The Target Badge

Guess you may be wondering what EPPOP stands for?

Well, it is the acronym for Enrollment Cum Passing Out Parade.

This was a parade that was one of a kind! During this parade, the sec 1's (Boys Brigade) would receive their first badge... the target badge. Moreover, it would be pinned on by their very own parents! Well, the only disadvantage was that we had to stand in our full uniform for 40 straight minutes, without resting!

This is my experience...

On Friday, a day before the main event, we had our preparation. We practiced our drills until near perfection, and until we were united as a single unit, synchronized, and fully coordinated. At first, our drills were 'unacceptable'(as the sir called it). A supposed single, solid stamp sounded like a machine gun. However, fortunately, after hours and hours of practice, we managed to 'perfect' it(the sec 1 contingent still had difficult being synchronized when we marched).

Anyway, we rose early the following day. Adrenaline surged through me. My heart palpitated at a ferocious intensity. Thoughts raced through my mind as a weighed the possibilities of me making a mistake. As we walked past the seats where our parents would be seated, I cast a furtive glance at the shiny metallic target badges that would be pinned upon our right sleeve. I had a cocktail of emotions, that of excitement, anxiety, nervousness, and pride.

As the saying goes, time flies. Before I knew it, the entire company was formed up, and the least anticipated part of the parade was about to start, the waiting.

I don't think I'll need to specify on the waiting. There's only a word for it, tiring. By the end of the day, I was aching all over, as I am even as I am typing this post. Still, when I look at the target badge... well, the wait certainly paid off!

The 'Pinning' ceremony...

As soon as the command was given, our parents strode up to us, a sparkling metal object in the palm of their hand. Slowly and carefully, they pinned the badge onto our right sleeve, and stepped back to admire their 'handiwork'. I beamed with pride as I received the badge. This definitely is an experience that I would never forget.

My first March training camp (Boys Brigade)

The event that I least anticipated has arrived, the March training camp. Hearing rumours(probably exaggerated) from my seniors about B.B boys sobbing, going missing during the camp, and that the minimum number of push ups that they had owed their officers during the camp was 300 push-ups was enough to make time fly past faster than I had wanted it to.

On the first day, I began to have a taste of how tough march camp could be...

• we had to run around Swiss Cottage Secondary School and St Anthony's Primary School with our full uniform on, and with our bags.
• Push ups, push ups, and more push ups.
• Drills Drills and more drills(actually, I did like it, especially if we were coordinated)
• Changing parade- we had to change from PT kit to full uniform within a certain amount of time. Because we could not do it within the time limit, we had to repeat the same process over and over again until we could make it.

... Of course there were several things I enjoyed during the camp. We had to pitch a make shift tent, using a pair of bamboo sticks, cotton twine, a pair of ponchos, a jack-knife, pegs, and a mallet.

Later during the camp, I also was introduced to setting up a barbecue pit. Firstly, we were split up into our squads( I was in squad A). Secondly, each squad was given charcoal, fire-starters, and matches. Adrenaline rushed through me as my eyes glanced off the equipment. Someone in a squad, being a bit more advanced and modernized, fished out a lighter from his pocket. Before long, three fire-starters, were blazing with flames inside the pit(the pit was actually an aluminium tin). Next, we were taught to pile up the charcoal. First, we had to take the thicker chunks of charcoal, and pile them at the sides of each of the fire-starters. Secondly, we had to put the thinner pieces of charcoal on top of them. This way, the scorching hot fire-starters would not be smoldered. Once we saw that the pieces of charcoal glowed red with heat, we immediately, spread out the charcoal to even out the heat, put the metal grill on top of the pit, and began our barbecue.

During the whole session, our squad made one small mistake- putting too much charcoal. Probably due to our enthusiasm, we had tossed in too much charcoal. columns of smoke billowed furiously out of the pit. Before long, a blanket of smoke had covered the entire canteen. Our teacher's in charge(sirs) were fanning the air, tears streaking down their cheeks, like us. Realizing our mistake, we quickly took out several chunks of charcoal with thongs provided, and the amount of air pollution in the air immediately began subsiding.

Well, after several minutes, our hard work finally paid off. We barbecued spicy otta, sausages, satay, 'sotong', and chicken wings. We had a scrumptious, delectable meal, the best I had during the whole march camp! Needless to say, our Sir's 'stole' food from us, probably as compensation for the smoke. Well, there was more then enough! At the end of dinner, we were all clutching our stomachs, sighing in content, as though we were in paradise...

