horses.
tuesday i just read a blog post that's basically a collection of NS stories from all over. and i was quite irritated with some of the comments people made. [read it here]
basically here's my take on things. at least from my point of view. we are all familiar with the term "white horse". we use it freely when talking about national service. about how so-and-so's parent or relative is a somebody somewhere. how so-and-so will get preferential treatment and all the works.
now. many would have classified me as a white horse because my dad is a LTC in the army. but what does that mean to me? more importantly, what does it mean and how does it affect my national service? it meant absolutely nothing simply because i am not my dad. i am who i am and i worked my ass off to qualify for command school. getting into SISPEC and OCS is not a given. it sure isn't definite so understandably i was pretty pissed off when people were talking about me getting in because of my dad.
let me set things straight here first. only sometime after the start of BMT did people realise who my dad was. even then, it was accidental that they found out because one of my section commanders had read through my CV and asked me about it. it was even more obvious during the Passing Out Parade when my parents came - why i shall not say. but throughout BMT i was who i was. training as hard as i could, pushing myself and my friends along, trying to get the best out of ourselves for Mohawk Coy.
i firmly believe in fairness. who gives a crap that you're somebody's son or daughter? does it then mean that you're immune from punishments? immune from duties and whatever else that we have to go through as recruits, trainees or officer cadets? sure. i will admit to having it a bit easier when people found out who i was but only because the are more wary about crossing the fine line between tough training and abusing of rank (that can lead to mistreatment etc). when i left Tekong for the last time, i shook each of my instructors hands firmly and said words of thanks for training me and treating me fairly. i wasn't given any special privilege nor was i treated like some sort of "must-look after" recruit.
on the contrary, i got it harder than the rest. i half-expected some of my instructors to push me as far as i could simply because they knew who i was. whether in fairness or not i didn't bother and i still don't. i took it more of a challenge to prove to them what i was capable of and i'm confident i proved myself. the more sheltered ones will tend to feel that they're being picked on and crack under the pressure. i took it in my stride, grit my teeth and pushed myself further and harder like never before. i will attest to having done the most push-ups in my life when i was platoon I/Cs for those 8 days. i lost count at 1217. i remember because i wrote down in my little journal how many i did everyday. i decided to stop counting after the 5th day.
what pissed me off though, was the very fact that for most of the 1000-over times i "talked to the floor", i didn't really deserve it. it reached a point where my fellow platoon I/Cs spoke to the CSM on my behalf. only then did the unnecessary punishments stopped. but it made me a stronger person. no doubt about it. physically and mentally.
the truth is, the whole idea or concept if you will, about white horses has been so contorted and misconstrued that people now misunderstand what it all means. in short. a white horse is someone who basically has relations to someone with a high enough rank or in a high enough position. and people tend to behave themselves more when in the presence of "white horses" because they realise the repercussions should they play punk. nothing more than that. then there are also those who hope to curry favour. how they go about it is up to anyone's imagination. but let it be said, i've had a friend in my company who's dad was a LTC and my poly buddy shaun who's dad is also a LTC. we never had it going easy. trainings were as tough. punishments were meted out when we deserved it and we all got through it without much fanfare and very nearly no complaints.
perhaps the only thing i'm guilty of is living in my father's shadow. always trying to push myself to get to where he was. it's no secret that i've always wanted to sign on and hoping to emulate him someday. events conspired against that so i've got to live as best as i can and serve to the best of my abilities. being downgraded was a big blow for me. never in my life did i think i would be in the service vocation. i dare say it then and i dare say it now, put me back into combat. that's where i'm most effective. that's where i feel at home. not in the confines of an office cubicle. not without my rifle, SBO and fieldpack. just don't ask me to dig shellscrapes and trenches. i absolutely hate those. hah!
so in reference to one of those who commented. minimum rank of a LTC to be considered a white horse? hah! i'll laugh in his face and walk away. not because of arrogance but because of his ignorance. for having misguided thoughts. then again. i'll do that to anyone who tells me i'm a white horse.
