BMT 101: Covid Edition

     A bright and early start to day two, so much so that the sun wasn't even up. That quickly becomes a familiar sight. You proceed to march to the cookhouse for a lacklustre breakfast, ensuring that you're walking in step as well as swinging your arms at 90 and 45 degrees respectively. Well, at 6am neither your Sergeants nor you nor anyone else on the island really gives a fuck as long as it isn't too obvious that you're slacking. Selective discipline was a major takeaway from BMT for me. You're taught numerous drills, all of which place a heavy emphasis on synchronisation. The turn, the lifting of your leg to 90 degrees, the stomp of your boot, the swinging of your arms, everything is meant to be in sync. But you can get away with a lot when no one is looking. Be it your sergeants turning a blind eye or you just being sneaky, pretty much anything is possible. The drills in question are a key part of the BMT experience, and if your drills are shit, you'll practice them till they aren't, it's just that simple.

Below are a list of the essential commands that are used in BMT:

1. Sedia (attention)

- Don't move a fucking muscle, don't even move your eyes. You can wiggle your toes if you're feeling adventurous, but sweat dripping into your eyes or a swarm of mosquitoes attacking you does not justify any movement.

2. Senang diri (stand at ease)

- A less rigid version of Sedia, still no grounds to move a muscle. 

3. Diam (freeze)

- Stop whatever it is you're doing, something important is happening or a big fuck is walking by.

4. Semula (re-do)

- Go back to your last position, you probably fucked up or the IC fucked up or the sergeant did.

5. Keluar Baris (fall out)

- Fuck off and go do whatever you've been instructed to.

6. Hentak kaki cepat hentak (marching on the spot)

- March on the spot without moving forwards, it's harder than it sounds. Arms still by your sides and if your knees aren't 90 degrees you'll keep going till they are. Its a classic punishment.

7. Cepat jalan (walk)

- Self explanatory

8. Cepat lari (run)

- Self explanatory as well

9. Kekiri pusing (to the left)

- turn left

10. Kekenan pusing (to the right)

- turn right

    All the commands above are in Malay, and that is because Singapore's official language is Malay. Even though the majority of the population are ethnically Chinese and the main language used in the country is English, Malay still serves as the 'official' language of the military. It is an homage to Singapore's heritage and the roots of the nation and people.

    It does get very confusing, especially if you've never ever heard any Malay or speak none like 99% of international students. For the locals, even the non-Malay ones, they can understand bits as a result of either participation in after-school clubs like Scouts or the NCC (National Cadet Corps). We're basically at a disadvantage, and you aren't given much room for error, so you better memorise those commands quick. 

    As the title of this entry suggests, I want to focus on how Covid-19 has affected BMT and life on Tekong in general. The SAF has always been very safety conscious as it should, and it has consistently implemented new strategies to ensure the safety of recruits and NSFs alike. There have been a number of high-key events in which NSFs were injured or killed, most notably the death of Aloysius Pang (seen below) in January 2019. He was a well known Singaporean actor and died after sustaining serious injuries in a tank. In the aftermath of this, all SAF training was re-evaluated for safety precautions, thus meaning BMT training was not as intense for recruits. 

    Similarly, the SAF has set a few major guidelines in response to Covid-19. Everyone is meant to wear masks at all times on the island, the only exceptions being when they're in our bunks, eating meals or doing any intense exercise. Whether people actually follow these rules is a very different story. From firsthand experience, everybody on the island takes any opportunity to take their mask off and half the time people's masks are either not covering their nose or sit below their chins. I'll be the first to admit I do the same, because when you're marching back and forth with the sun beating down on you I'd rather not have a mask restricting me. In addition to the use of masks, recruits are meant to be spaced out one metre apart from one another at all times. This includes when we're queueing up to get our meals, when we're exercising and just about any activity really. Again, does this actually happen? No. Not unless someone important is watching or someone's taking a picture. *cough cough* 

 

    Moving on from the Covid measures, another thing that was heavily emphasised to the recruits was the need for a hierarchy. You are the bottom of the food chain, there's no two ways about it. If you have an issue you follow the chain of command, because the likelihood is that the big fuck who you want to speak to about your issue doesn't really give a damn. That's why you talk to your Section Commander (SC) who then talks to your Platoon Sergeant (PS) who then talks to your Platoon Commander (PC) and who finally talks to your Commanding Officer (CO). All those steps only happen if they can't solve your problem and it's a genuine issue. Your SC and PS are NSFs like yourself and tend to be your age. They're way more relaxed and you tend to spend a lot of time with them so you'll get quite close..

    On Tekong you have four schools that are spread out on the island. Each school has a few companies, ie. School 1 has Apache, Bronco, Cougar, Dragon, Eagle and Falcon Company. Each of these companies have their own set of recruits that are split into different platoons and sections. There are typically four platoons in a company, each of which take up one floor and on this floor there are three or four bunks, one for each section.

    I was in Bronco, and we're what you can call an Encik company. It's a privilege very few get to experience during BMT. Basically, encik is Malay for Uncle, and the four PCs and CO are basically older men, that's why they're referred to as enciks. Typically, they've served 20-30 years in the army and are too old to be active anymore and get posted to Tekong to oversee the training of recruits. Some of them have been through some hardcore shit when they were younger but aren't necessarily the brightest. But, they do genuinely care for your safety and are way more relaxed than the PCs and OCs at Officer companies which are either NSFs that have just graduated from OCS or officers that signed on to the army. These guys tend to be the ones that make your lives unnecessarily difficult and almost single handedly bring about all the horrible stories that people hear about BMT. They find satisfaction in making other people's lives miserable and should genuinely rot in hell.

    That's pretty much it, oh wait and yeah as a recruit you're a bald, round egg for the duration of your BMT. That's pretty much all you need to know before I get into some of the juicy stories that I garnered from my eye-opening BMT experience. I hope you enjoy what's to come!