141 / 409
DAY ONE AND THE FIRST SIX WEEKS
125
SEVEN
XII. RELEASE
There was a second guest day during that fifth weekend and it was pretty much a repeat of
the first. In the meantime, LTA Soon’s proposition for church service had been instituted
after carefully sifting through the instant converts. But, the big event was the end of the
confinement at the sixth weekend. Everyone was practically frantic with the prospect of
leaving camp the following Friday for the long weekend out of camp. No one wanted to run
afoul of the instructors throughout that last week of confinement to be told that he had
been awarded armskote duty for the weekend. Never in the history of Singapore’s armed
forces could there have been such well-behaved and attentive recruits.
The last few days of the fifth week in camp crawled by, hour by interminable hour. There were
many threats from the instructors about whole platoons being denied the weekend break,
though everyone was fairly confident that it was a policy that they would be released and
nothing would be allowed to interfere with that. But, nobody wanted to tempt Providence.
Finally the last parade for the week was over and at the word “Bersurai” (Dismissed) there
was an explosion of activity. Nearly everybody had packed in advance, mostly the uniforms
they wanted to launder or alter. Some transport had been laid on to take recruits to central
dispersal points, but somehow the pirate taxis had known that there would be this exodus
and there was a big queue of them waiting outside on Pasir Laba Road, all going to the
junction of Jalan Jurong Kechil and Bukit Timah Road. Those who were quick on their feet
were out of SAFTI a mere 15 minutes after dismissal.
It must have been some weekend, mostly with girlfriends and hawker food, home cooking
and re-bonding with civilian friends who could hardly recognise the depleted waistlines, the
gaunt sunburnt faces, the ugly military haircut and the glazed looks of captives temporarily
released. But there were lots of war stories to be told and wild oats to be sown and many
happy reunions with mothers and the weekend evaporated practically before the recruits
knew they were out. By about 1900 hrs on Sunday, 10
th
July, the majority were back in
uniform and on their way to Jalan Jurong Kechil, where prearranged groups met for a
‘civilised’ dinner of hawker food and got a taxi earlier rather than later so as not to run afoul
of the 2359 hrs deadline to be back in camp. Many would have contemplated AWOL on the
way back down Jurong Road, but then again, they would henceforth at least be able to leave
camp for the weekend and even for evenings, if there were no night lessons.
by a selection of the older recruits and so the consideration may have been family matters.
Yeah, right on! One nominee was put in a moral dilemma. A bachelor, he was told that the
choice was between himself and another recruit from his platoon who was married and it was
up to him. The nominee tossed the issue around in his mind for all of five nanoseconds and
selflessly sacrificed his friend for a higher cause. He left camp that Saturday at such a clip he
could not be seen for smoke. Many years later, he learned that the next day Recruit Swee Boon
Chai of his platoon had volunteered to teach section patrol formations based on his Volunteer
Corps training, for several hours. His disappointment at the loss of this treat was but brief.