One of a Kind (2nd Edition)

A NEW BEGINNING

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FIFTEEN

I. THE LAST MINUTE RUSH

Suddenly, time began to run out in the officer cadet course and things started to bunch

together. The written tests, especially the ‘Appreciation of Situation’, were behind the

cadets and the anticipation of the great event—SAFTI’s first Commissioning Parade—was

everywhere. The cadets were not directly involved in the preparations for the parade other

than for the rehearsals, except sadly for those who would not be commissioned. At Institute

HQ and MID there was much to do: agreeing to the date, approving the pass list, preparing

the Commissioning Certificates with the President’s signature, clearing the guest list for

the parade and the Commissioning Ceremony at the Istana, acquiring swords for the new

officers for presentation at the Commissioning Ceremony by the President, arranging for

the Commissioning Ball and deciding the postings of the new Second Lieutenants. Into

this melee were thrown three additional complications for IHQ. The first was a Guest Day

Open House on 1

, 2

and 3

July. The second, a demonstration of a battalion attack on

July for selected members of the public, but with a guest list that included Mr. Lee

Kuan Yew, Cabinet Ministers and representatives of influential social, economic and political

establishments, and the third, a separate demonstration of watermanship at Jurong River on

July.

The Guest Day was relatively simple to organise because it was mainly a matter of showing

the guests what happened in SAFTI on a typical day. It was coordinated by MAJ John Tan,

2I/C, SAFTI, not LTC John Tan, who became Camp Commandant, SAFTI circa 1991. The

Singapore public had, up till now, such a limited exposure to life in a military camp and what

soldiers did, that everything inside the camp was a revelation. The invitation was extended

mainly to schools, the People’s Association, Community Centres, the parents of trainees in

SAFTI, undergraduates and polytechnic students and institutions that would help promote

National Service that would start in August 1967. Some sensationalism was in order, to

impress guests about the toughness of soldiers, their daring and the deadly skills they were

trained to acquire. This was supplied by the standard obstacle course, the crossing of wire

obstacles, the rifle range and firepower demonstrations. Though it meant that the weekend

was ‘burnt’ for most of the cadets, the compensation was that they could wallow in the

admiration of young ladies when they gave presentations or led guided tours of the barrack

rooms and facilities. Officer Cadet Ajit Singh Nagpal, for example, had the enviable task

of lobbing live fragmentation, phosphorous and assault grenades from behind a sandbag

bunker and then come out firing live rounds after the grenades exploded. No doubt, parents

and future wives were impressed by the tidiness of the barrack rooms, bed and locker layouts

and the gleam of the floors, urinals and toilets in the washrooms. They may also have been

reassured about the standards of army culinary skills from what they were offered for

A NEW BEGINNING