When I was 18..

National Service, again and again has come under plenty of scrutiny as of late. Many want the Government to abolish this programme.

They say it is a waste of taxpayers money. Or that we cannot transform an ordinary student fresh out of Form Five into a patriot who love the country endlessly in the short period of three months.

I will have to admit that these are quite true, and I cannot help but be saddened by the unfortunate cases of death happening in the camp, the claimed terrible hygiene, and the safety of the participants not being watched closely enough.

This is sad, and should not happen. Life is never something we take risk of.

But I just cannot help but to say that my stint in Kem Syruz, Bukit Mertajam was just freaking awesome.

When I found out that I was picked to join, I was of mixed feelings no doubt.

Happy for obvious reasons; because I've always love outdoor activities, meet new people and embrace the diversity of cultures.

Sad for obvious reasons too; I would have to be away from home. I am very attached to my family, everyone who knows me well know this. So the idea of not being able to see my parents everyday freaked the hell out of me.

It was not hard for me to accept this, and soon enough, I was getting more and more excited about NS.

I met some of the best people ever during my days in the camp. I was blessed that I was surrounded by these amazing people. Boys and girls. Chinese, Indian and Malays. We were all living as one. We became friends in an instant, and over the days, we bonded and before we knew it, we were sharing our body shampoo like the best of friends. We stayed up late until 3am chatting away about our boyfriends (or lack of them).

There were fights, minor or not-so-minor ones, between some of my friends. Difficult times, haha. But they overcame the differences and as their teammate and roommate, I just could not help but feel so proud of being part of the team.

We were especially "together" when we had competitions. From he kayak competition to the "elections" to the singing competition, we were like one whole single human body. The loss of one limb or one eye-sight would mean terrible loss to the body.
And so, we worked together. As one single unit. It was not easy at first, but we became so comfortable with one another, all these became rather normal. We cry together, we laugh together.
It was all about being together. It was the right thing then, and will be the right thing for always.

This was all so overwhelmingly great because we only knew one another for less than three weeks, and we were all from different backgrounds and upbringing. Really, sometimes us humans do amazing stuffs.

We raided the deep dark jungle with one compass and one torchlight. About a dozen girls with nothing but our guts and one another. Our legs were bruised by the pineapple leaves, we were frightened by the sounds of the wind even, and in the total darkness, we kept on encouraging one another, slipping down the slopes knowing that we would all make it back to our camp safely. And we did it, of course.

And I happened to celebrate my 18th birthday in the camp. It was SPECTACULAR.
All the girls in my group surprised me with a big birthday cake and stuffs. The wonderful things friends do for you.
I think I actually cried. How could I not.

Those trips to the temple where we would all sing and dance, the BBQ and karaoke sessions, the times when we slept during classes, those night duties we had, the times of fall and the times of glory.

As I see it, there was no black or white, only humility, love and sportsmanship.

I miss the canteen. I miss the clean fresh air that runs into your lungs. I miss the scenic view of the mountains. I miss the burger stall. I miss seeing the stars shining in the sky so brightly every night.
I miss the place. I miss the people. I miss the whole thing.


I do not know if NS should ever be scrapped.

All I know is it was one of the best times of my life.