The presence of the Official Secrets Act means any blogging about sensitive stuff is frowned upon. But that is only a partial reason for my silence about NS over the past 6 weeks. Here I document them, verbatim, in a letter that now sits adhesed to the table of my ex-bunk.
"For Andrew, Chang Ming, Ming Yu, David, Jian Boon, Yong Yao, Wei Xuan and Wilson:
When you return from the range this evening, the 8 of you will be the remaining members of our section. I would have made up bed J4201 for the last time, preparing for a different experience in my new posting at Ayer Rajah. To be honest, I never planned for any of this. It had always been my intention to complete enhanced BMT and move on to OCS, just as my closest friends and seniors have done. But during my 19 days in training, my conditions which had never affected me in normal life began acting up quite badly, which explains why it is that, more often than not, I was on status, and eventually decided to exit the course. In some sense, it was an incredibly difficult decision to make, because it meant that I would be abandoning the prestige that comes with being an officer. More importantly though, it means I will no longer share in the sense of fulfillment that comes with finishing the course with you guys. Come March 11th, you will graduate after having Route Marched 24km. This will be both a walk down the lane of the achievements you've made in the course, as well as a march towards many bright prospects in your NS days to come. Do spare a thought for me, your ex-section mate and IC, for I will definitely be sending you my warmest regards as you move on to complete our 22 months of service before 7th Nov 2010.
I have one philosophy in life - to live with no regrets. But in this case I'll make an exception. If I leave not having gotten to know you properly as friends, I sincerely apologise for not having made a better effort. That is the one thing I would change if I could turn back time and relive these 6 weeks. Though I probably never showed it, I'm thankful to have been in this section rather than any other.
So today, I leave enriched for having met some awesome bunkmates, and more importantly, made some amazing new friends. Do send my regards to the rest of our platoon, especially the friends I've made like Michael, Jarrod and Zhenlin, and to our 5 brilliant commanders. And add me on MSN or Facebook!
Remember to call or SMS me whenever you plan a section outing, 'cos I'll definitely want to be there. (Andrew/Jian Boon, I'll be waiting for your car to pick me up!)
Godspeed, and Thanks For The Memories,
John Leo Caines (or JLC, since my friends call me that)
91179730
jlcdg@hotmail.com
Proud member of J 4/2
8th Jan - 19th Feb 2009
P.S.: Do make use of the hangers and toilet paper I left behind."