" Right! Everyone! Time for area cleaning!" Just as I was enjoying myself, our I.C. just had to break the moment. As though on cue, all of our seniors immediately began picking up the litter around them. Not wanting to be left out, the sec 1's(inclusive of me) was no exception.

These are the highlights and the activities I found the least enticing during the camp. Fortunately for us, this years march camp was nothing compared to last year. Well, being born one year later is something we should be thankful about!

PSLE is finally over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nervous, anxious, a little confident, excited, only a few words to describe how I had felt during the PSLE period. Of course, after one paper, I had felt a sense of relief- as though a heavy burden had been lifted from my shoulders- for I would not need to revise that subject anymore!

Going back in time... ...

Earlier during the month, an intensive session of revision for me began(all because of PSLE), especially chinese. I was particularly weak in this subject, and the worst that I wanted to happen was for it to pull down my aggregate score. And so it all began, everyday, I revised at least three subjects,(Chinese was definitely one of them)for the next few remaining weeks. Time passed quickly, and my first paper-English, was drawing closer...
Finally. This was the day. I sat at my seat, the paper on my desk. My hand hovered nervously above my pen, anticipating the start of the examination. At long last, 5minutes which seemed like an hour passed. At a signal from the invigilator, I grabbed my pen, and began scribbling furiously on the paper. Every now and then, I glanced nervously at my watch(the least thing I wanted was for me to run out of time). Before long, I had completed the paper. I leaned back in my chair, relaxing- for once. Checking my work, I spotted several careless mistakes. Without hesitation, I seized the chance to earn a few more marks for this paper...
"close your booklet, and put your pens and pencils on the desk!" The examination had ended.

(This was about the same thing that happend for all the subjects, except that for Science, I was euphoric that my primary school learning journey had finally ended, for it was the last paper)

Maybe, besides Primary School Leaving Examination, PSLE could possibly stand for Please Stop Learning Everything!

The Royal Singapore Air Force(RSAF) Open House

The F15E-Strike Eagle, The F16 Fighting Falcon, The F5 Tiger; just to name a few of the many different types of fighters possessed by the Royal Singapore Air Force.

Snaking our way through the bustling crowd, I made my way towards the planes on display, oblivious to my surroundings, my friends, in hot pursuit. Just seeing the nose and cockpit of the plane made me gasp in awe. The aerodynamic body of the plane- perfect for swooping, diving and chasing enemy craft. Armed with machine guns, heat-missiles and sidewinders, the F16 Fighting Falcon was a fearsome sight. This was my favourite plane Singapore possessed. Personally, I disliked the F15 because of its big, fat nose. I could imagine myself seated in the cockpit. The glass lid shutting above my head. The feeling of take off, and if during war, arming the deadly weapons on the wings of the plane, and pulling the trigger, sending missiles crashing into the enemy craft's engine, gaining yet another victory.

I snapped back into the present. Desperately trying to get a few good shots of the plane, I captured picture after picture of the plane at different angles like there was no tomorrow.

The Royal Rangers together with me headed on, past the planes and onto the helicopters. Of course the first thing that caught my attention was the Apache- Singapore's latest helicopter model. I focused on the weapons: hellfires, machine guns, missile launchers and rocket launchers. Above the intimidating rotors, was a dome- a radar.

A pity the open house was so crowded. If not, we could have had a chance to try out the simulator and sit in the cockpit of the helicopters and jet fighters. As we neared the runway, we saw the anti-air craft artillery weapons and trucks armed with Service to Air Missiles(SAM) and rockets.

Finally, came the moment we were all waiting for; the Air Show.

