~JcZw

Technically, the executive officer of a ship handled the routine responsibilities concerning the crew, all internal matters, leaving the captain free to think strategically and concern himself with more global matters. The way that usually played out, however, had the exec playing the villan, the guy who handed out the unpleasant news and details, the officer the men could freely hate

- The Silent Service: Virginia Class, by H. Jay Riker

(NB: Executive Officer = Second-in-Command, usually of a Navy vessel)

Before St. John farewell I was kicking about in Bedok Library trying to find 4 books with which to occupy myself. I read this paragraph about 3 nights back at about 1 am in the morning and nearly laughed out loud.

It struck me that in almost all leadership cases, the leader is the one concerned with "more global matters" while the Second-in-Command was the proverbial "bad guy". Take for example, Mr Wang and Mr Lim. The latter always was the one doing the nagging.

To strike closer to home, Soo Yee was always the fiercer one when we were still JNCOs. Hey once a junior batch even complained (via a senior) that the VOC (Vice-Overall Commander, for those non SJers) always overulled the OC (Overall Commander). My response to that senior was "how many times do you see Mr Wang scolding the school population?"

On the other hand, it could be that I was one of the few male OCs that was shorter than a female VOC. Bleah.

But its true... Soo Yee always did the internal stuff.... training schedules, chasing the cadets blahblah... while I was tangling with Mdm Teo and the odd senior... Oh well, at the end of the day both of us got 4 CCA points for leadership anyway, which is probably deserved, since by LTP (Leadership Training Programme, again for non SJers) the VOC has 26 specific jobs, while the OC has 11 general ones.

Haha... So I'm vindicated =)
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Right, last 3 days class chalet... Quite fun lar...

First day, went only for about 1 1/4 hours? Cos rushed from SJ to chalet then to church... 15 min late n I still made it for the rendevous... whoo...

Second day... supposed to meet my namesake (since there are up to 5 people I know with my name, this one refers to the one from my class) at Pasir Ris MRT at 1.30. But then something happened LOR n I had to wait. and wait. Oh well...

Shopped for food for BBQ.... we were like super-budget, but hey we managed to get a lot of food.. Went home to cook spaghetti... Didn't know one small pack of spaghetti could swell to about 6 times it volume. Absolutely shocking.

Back for the BBQ... Skewered chicken... Skewering chicken is like conducting an injection. You NEVER want to hit the bone of the patient.. My goodness...

I also found out that it is VERY unhealthy to:
1. Step on satay sticks while barefooted
2. Poke yourself with hot skewers while trying to run a chicken through.

The highlight of the day? It rained. Lionel and I tried at first to keep going under an umbrella (like the church BBQ) but when the rain picked up we just decided to scram. Smart of me to leave my shoes in the rain. Left me with wet shoes for the rest of the chalet. We continued after the rain stopped though.. our fire was so strong it didn't even go out... Derek and I resuscitated it then we could go on.

At night after everyone had left, the remaining people were playing majong... watching soccer highlights (Petr Cech is a really good 'keeper!)... Then there was this SEA games MTV showing all the games and I was waiting and waiting for the fencing one... N just as it appeared Mursjid called me n distracted me and I missed it!!! ARGH!!! oh well... then after midnight we played polar bear from 2 to about 5.30 am... whoo...

It was super cold at night... I was curled in one corner at first to keep myself awake so that I could wake phoon without my alarm waking the rest of the people... Then after that I crawled under the bed to get out of the fan's windblast... Super cold... bleah...

Morning.... everyone had to be dragged or kicked or pulled out of bed. Thanks Xunai and Keefe for not stepping on my head =) Had breakfast at Mac then came home..

Hmm the chalet... was quite fun... But oh man do I miss the hyper-ness of the first 3 months!! =/ Things are just different now... The change has been so slow the transition is unnoticeable... but its there...

N I realised I only have 3 types of home clothes... Black, white or blue. Shades of St. John camp. hoho..

Yeah anw I'm off to sleep off the rest of my sleep debt now... I'm gonna be missing most of the free fencing this week to go to this church thingy... but its quite worth it lar... haha...

Just a song to end off... It reassures me, and I hope it reassures other people who might feel hemmed in by circumstances.

Above All

Above powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of Man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what you're worth

Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

God's in charge yar... n that is comforting to know..