The ivy league

As some of you may know, my brother is in the army. He enlisted the friday before last, and the dear boy has been calling back almost every night to share his latest instalments of the Chua Adventures. Just last night, he said he was among the top for pull-ups, sit ups and the dreaded 2.4 run, and was one among few to get a silver (no one got gold) for the IPPT cat test. I am proud as hell of him.

How can army be a bad thing? It makes fat people fit, forlorn people fun, eff-ed up people fixed -- but fed-up people furious.

I can't understand how these people can say the army sucks, or they're wasting "so many billions, you know (condescendingly)" on military defence. If the hoi polloi utter such ignorant sentiments I can understand, but why someone as high up as Ivy Singh-Lim thinks this way I can't.

Okay this is going to sound like a promotional gimmick but imagine a world without the SAF. Or even a weaker SAF. Imagine how vulnerable we would feel when we -- or if we dare to -- quarrel with Malaysia. They will say 'Why is Singapore making so much noise, they can't even defend themselves', and that will be the end of the story. Anyone can and will trample over us. We won't have any mental leverage to fight for Pedra Branca, hold our position over reclamation in the north. We will lose our sovereignity. I think our army serisouly really puts us in a ivy league where we can challenge on other fronts -- technological, medical, kiasuism, culinary, etc etc

It also plucks all those nerds who spend their lives in the world of warcraft from their darkened rooms and plush chairs and shows them what life is all about. And I think spending any less on defence will only cheapen the training and compromise the image that we are first world in all we do.

And one last thing I can't understand is why some girls complain that all their army friends talk about is the army. Of course they are going to do so! They spend five days out of seven there, sweating together and sleeping together (ahaha) and achieving together -- it's their their whole life! What would these girls want to talk about all the time then? University? Waitressing? Then the army boys can ask the very same question: 'why are you talking about cute NUS boys or bitching about your low pay job all the time?' In JC, peopletalk about JC stuff, when its raining they talk about the weather (oooh), and when boys are in the army, they will want to find out how all their friends are suffering in OCS, SISPEC, Commando, blah blah blah.

So, huhneh, (yes she used this word and really sounds like that in real life) I don't think you're so wise after all.