Friday, September 10, 2004
Soon Lee stupidly opened his mouth and asked the CO: "So, do we have birthday off?"
That's it. We're finished. There is NO such thing as birthday off. There is no clause stipulating that people should be allowed to take a break on their birthdays. Off is only given based on good performance, when the person is deemed worthy for the reward.
And so the CSM screws us after the CO leaves. "Haven't I briefed you this afternoon? Do you know how much time and effort I have to put into coming up with the standing order? And now you have to open your mouth and ask about birthday off?" In the presentation of the company order earlier in the day, the CSM had mentioned the conditions that an off would be given. He had declared that there was NO SUCH THING AS A BIRTHDAY OFF.
In fact the birthday off issue had come under fire last month, after someone called the Battalion headquarters to ask about it. Apparently the CO got wind of the news, and he demanded an explanation from the OC. Already one person had received a birthday off in our platoon; three more were to receive theirs. The off was never told to the OC, rather it was on our PS' initiative that we are given off for our birthdays. When the snakes were let loose, the other three lost their off, just on the very same day they were supposed to book-out to enjoy their given leave. Since then, the OC has been placing a message that goes like this in the routine orders:
"THE OC WOULD LIKE TO WISH SO-AND-SO A HAPPY BIRTHDAY"
- in compensation for the lack of birthday off.
Anyway, Soon Lee's big mouth was sufficient to blow the CSM's fuse. He orders a standby area and standby bed, to be personally conducted by him. Unless he is satisfied, we will not book-out. He doesn't give a shit about the lack of dinner.
Frightened and anxious to leave the camp as early as possible, everybody dashes to do their work.
But the son of a pig changes into civilian, to the extent of wearing slippers, just before our inspection time. So he's not going to inspect after all. Our platoon sergeants would do the job. Eventually it is our PC who inspects us.
Are they going to play this sort of game every Friday? Making us stay late without dinner provided? To clean up the place to the STANDARD that they WANT before they let us leave? This is a serious breach of safety. By the rules, we should be let off by seven latest. This evening, it is nearly nine when we finally manage to eat at Lot 1 Shoppers' Mall at Choa Chu Kang central. Consider the distance we have to walk from our company line to the main road, and then tolerate a lengthy bus journey from the rural to the urban area.
¶ 9/10/2004 03:20:00 pm That's it. We're finished. There is NO such thing as birthday off. There is no clause stipulating that people should be allowed to take a break on their birthdays. Off is only given based on good performance, when the person is deemed worthy for the reward.
And so the CSM screws us after the CO leaves. "Haven't I briefed you this afternoon? Do you know how much time and effort I have to put into coming up with the standing order? And now you have to open your mouth and ask about birthday off?" In the presentation of the company order earlier in the day, the CSM had mentioned the conditions that an off would be given. He had declared that there was NO SUCH THING AS A BIRTHDAY OFF.
In fact the birthday off issue had come under fire last month, after someone called the Battalion headquarters to ask about it. Apparently the CO got wind of the news, and he demanded an explanation from the OC. Already one person had received a birthday off in our platoon; three more were to receive theirs. The off was never told to the OC, rather it was on our PS' initiative that we are given off for our birthdays. When the snakes were let loose, the other three lost their off, just on the very same day they were supposed to book-out to enjoy their given leave. Since then, the OC has been placing a message that goes like this in the routine orders:
"THE OC WOULD LIKE TO WISH SO-AND-SO A HAPPY BIRTHDAY"
- in compensation for the lack of birthday off.
Anyway, Soon Lee's big mouth was sufficient to blow the CSM's fuse. He orders a standby area and standby bed, to be personally conducted by him. Unless he is satisfied, we will not book-out. He doesn't give a shit about the lack of dinner.
Frightened and anxious to leave the camp as early as possible, everybody dashes to do their work.
But the son of a pig changes into civilian, to the extent of wearing slippers, just before our inspection time. So he's not going to inspect after all. Our platoon sergeants would do the job. Eventually it is our PC who inspects us.
Are they going to play this sort of game every Friday? Making us stay late without dinner provided? To clean up the place to the STANDARD that they WANT before they let us leave? This is a serious breach of safety. By the rules, we should be let off by seven latest. This evening, it is nearly nine when we finally manage to eat at Lot 1 Shoppers' Mall at Choa Chu Kang central. Consider the distance we have to walk from our company line to the main road, and then tolerate a lengthy bus journey from the rural to the urban area.
