OK guys, this is it. We're finally - and really - leaving! Our flight's on the morning of Friday, 9 September 2005. We're expected to be back 24 October 2005, or earlier, if we can finish the task quickly. Well, stay longer and get more money... that's the common sense thing to do, but whether we can tolerate staying there for 6-7 weeks (I mean, no one's ever stayed for this long in Brunei before, with the exception of the perm staff at the base camp there) is a different matter. Even those people on the jungle course come back home after three weeks. We're staying twice the duration!
There are pros and cons of going there. The pro is that most of us are quite prepared for the trip, having been bitched about it time and again. Then, whether we can really stomach it psychologically WHILE being there is a different matter. Another pro is that when we go there, time will pass when we return. Not that time passes like an arrow there, but when you look ahead and think of your arrival in Singapore, you'll tell yourself, oh, it's towards the end of October already! Eight more months to ORD! (Okay, still long...) Finally, the last good thing about going there is to avoid getting shit from higher HQ, because we're the only company with the largest manpower.
The cons are: not seeing your loved ones, not eating your favourite food, not doing your favourite things at your own expense. All those things that you now realize you take for granted! Another grouse: no Internet! Come on, email is free! – that is, on our side, because anyway SAF pays for the Internet connection. SAF is so rich and they can waste money on high-end explosives that they don’t have to bat an eyelid about paying for Broadband connection. But then, everybody will be fighting for the computer, and at the end of the day, some of us won’t get to use it, and I’m pretty sure fights will break out.
Speaking about fights . . . seeing the same people everyday and doing the same shit . . . no doubt we’ll become bad-tempered and throw tantrums. I admit it, so please forgive me if I really turn into a bastard. And for those who turn into a bastard and slam me here and there, I forgive you too. Ultimately our only target is to return home.
Ultimately our long-term achievement is to fuck off from the army and go back to our civilian lives. That won’t apply, if anybody wants to sign up with the armed forces.
So you people, please take care of yourselves in Singapore. We know you’re worrying for us in Brunei, but we won’t want to have to worry about you guys back in Singapore while we’re in the miserable jungle!
Do miss us, hope to see everyone again soon. And thanks for your concerns!
Cheers. J
