Yesterday, on a lazy Saturday afternoon, while having floorball training, I was asked to go back to camp. Yes, recalled and activated.
Did I like it? Well, to be honest, not one bit. Would I have chosen to go back if I did not have to? Probably not. Did I enjoy the experience? Again, to be 100% truthful, no.
It was a very hot afternoon and having to walk long stretches under the sun with a full pack and another bag containing my other accessories was not my idea of an ideal Saturday afternoon relaxation activity. I was drenched in perspiration and the side of my dusty boot cut into my left ankle bone, leaving a bruise. As I said, not my idea of a fun Saturday afternoon.
However, as I thought about it on the long taxi ride back home, I realised and understood that, for all the inconvenience and discomfort, it all made perfect sense.
There is something about putting on the uniform and I felt it while getting ready to report back to camp. As I saw myself in the mirror in camouflage, I felt a flush of pride and a slow trickling down of comfort.
I saw in that image in the mirror what it means to be a citizen. I felt proud that I have been entrusted with the privilege of standing up for something, of being a member of a community that is my home, of being a child of the very land on which I have been born and brought up. I felt Singaporean.
What brought me comfort was the fact that there are many others doing the same thing I was doing at the moment, or had done, or would be doing. We had, for that moment in time, forgotten about our individual stories, our distinct destinies, our diverging lives and our uncommon realities. For that one moment, when we were in camouflage, we were all the same and all standing as one.
That's why I greeted each other person I saw making that long walk into camp with a respectful nod and a sweaty smile. I may not know him, but we knew we were brothers.
If and when the situation does call for it, the person I exchanged glances with for a few seconds might well be the person I go into battle with, the person I might share my last living moments with, the person I might have to entrust my life with. That is why I consider him my brother and vice versa.
As the taxi made its way back east through the ordered lanes on the expressway, I looked at all the faces in the cars passing by or that were passed by. I understood then that going back to camp was an inconvenience that should not only be endured, but celebrated.
It is a reminder that we are doing all we can to make sure that, when the moment calls for it, each face that I saw in those cars on the expressway will have a guardian standing between them and whatever adversary or enemy that might be facing us down.
We fight for what we are willing to defend and what we are willing defend is what truly matters to us. At that moment, I knew what I would fight for those faces in those cars.
Suddenly, all the inconvenience and hassle seemed worthwhile, after all.
