" We are thinking soldiers ah..."

As you faithful readers (u know who u ppl are) would know, I am having a lot of free time for this month. For this month, Mr. Ass-ay-eff pays me to 'work' for 8 hours a day. As for the job scope, see previous entries. Therefore I have decided to give some thoughts about my post-army education during this period of time. I am probably gonna spend a considerable amount of time researching about different courses and finding out more about different institutions as well. Any help or suggestions given will be appreciated! (maybe rewarded too! Hehe.)

Xin Yi, aka.dear dear says, " Aiyoh, you ah, when you are outside, you only complain about army. When you in camp you only think of booking out. Can you spare some time to think about your future? What are you going to do when you ord?"

My usual reply, " I dunno. Aiyah, ord still so far, sure got a lot of time to think one."

Xin Yi, "Hrummph... Forever last minute one you..."

Well, little does dear dear knows, a lot of thinking does go on in army. Well we would think of ways to slack, ways to avoid sai kangs, ways to 'smoke out' from lessons etc. We would also come up with ways to suddenly 'contract' high fever or acute conjunctivitis, thereby enabling us to skip lessons or enjoy a longer weekend. Woops! Hahaha.

For your info, a lot of thinking goes on in the jungles too.

As what our SISPEC warrant officers like to say during our jungle missions,

"Oei soldier! You know how to think ah not hah?
You go chiong in front of the machine gunner you think you who?
Even you rambo you will die ah I tell you!
Use your brain first la!"

OR

"Wei you all shagged(tired) cannot think issit?
The enemy come out dance cha cha finish in front of you,
you all also haven decide what tactics to use yet ah."

OR

"What you doing!
Cannot think issit?
You throw your grenade there you think your grenade is what?
Water bomb ah?
You kill your own ppl than you know ah goon!"

That's thinking in the army for you.

Another issue that we always ponder over is our future or place in the army. No matter which camp you go to or what your vocation is, you will always wonder what is in store for you.

There is a song in Mohawk that goes,

"When I was just a chao recruit,
I ask my sergeant what would I be.
Will I be medic, will I be clerk?
Here's what he said to me.
Oei you chao maggot, whatever will be will be,
The future's not ours to see,
Drop 20 for me."

Familiar song??? Ok. Enough entertainment for now. Back to serious thinking.

So what exactly is in store for me after army? That question never fails to stump me. Should I go to a polytechnic like my Dada suggests, or should i take the A-level slackers route of attending a private uni and get a less-than-recognised degree and hope for a benevolent and magnanimous future employer? Oh well.

Personally I favour the A-level slackers route as I feel that going to a polythechnic means you have wasted 2 years of your education time. But then again, a polytechnic offers you a more hands on approach with a higher rate of employability albeit a lower starting pay than a degree holder.

Arrgh.... How how how?

Sigh. Here I go again. Thinking (more like wondering) about the future.