(part of this story did not actually happen in real life)

The sound was deafening. Four F16's were on a mission- to attack and destroy a pair of unidentified potentially dangerous aircraft. Thundering down the runway at a breakneck speed, one by one, the fighters took off. As they disappeared behind a building, two F15's came into view, twisting and turning, before increasing altitude. A dogfight would be occurring soon- an air to air combat! Suddenly, the F16's dropped out of a cloud. They had executed a hundred and eighty degrees turn and were in hot pursuit of the intruders. All of a sudden, the sky lit up. Black smoke covered part of the sky. A little black speck in the sky flew upwards, and a parachute burst open. Five planes emerged from the smoke. The intruders were down by a plane. In a desperate attempt to shake off his pursuers, the enemy pilot pulled the plane upwards, spiralling as he went. The F16's split up. Two chased the enemy, while the other two headed off into the horizon. The combat was hidden by a blanket of black smoke and dust. But we could hear the action. The sound was twice as loud. As the smoke cleared, we could see the remains of three planes. The RSAF had won, with only one casualty. The remaining three fighters landed safely.

This fictious story was birthed from my experience at the RSAF Open House air show.

A railroad experience

Upon exiting the Customs, we rushed through an open door. To my surprise, every seat in the cabin was occupied- by both young and old. To my relief though, the condition of the cabin was not as I had expected: musty smell, water leakage, dirty windows, torn and tattered seats, hot, humid, with no ventilation at the least.

As soon as my family crowded into the cabin, two sharp, shrill whistles sounded, and a flash of green caught my attention. As if in reply, the locomotive tooted, and the pistons moved ever so slowly, forwards... backwards... forwards... backwards...


Before long, the train began to pick up speed. A cocktail of emotions, that of excitement and anxiety swamped my senses. I pressed my nose against the door (this was the best spot we could find) only to realise that the door was not locked! I pushed the latch, in an attempt to lock the door, but to no avail. At this moment did I realise how dangerous this ride could be! If the door swung open suddenly and someone fell out......

The train headed towards its destination: Malaysia. There we would stop by a station in Johor Baru where we would begin our trip. Adrenaline swept through my being. My eyes dilated in unbridled suspense. The veins in my temple throbbed with a ferocious intensity. Foliage flanking the track- a blur as the train whooshed past at a speed of 70km/h, sending fallen dried leaves scattering haphazardly in all directions.



All of a sudden, the train came to a halt. Thoughts swirled in my mind, did the train stop because it was waiting to switch tracks? Or because the train broke down? Or because the train ran out of fuel?



Five minutes passed but still no sign of movement. By now, adventurous commuters swung open the doors to their cabins, jumped out onto the track, armed with professional cameras, phone cameras, and compact cameras, capturing photo's of their friends and families beside the locomotive, without fear that the train might continue the journey without them.

For what seemed like eternity, the train finally started off. Although a few of the passengers managed to board the train in time, two cameramen oblivious to their surroundings were left behind.



An exhiliriating moment was when the train crossed the bridge. From up there, I could see The Railmall partially hidden behind some shrubs.


Finally the moment I had awaited for so long came. It was so sudden that I could not get a clear, good shot of that moment. My heart palpitated wildily in anticipation as I felt the train increase in speed gradually. Thundering down the track, the train crossed the road. I could only catch a glimpse of the cars giving way to the locomotive. The only building that caught my attention was the now under renovation Ten Mile Junction, soon to be known as Junction Ten. Before long, we reached the Woodlands checkpoint. After our passports were checked, we took a short trip to a room where we would wait to board the train once more.



This time though, we managed to get a seat!

Before long, we reached our first stop. Weary from the long trip, I trudged together with the rest of the CG members towards a door- an opening that led to Denga Mall. As we neared the entrance, I caught sight of a notice that read "For your own safety, the doors will automatically open 15minutes before the arrival and departure of the train. "

Upon seeing this, a few of my friends looked as horrified as I was. That sign meant that we had to wait for 15minutes before the next train's arrival before we would be able to enter the mall! Well, we didn't have the time to idle about at the entrance doing absoulutely nothing!





Finally, after some negotiations with the sercurity guards in the mall, we came to a compromise, and the doors swung open.





After brunch, noodles which I hardly relished, we headed to the bowling alley.


When my turn came, I grabbed a 9kg bowling ball. Moving my arms, I created enough momentum for the sphere to move fast enough, such that there was no time for it to change course. I heard the sound of pins falling upon impact. I glanced up at the monitor, and saw an X. A strike!





A whole lot of other interesting and exciting activities happened later today. We went to City Square, where we had a western lunch. We also watched the movie 'Thor' in the cinemas(it was a lot cheaper to watch a movie in Malaysia than in Singapore).





