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BARRACK LIFE DURING SECTION TRAINING
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TEN
It used to be a common sight to see several trainees walking around the grass skirting at
the back of the platoon blocks, grabbing for grasshoppers that they flushed out with a
stick or their feet. Yew Ping subsequently insisted that he had never been asked to catch
grasshoppers for punishment but had done so for himself. In fact, several instructors and
his Platoon Sergeant had cooperated and for a while, he had been looking after a bird which
they had ‘picked up’ from somewhere during training and kept in a cage in the company
store. Perhaps…
Another common forfeit was to order trainees to cut grass with scissors. A contractor did
the routine grass cutting. But, when there was overgrown grass in between schedules, it was
also sometimes an assignment to a platoon to cut the grass using a primitive grass-cutting
implement that was common in those days. It comprised a six-inch blade attached with wire
to a hockey-stick shaped branch and was swung in a continuous circular overhead motion.
It was time-consuming in the extreme and required real skill to get an even cut over a given
plot. But, the scissors job was sheer punishment.
Each week, during section training, a trainee would be appointed Platoon I/C. His job
included marching the platoon to and from lecture sessions; making sure that all training
stores were collected and returned after cleaning; all rifles were returned to the armskote for
the night and weekend; all assignments for area cleaning for the platoon were completed;
that barrack room doors were closed while the platoon was out on training; and supervising
the cleaning of instructors’ washrooms and company offices when it was his platoon’s
duty assignment. The latter sometimes yielded useful information of forthcoming exercise
appointments and even details of checkpoints for topographic exercises, which were usually
disseminated liberally to those concerned.
III. AFTER HOURS
A thriving pirate taxi business had been spawned by SAFTI and it cost around 50 cents
a head to SAFTI from Jalan Jurong Kechil, or back. The taxi drivers were also agreeable
to a pit stop at the laundry shop in both directions. There was nothing to stop trainees
from leaving camp in the evening if there was no night training, other than the distance to
‘civilisation’, which was around the junction of Jalan Jurong Kechil and Bukit Timah Road
and beyond, those days. It also meant a long return journey to be back in camp by 2359 hrs.
Many trainees did squeeze in a night out or two each week, changing into civvies as soon as
they left the camp main gate and changing back again before re-entering. Some would go as
a group only as far as the coastal village of Tuas or the shops at 15½ milestone for dinner
or supper. Mostly, the idea was for a break from the claustrophobia of barrack life, because
it was always possible to go to the canteen for television, beer and snacks if need be. But,
for some, the nights off were important for their family responsibilities and other urgent
personal affairs. Unlike the National Servicemen of later years, nearly every trainee of the first
intake at Pasir Laba was an economic digit in his family and several were the main breadwinners.