some of the bags left outside.

TC: So that was their trick.

IC: The soldiers then asked their platoon sergeant to go argue for them. The sergeant did just that. The shop owner then offered to settle: "If we don't report police can. But you got to pay me."

The soldiers then countered saying they would buy the items. But the shopkeeper refused. "That's different," he said. "If you buy, it is this price. Now you are caught stealing, it is this price. You have to pay so-and-so times more."

After this incident, we learned that that was not the only time our SAF soldiers were threatened or conned. It happened at a camera shop too and our boys ended up paying for an item three times the price. They used the same modus operandi. Leave the bags outside and later got accuse the soldiers of stealing.

But those few cases never blew up until this particular one.

In this case,  the shopkeeper went and called the police. But you know, the police were also their own people. I believed the police collected protection money from them.

About this time our unit cook happened to pass by. He's a bit of a character. You could tell. On his back was tattooed the whole image of Kuan Yin. After learning what happened he confronted the lead policeman there. "Don't talk so much," he said. "You want, pull your gun out.".

The policeman (hand on his holster) dared not.

Then the cook put his hand on the policeman's grip and dared him again to pull his gun out. The policeman again resisted.

The cook then took a chair and swung at him.

The policeman tried to block and broke a finger in the effort.

Then suddenly, very quickly, the local riot police was activated

Some of our officers were there and word quickly passed around that everybody should return to their hotels.

But you know, the di xia jie mall was very closed off and had only four entrances/exits. North, South, East, West... Or something like that.

When our soldiers tried to leave, the riot police were already at the exits. The police started hitting anyone trying to leave with their batons.

During this melee, someone had the sense to tell our boys to calm down and wait for higher-ups to arrive. You see, there was about half a battalion there. I mean in Kaoshiung back then, there weren't many places to go shopping. Di xia jie was THE place to go, much like our People's Park Complex in the past.

Our SAF liaison officer - the guy in charge of our training in Taiwan - flew down from Taipei to go visit the policeman who got injured.

But no one could keep the matter quiet. It all over the major newspapers the next day. Front page news.

"Starlight troop clashed with police riot squad," they read, or something like that.

It was that serious.

After the second day, when half the battalion had returned home, my S1 called me.

"Poh, I have something for you to do."

I knew what he was about to ask. I said, "Sir, I don't think it is a good idea!"

TC: Haha!


IC: He said, "Somebody got to do it!"

You know what he wanted me to do? He wanted me to bring a few commanders and go to di xia jie to recce and make sure our soldiers didn't go there.

I asked him why he didn't go himself.

I mean I am not going to go there and get whacked. I am not going to risk my life for that.

TC: Haha...

IC: So that was 1985. In 1986 when I went back to ROC as High Noon controller, we were told di xia jie was totally out of bounds.

There were two or three stages of planning in Kaoshiung.

After the incident, Kaoshiung was still the R&R place. But di xia jie was banned. Later the whole dang place got burned down.

TC: Burned down?

IC: Maybe business became bad and the owners burned the place to collect insurance money. Or the gangsters burned the place down in order to redevelop the land. But that's beside the point.

Later R&R went to Taichung.

I think Tainan first and then Taichung, or something like that.

I was a regular then and I was always called back during NUS holidays.

TC: Do you remember going to di xia jie as a cadet?

IC: I do

TC: I remember too. I didn't stay long. The place was pretty run down even then. Ceiling boards looking decrepit. Hey, your army regular life must have been pretty interesting. Did you go Thailand?

IC: No, that's more for the Guards. I'm pure infantry. Walk the road, charge the hill... that kind of thing.

TC: I remember my reservist was quite tough on the infantry as well. Always rushing from the FUP to the objective all the while walking at a brisk pace along river banks full of pebbles. A lot of the men ended up getting blisters on their feet.

IC: That time High Noon was a very long journey. From Hengchun base all the way towards the north. Of course part of the journey was administrative. Not all areas along the area were suitable for training. But from the south to the northwards, I think we travelled some 100 km.

Ex High Noon was the biggest scale infantry exercise then. It involved two physical battalions and one skeleton with the brigade HQ.

