Friendship

Friends. A significant person in another person's life. Friends are those who will step in when the whole world step out. They are the ones whom you turn to when you have problems. They are also the ones who will share your joy and tears. Some friends make you feel valued. Some make you feel like you are trash (are they even friends?).

Being an only child, having no siblings means the only people I can interact with at my age are my friends. Of course, I cherish my friends like how you'd cherish a pot of hard found treasure. Sure enough, some of them are really worth cherishing. People who have talked to me a lot will notice I define the word "friends" very explicitly. If I am not close enough to you, I'd say you are a "classmate", "platoon mate" or whatever place/event I met you in.

Throughout my 21 years of life, I have met lots of friends. Some I have kept in contact since we met, while for others, it seems like we are fated to lose contact. I have lost contact with too many friends. It's time to cherish the friends I have now, and newly made. Of course, one day I'd like to point to an old friend of mine and tell my child, "See, daddy knew him 30 years ago and we're still in contact."

Singapore Airshow 2012

Singapore Airshow 2012, the largest aviation event here in Singapore. A dream for all Singaporean and foreign aviation enthusiasts alike. Being a part of the minority who loves (or you can say, crazy about) planes, it is definitely a dream come true whenever the bi-annual event takes place.

Every airshow has different aircraft on show and some of them are sure to garner huge public attention. For example, the largest attraction this year was the Boeing 787, the newest aircraft to grace the blue skies. However, for the public show on 18 and 19 February, it has left the static display area for a flying display. As such, another aircraft which garners almost the same, or even more public attention has come to take its place. It is the Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400. 

The Boeing 747 has been Singapore Airlines' flagship since the 1970s when they received their first aircraft of the type, a Boeing 747-200B also nicknamed "SuperB". After 40 years of operation, the Boeing 747 will finally end its service with Singapore Airlines on 6th April 2012.

I feel very honoured to have the chance to be onboard the Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 back in 1999. My second encounter with it would be during the airshow yesterday, when it was on static display. I reached there early at around 8.40am and started queuing. Once I stepped into the queue, tons of people formed up behind me, which made me feel pretty lucky that I reached just at the right time.

Time soon passed and I got the boarding pass to step onboard. Once onboard, a cheerful guide greeted us and started introducing us to the aircraft and letting us know a bit of the history and such. The aircraft was 9V-SPQ (pictured) and was delivered on 31st October 2001, the youngest B747 in the SQ fleet. We walked around the entire plane and I was still amazed at how well kept the cabin was.

After the tour, we were also allowed to wander around the area to take detailed pictures of the plane. I, for once, took at least 200 pictures of a single plane. Looking back at the long queue of people waiting to get onboard, I can't help but to wonder, how many of them really know what they are in for? Are they just queuing because lots of people are also queuing?

Reflections

It's now 15th February 2012. Yes, 2012. A special year for me. It's the year that I will be committed to the Singapore Armed Forces entirely. A year I will be turning 21, a major milestone in a person's life. This year, I have graduated from the Basic Military Training Centre and has now attained the rank of Private (PTE) in the SAF. My time in BMTC was a fulfilling one. 

I lost 30kg through the strenuous training programme designed for us. Although I can't reveal much, I can say that all the activities like the Field Camp, Route March and Basic Trainfire Package has helped to shape me into a better person and injected new skills into me. It has also moulded my character. 

 On 7th January 2012, I finally passed out from BMTC. On 13th January, it was a nervous day for all of the 04/11 cohort as it was the day of the announcement of our posting. I was posted to HQ SAFAC as SUP ASST (AMMO). Having this vocation, it means that I will be in a non combat vocation and there will be minimal or no physical training at all. Good news for me, bad news for my weight. To add icing to the cake, I am not required to stay in.

Being a specialized course and handling with highly dangerous items (ammunition), we were required to undergo a 3 week course at the School of Ammunition. It seemed like a normal course at first until it was when I met my current buddy in my unit. From then on, my social circle kept increasing. From the 2 of us, it expanded to 4, then to 6, then to 8, to 9 and now it's more than 10. It was a great experience interacting with them and it helped me open up a lot more than what I will with my BMT friends. Honestly, I did not feel close to my BMT friends but the friends I got to know at SOA made me feel much more like a home away from home.

Till now, I can say that it is still a great experience with all my friends that I knew from SOA although we have now been separated. Luckily, we were only separated into 2 depots and that means we will definitely have someone we know when we report to our new depot. Throughout the days we knew each other, it was definitely fun to tease each other, disturb each other, suan each other and last but not least, encourage each other in whatever we were trying to achieve and keeping a lookout for one another.

Around 1 year and 6 months of National Service to go, wonder how will it be like? If we were to all stay together, I suppose it will be a very fun time for all of us and time will pass by very quickly, just like how each day passes by quickly for us now.