My rifle cleaning kit includes a book

In what I now consider as the first piece of good news this year, I got posted to oeti to become a technician. (Non-local readers should note that I am currently still a 18 yr old student waiting to undergo his undergraduate degree course, and that this vocation which I mentioned is merely a compulsory, 2 yr posting made by the government of my country under its national service [consciption] scheme). Whatever mundane tasks there are waiting for me there, I am—not eternally indebted of course, oh no—but infinitely relieved that I attained a 8-to-5 vocation.

Essentially it means that Ive got quite a spare bit of time for the coming year or so. Of course, I cannot say for sure that this would be perpetually the case—after all, I heard that we do need to go outfield at times, and in any case transportation to and back from the camp would consume a fair bit of time --, but reports I got from various sources regarding this vocation indicate that such an optimistic outlook would not be at the same time an unreasonable one.

The implications of being free every night are substantial. For one, I can now catch tv shows ranging from Lost to the Champions League. For another, I can now spend time with the friends whom I have not been spending enough time with of late. Unfulfilled promises of dinners and unrequitted arrangements of the like would now be, hopefully, a thing of the past. Further, I can now invest time on creating and, eventually, diversifying my financial portfolio. Over and on top of all this I can now spend time building a strong infrastructure in the area of the humanities, the results of which I would hope to post on sister blogs should everything go well. It is high time I devoted myself to the pursuit of various intellectual ends, though such a term would necessarily obscure the emotional engagement such knowledge have and would bring to my person.

The posting, truth be told, comes as quite surprise to me, having no background in science or engineering whatsoever. What I suspect is that I was not posted to a combat unit because I am a potentially unstable individual who has absolutely no inclination to serve his national service term well. Trust me, I absolutely deplore the entire concept and system of national service, and have suitably told my superiors and peers such. In particular, I have expressed such strong sentiments to my platoon commander that I cannot help but feel that he had some doing in getting me a 8 to 5 vocation, though whether it was out of honesty (in filing the report) or out of sympathy for me I cannot know. My profile report, if ever there was such a thing filed on us, would have probably went as such:

REC CHONG BAO SHEN KENNETH

Highly unmotivated to serve National Service. Extent of commitment in carrying out his duties goes only to that level which ensures he is safe from admonishment from his superiors and peers. Often walks around with a dead look in his eyes, except where canteen breaks are given, during which he usually sits away from his mates. Rarely smiles, and the few smiles offered could be interpreted as smiles of convenience, either to get out of trouble or get away from people. Never seen laughing genuinely once in a group, though curiously enough have seen him enjoying some private moments with himself. Is incredibly handsome during those periods.

It should be noted that this individual is highly critical of the military, not just its lifestyle but all aspects of it. Has indicated keen interest to not be a commander consequently, and has indicated that serving the army is an excellent waste of his time, the likes of which, I believe, he wishes to spend creating a literary product no one would understand. Recommand we do not place him in an active unit, for he argues dangerously well on the demerits of national service, and his presence would invarianbly enlighten his peers whom we are subjecting to become excellent thinking soldiers.

This individual has also assured me that, in the event of a war, he would be the first to scuttle ship. Of peculiar note is his excuse, that “the preservation of my personal dignity” is more important than the death of it. His explanation is that, assuming he fights and survives a war, he would live a life far worse than death. This is because, he elaborates, he thinks it a kind of personal betrayal to commit even a single ounce of energy fighting for ideals that have been superimposed on one. Ideals, he believes, are only valid when they come from one’s self; should they stem from an external source the act of fighting mindlessly for that ideal is tantamount to subcontracting your soul to an angel or a god or whatver there is flying in your imagination, and that is utterly unacceptable because that is, to him, no different from making a pact with the devil—for which angel or god would want your soul? The corollary of this is that, as is my point made earlier, we should not send this individiual to an active combat unit lest his peers there become anything less that the excellent thinking soldiers we need to defend our nation.

As a last note, I have observed something strange in the behavior of this individual. He is seen to be always looking at either the sky or at his book, almost as if there is nothing else he can lay his eyes on. Perhaps we should confine him to these activities as that would ideally set him apart from his peers, who would be, of course, carrying out the duties of and in our organization, duties that are undoubtedly far more important than these preoccupations of his, duties which must be carried out, of course, at the expense of everything and everybody else.