Well, time flies when you're having fun! Before we knew it, it was time to go. Going through the same procedures as before, we entered the train and began on the long journey back to Tanjong Pagar train station. From Woodlands checkpoint onwards, we managed to occupy a seat. easing comfortably into my seat, I fished out my camera. I had a brain wave; since the train service would cease on the 1st of July, I might as well capture a video of the whole trip! A pressed the menu button, and clicked 'video'. I pressed the shutter button, and the entire departure was recorded. This time though, I managed to catch a video of us passing by Ten Mile Junction!





Although at the end of this railroad trip all my limbs were numb and aching, this experience was worth while. This may be the first time I took this train service to Malaysia it would also be my last.

A new experience

"take your mark..." The whole sports school fell silent at the signal.

For weeks, I have been training for this very moment.

Then "Go!" Immediately, everyone started cheering. "splash!" I plunged into the cold, salty competition pool. After a few sharp butterfly kicks, I emerged from the water surface and took a deep breathe. My arms swung forwards pulling water towards me. In this way, I propelled myself forward, with the help of my legs. The race was on. There was no time for hesitation. Leaving everything behind me, all my nervousness and anticipation. I swam towards my goal.

It all lasted less than a minute. My arms felt like falling off. My lungs felt as though they were ready to explode. But I had done it. I had completed the 50m freestyle competition.

As I followed the other competitors out of the pool, I felt a sense of achievement and relief. Achievement because I had completed the race, and relief because ever since I entered the Singapore Sports School, I had felt as though there were butterflies in my stomach. Now that the competition was over, there was nothing to be nervous about. It was as though a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders.

On the diving block, I recalled having a mixture of emotions- of fear, nervousness, and excitement. Nervousness came naturally to me because this was a new experience. Fear probably because of the conversations with my other teammates about getting disqualified by the officials due to slight movement on the diving block, and excitement because this experience was somewhat similar to that of the Olympics.

This experience has enabled me to compete with the best of the best swimmers in Singapore. Forever, this new experience will be etched in my mind.

A day of colourful birds

25 June 2010

A day ago, my family went to the Singapore Bird Park. Unlike any other visits, we decided to explore different parts of the park. I only remembered admiring the kingfisher exibits once, and we never did explore the Toucan and Hornbill collection; the largest collection of Toucan and Hornbill species in South East Asia. But as we were now more interested in Kingfishers, we decided to spend the day at that exhibit. So immediately after the penguin exhibit, we began our trail of the Kingfishers. The first thing I saw in common of all the Kingfishers, were their colours. The different species all had their own unique colours, but I managed to spot two similiar colours among all the Kingfishers, blue and white. Their long, stout, bright orange beaks were also very distinctive. White throated Kingfisher,(top left) Bluebreasted Kingfisher,(top right) Collared Kingfisher(bottom middle)

After snapping photo's, our trail led us towards the 18 species of Hornbills and Toucans. The cages which these birds were kept in, looked pretty similiar to the ones of birds of prey. The only difference was that former cages were filled with greenery and thick branches. These enable the birds to perch on without fear of the branch snapping under their weight. I like the Hornbill and Toucans distinct beak. Some of their beaks were in different shades of orange while others were covered in multiple colours.

Taco Toucan

Soon, our journey led us to the Lorry Loft. This was my favourite part of the Bird Park. Whenever mummy bought the food mixture for us to feed the Lorries, I would be the first one to volunteer. Usually, the birds would feed either perching on the rails or on my arm. But today, it was different. If you know about pirates, you would notice that most of them have a bird companion on their shoulders. Well, should a pirate see me, he would probably be envious. Instead of only one perched on my shoulders, I proudly carried two and with two others on my arm. One even clinged onto my shirt! I was literally covered in Lorries! After a while, I started to itch, as their sharp claws were dug into my skin. I decided to put the bowl of food mixture on to the floor. Like magic, immediately the birds rushed for the food, and started squabbling over it! When I thought enough was enough, I took back the bowl and descended down a flight of steps with the rest of my family. Unfortunately, my actions were spied on by beady little eyes. The lorries looked around me, trying to find their stolen bowl of food. I had a pretty hard time trying to hide it from them! After disposing of it, we continued our walk. We also saw other birds, like hawks, and herons, soaring high above the aviary. I wondered if they were from the Bird Park. After exploring the rest of our favourites, we headed for our next destination, the Jurong East Libary.