2nd Lieutenant of Singapore Armed Forces 2016
Despite interrupting my studies for 2 years 3 months, I found military service a valuable experience. I applied myself and used the stressors in the army environment to change my character for the better.
Before I needed to go, I took a deep look at myself – and I saw parts of my character I wanted to change. I knew from experience that changing character is easier the younger you are, and also during intense stressful situations – where the brain feels more formable and neuroplastic.
Every time a stressful situation occurs – you have a choice.
One choice reaffirms your current self’s character. And other choice, shifts it into a different direction.
I looked at military service as an opportunity to make a series of choices. Tough choices, but it allowed me to shift my character to who I wanted to be.
Tangent - the modern individual can 'survive' completely isolated
What’s notable, is that a modern person in a developed nation can go through life with whatever character they desire. This is mainly due to being able to live with less interactions with their community and people. A person, if they so desired – could work fully remote, order delivery for food, stay at home and digitally entertain themselves with some form or other.
Whereas in the past – socialisation was critical for a person to be able to belong to a tribe/community/group, while now there is no critical need for socialisation for a person to survive in a city. #seed for future writing.
The army is a great equaliser, especially in Singapore, it doesn’t matter what school you went to or how much money your parents make – you have to serve. It’s a great socialisation experience when you live and serve with peers your age from all walks of life. You learn that everyone has a story.
While I wasn’t in many leadership roles in high-school, I managed to learn to earn the trust of my peers in basic training and was in the top 10% selected to undergo 9 months of officer training. I chose to be an infantry officer – the most physically demanding out of various types, and was responsible in managing a platoon of 27 peers.
We trained in the sweltering dense jungles of Brunei – where even with a full moon, one can’t see their hands because the foliage blocks all moonlight. In survival training, I survived 10 days with 2 days worth of food while navigating.
We trained in the sun-strong and sparse countrysides of Taiwan – where there’s something new around every corner.
There’s more to the story, it wasn’t the standard path for sure. I went from Recruit > Officer Cadet > Corporal (out-of-course from injury) > Officer Cadet > Lieutenant. For another time ;)