The National Service Story

The National Service is a very interesting experience for me.For the first time in my life,I was separated from my family.I was sent to Setiu,Terengganu(around 750-800km from KL).My first reaction when I reached there after a tiring 10-hour bus journey:Shit....its a jungle!..I cried for a couple of days.The reason-CULTURE SHOCK.At first,I had difficulties adapting to the life there.The facilities,especially the toilets are worse than a normal city school.The food-SUCKS...imagine eating partially cooked vegetables accompanied by sand!!!!Sounds disgusting right??Since then,I stopped eating vegetables there.

When the activities started rolling,then it got interesting.It kicked off with marching(kawad) before the challenging ones like shooting,abseilling and jungle trekking.The Wirajaya(survival training) was a disaster because it was called off half-way through due to the heavy Terengganu rain.My memorable moment was the shooting practice which was conducted in Pasir Puteh,Kelantan.For the first time in my life,I held a firearm.It was a Colt M-16.

The 70-day stint ended with a low-key closing ceremony officiated by the Setiu District Officer.That night,a farewell dinner was held.Towards the end of the dinner,the atmosphere turned sombre.Tears started rolling down and apologies and advices were uttered by the trainers to the trainees.After that,everyone stayed awake all night long for a barbeque session with their respective dorms and that was the final event of the stint.I was one of the first to leave because I had to catch a flight back home and I left the camp at 4am with a tinge of sadness.All good things will come to an end.