For example, when 3 SIR went for their Starlight exercise and about to complete, 4 SIR would fly in. Then 3 and 4 SIR would combine and together, with 1 SIR skeleton, would start the High Noon exercise.

After completion, 3 SIR would fly back and 4 SIR would start their Starlight training.

I took part in High Noon in '85 as an exercise trooper; in '86 I went there as controller. 106 controller, as a matter of fact.

Because 106 was undeployable, I ended up as vehicle controller of the controllers' vehicles.

You see, when exercise starts, the controllers have to walk with the exercise troops (some 10-15 km). Someone had to look after their vehicles and bring them to the end point near the objective so the controllers could have their personal stuff back. To clean up, cook, etc.

I would end up staying at a local general's or retired colonel's house nearby or next to some provision shop.

So I often got to hear stories from some retired colonel or general, or like one time, sit beside a general's daughter whilst she played piano and together sang songs.

TC: That's not bad at all!

IC: Yes, that was in '86. Because in '85 I was with this battalion commander who quite liked me and so the next year when he became controller, he called me up and invited me to be the 106 commander, knowing there is nothing to command with the 106 outfit.

TC: Why was that so?

IC: The terrain was just not suitable/deployable. It is very funny because it was a known fact. Year in year out they still did the same thing, bring the 106 there.

TC: Were the guns there?

IC: Yes, the guns were always stored there.

TC: How were the Taiwanese involved?

IC: They only drove the troops, these "malao" drivers. So my job was to bring the vehicles from one place to the other. For 10-11 days at a stretch.

Along the way I could have stopped and gone for a sauna, haha. But I never did. You see, there's one day and a night of time to kill. It's always dawn attack dawn attack. So the troops would walk the night and do the dawn attack at about the time I would wake up, haha.

TC: Wah, you really "keok tiok".

IC: Haha, I don't need to eat combat ration; along the way there were all these shops...

TC: I like our training areas there actually. One day must go back there walk walk. The south is lovely.

IC: Now is different. The villagers attitude towards us has changed. Very different from '85 time. Now they don't hew you already. If you park your vehicle next to their shop, they will come out and chase you away. Last time, they welcomed you, especially High Noon.

TC: How come?

IC: You see, in the south, they already had the bad impression of us for many years. But in High Noon, we moved from the south all the way northwards almost to Taichung. The areas along the way had very little contact with us SAF soldiers before, so they welcomed us. But it later became the same when we go and spoil their vegetables, farmland, etc, etc.

TC: I wonder if they ever complained about us to their government

IC: Some of them were also very cunning. They themselves go and do something funny to their farm to claim compensation. Especially that part of the farm that's lousy or is bad already

TC: You regular for how long?

IC: Six years

My army life was more interesting during reservist.

During reservist I enjoyed myself. During admin meetings my CO would always tell his runner: "Don't buy beer for anybody else except Capt Poh." Haha...

TC: Why so special? (Haha)

IC: I dunno

TC: Ni de jiu liang hao (you good drinker). Drink can still function.

IC: But it was reservist what, you can behave a little different. When "active" cannot.

Especially defence exercise. CO, S3 come look for me cannot always find me. I got look-out mah. With 2 PDF, we were always talking about coastal defence, or some very spread out kind of operation. So they cannot claim they cannot find me. I could always be somewhere else, haha.

That's why I say my S2 was really intelligent. An intelligence officer that is actually intelligent.

Before he came to my training area, he would say, "You go buy a few cans of beer."

When he sees my runner or look-out he would tell him: "You go tell your OC I got beer for him."

I would then magically appear, haha.

TC: Haha

IC: You know, the old 2 PDF was actually located in Terror Camp our old ITD in Sembawang. The mess was not allowed to sell beer in the afternoon. But when my battalion goes there, they would. So after lunch I could go for one ot two glasses of beer before training.

It seems back then, I had a lot of special privileges when it came to beer.

Poh Ian Chiak - 2018

TC: Thanks, Poh, for the interview.

IC: No problem.

- The End