There's always a special post to write at the end of the year. Actually, I do have a few different aspects of my life which deserve mention this year... so I shall just write on one portion of it tonight since its really late and I have camp tml.

Let's start with St. John then...

St. John was the thing that occupied my mind the most on the 3rd of January. Whether it was queuing up to register, eating lunch, or walking to catch 13 with Xuan Ming, the images and emotions of St. John seared into memory were what was predominant.

It was a relief to be able to return to AHS for orientation on friday, despite having been soaked in seawater earlier that day... not to say that friends made during orientation were bad... but well.... 4 years of friendship held dearer than 5 days at that time.

It was the average life for a senior non-comm... coming back for CCA on fridays... observing cadets and NCOs, and thank God the times when I had to step in weren't many... I think for the first time in a long while, our batch embodied the "observing passive" role of a SNCO as opposed to the "intervening active" SNCOs of my time.

The significant event of the year does not stand out in my memory, but it was a different step to take... Promotion to sergeant with Jiayan and Sihui on 20th August was something which I thought wouldn't happen... after all, rare is the NCO that gets promoted above corporal (for the Anglican Corps anyway, we thought life ended as corporal). Not that rank worried us or anything (not while an Anglican private could perform better footdrill than other schools) but it was a novel step.

Of course, much more exciting was the incident on the road after the promotion, and to a lesser extent, AGI in September... haha...

To sum up the year... being a senior was different indeed... This time you were sort of caught up in the politics of St. John? You must be sensitive when scolding this cadet or counseling that person. You cannot scold this squad or you'll be insulting that squad. To be held back like that can be quite frustrating sometimes... Like being prevented from executing your best attack in fencing...

I got to interact with seniors whom I didn't think I would ever just a year back... I got to know some of my squadmates better too... Sometimes in the sea of cadets, NCOs and seniors, the only people whom you can vent things to are your squadmates... Especially after 4 years, going back to St. John and talking nonsense with Sihui, Jiayan, Wei lun, Wei Quan, Xuanming etc or working with them if need be, is quite fun... haha... although its a long time since I got to play soccer with them, given all the rushing off to fencing after SJ.

Recall the flying plastic stars with Wei Lun
Or the magnetic penguins with him and sihui
Dangling from the structure during campfire (and tangling with the wires too)
Trying to blow out candles during farewell
Trying to sling Wei Quan into the pond (and him, me) after farewell =D
Scouts training with Soo Yee

I somehow don't care as much what happens to the division now, cos as various cadets have enlightened me, us, to the fact that "things are different" nowadays... which is funny considering we're all still made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and many other atoms. But what I do care about is that the next batches learn from the mistakes, some fatal (to the division, not to a casualty), that my squad has made during our term.

So yup... from the St. John point of view, its been a whole new experience yea... I have one year left to be active as a student, and as a qualified first aider (my certification expires on the 30th of August).. hopefully it'll be fruitful too..







By the way... I'm feeling really old now... just finished my NS registration... sighhhhhhh....

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