basically here's my take on things. at least from my point of view. we are all familiar with the term "white horse". we use it freely when talking about national service. about how so-and-so's parent or relative is a somebody somewhere. how so-and-so will get preferential treatment and all the works.
now. many would have classified me as a white horse because my dad is a LTC in the army. but what does that mean to me? more importantly, what does it mean and how does it affect my national service? it meant absolutely nothing simply because i am not my dad. i am who i am and i worked my ass off to qualify for command school. getting into SISPEC and OCS is not a given. it sure isn't definite so understandably i was pretty pissed off when people were talking about me getting in because of my dad.
let me set things straight here first. only sometime after the start of BMT did people realise who my dad was. even then, it was accidental that they found out because one of my section commanders had read through my CV and asked me about it. it was even more obvious during the Passing Out Parade when my parents came - why i shall not say. but throughout BMT i was who i was. training as hard as i could, pushing myself and my friends along, trying to get the best out of ourselves for Mohawk Coy.
i firmly believe in fairness. who gives a crap that you're somebody's son or daughter? does it then mean that you're immune from punishments? immune from duties and whatever else that we have to go through as recruits, trainees or officer cadets? sure. i will admit to having it a bit easier when people found out who i was but only because the are more wary about crossing the fine line between tough training and abusing of rank (that can lead to mistreatment etc). when i left Tekong for the last time, i shook each of my instructors hands firmly and said words of thanks for training me and treating me fairly. i wasn't given any special privilege nor was i treated like some sort of "must-look after" recruit.
on the contrary, i got it harder than the rest. i half-expected some of my instructors to push me as far as i could simply because they knew who i was. whether in fairness or not i didn't bother and i still don't. i took it more of a challenge to prove to them what i was capable of and i'm confident i proved myself. the more sheltered ones will tend to feel that they're being picked on and crack under the pressure. i took it in my stride, grit my teeth and pushed myself further and harder like never before. i will attest to having done the most push-ups in my life when i was platoon I/Cs for those 8 days. i lost count at 1217. i remember because i wrote down in my little journal how many i did everyday. i decided to stop counting after the 5th day.
what pissed me off though, was the very fact that for most of the 1000-over times i "talked to the floor", i didn't really deserve it. it reached a point where my fellow platoon I/Cs spoke to the CSM on my behalf. only then did the unnecessary punishments stopped. but it made me a stronger person. no doubt about it. physically and mentally.
the truth is, the whole idea or concept if you will, about white horses has been so contorted and misconstrued that people now misunderstand what it all means. in short. a white horse is someone who basically has relations to someone with a high enough rank or in a high enough position. and people tend to behave themselves more when in the presence of "white horses" because they realise the repercussions should they play punk. nothing more than that. then there are also those who hope to curry favour. how they go about it is up to anyone's imagination. but let it be said, i've had a friend in my company who's dad was a LTC and my poly buddy shaun who's dad is also a LTC. we never had it going easy. trainings were as tough. punishments were meted out when we deserved it and we all got through it without much fanfare and very nearly no complaints.
perhaps the only thing i'm guilty of is living in my father's shadow. always trying to push myself to get to where he was. it's no secret that i've always wanted to sign on and hoping to emulate him someday. events conspired against that so i've got to live as best as i can and serve to the best of my abilities. being downgraded was a big blow for me. never in my life did i think i would be in the service vocation. i dare say it then and i dare say it now, put me back into combat. that's where i'm most effective. that's where i feel at home. not in the confines of an office cubicle. not without my rifle, SBO and fieldpack. just don't ask me to dig shellscrapes and trenches. i absolutely hate those. hah!
so in reference to one of those who commented. minimum rank of a LTC to be considered a white horse? hah! i'll laugh in his face and walk away. not because of arrogance but because of his ignorance. for having misguided thoughts. then again. i'll do that to anyone who tells me i'm a white horse.
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