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Saturday, June 17, 2006
[Goodbye, till we meet again...]
In my previous entry, I mentioned that I received some disturbing news when I was sick on Thursday. Before I let on on what happened, here's a little history lesson.
I was sent to Pulau Tekong for my basic military training. Almost everyone is sent there. Those without proper education qualifications would be sent directly to their units, since they could never be made officers. At the end of our basic military training, we were broken up and sent to different places. Some were sent for further training to become specialists and officers, some were sent to active units to serve as "men". I hated army, and I didn't want to be trained to be better at something which I hated. So I indicated that I wasn't interested in any leadership positions and behaved like a confused fuck during my basic military training (I really wasn't, I was sent for specialist conversion towards the end of my active service, but that's another story). It worked, and I was sent to an active unit.
Among those who was sent to an active unit with me was a guy named Rong Sheng. He was in my platoon during basic military training, albeit a different section. Nicest guy in the world. We were assigned to the same company in our new unit, but in different platoons this time.
I'm going to admit that we were never really all that close, but still, we did spend all of our military life together. In fact, he bailed me out once by covering my duty for several hours (he was on leave at the time) while I went for a scholarship interview.
So I owe him one. And it's a debt I can never repay.
I was told on Thursday that he was killed in a hit-and-run accident on Tuesday night. If you've read my previous post, you'd know that I was down with a fever at the time, and that all of us were supposed to be back for our in-camp training. So, what gives?
Rong Sheng was (I can't believe I'm using past tense) studying at a polytechnic, and didn't return for ICT. We guessed he managed to get a deferment, since our ICT falls on the polytechnic's study week (next week is exam week). We were told later on Friday by our S3 that he was actually away-with-out-leave, and didn't want to return to camp even when officers visited his house. Why is that, I don't know. My guess is that he was pissed that his deferment request was turned down (some polytechnic students managed to defer, some did not), but chose to stay home anyway. To think if he attended ICT with the rest of us, he'd still be alive today.
Rest in peace, Rong Sheng. See you in heaven if I make the list. Sorry I couldn't accompany you on your final journey.
I had 3 places to be at today. I was supposed to attend the FOC pre-camp in school, Rong Sheng's funeral, and also visit my grandmother who had a very nasty fall and became bed-ridden. I was well enough today to move about, and I chose to visit my grandmother (the pre-camp was obviously out of the question, in light of the other 2 more serious events). She took care of me when I was young (and probably a brat), and I owe her that much. She doesn't remember me anymore, which is pretty sad. She broke 2 bones in her hip, and one of them actually "slipped", which means there's very little chance it'd heal on it's own. Doctors didn't want to operate on her because she was 92, anemic and had a low platelet count. She has to be helped every time she needs to use the bathroom, and couldn't take a shower. My aunts are staying with her, and they're taking care of her full-time, but it breaks my heart to see her like that. Folks of that generation generally had a hard life, they should be allowed to age gracefully and enjoy their golden years and not lie in a bed till the day they leave us.
I was actually debating with myself whether or not to post the next bit...Since this was a pretty serious post. I think I'm going to stick to the original spirit of this blog and poke fun at things whenever I see fit. I'm going to quote my sister, for starters. On our way down to visit our grandmother today, she said this: "You know what kids are like? They're like giant hamsters that outlive you." She's nuts.
On our way home, I saw this. It's not entirely clear, but that's a sports bra (I think) hanging on a lamp post. It's a curved lamp post, so it'd take an insanely accurate gust of wind to make this happen.
^^^ by Locksley @ 9:09 PM.
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