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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Deadly National Service?

Posted by CLF

Have you read the latest news?

KUALA LUMPUR: A National Service trainee who complained of an upset stomach after having lunch, died nine hours later at a hospital.

National Service Training Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil said Too Hui Min, 18, died on Wednesday at 10.45pm at the Slim River Hospital in Perak. [link]


Another unfortunate event for National Service Programme, the 16th casualty related to the programme since it is introduced in 2004. Based on this statistic, do you think National Service (NS) is safe?

Every year, Jabatan Latihan Khidmat Negara (JLKN) promised to improve the quality of the programme to reduce the number of casualty, but to everyone's disappointment, the plan didn't go that well as they planned.

Welcome to the camp!


Why there is anymore people getting themselves sacrificed for the programme? What is actually about JLKN's plan? Until now they haven't make it clear to the public how they handled trainee's injuries and sickness, and how do they compensate the trainee's family should the worst happened.

From the previous records, we can see that medical issues (sickness and diseases) is the main cause of fatality in National Service, which "contributed" more than half of the figures.

Everyone is concern what can they do in order to prevent such disaster to happen in the future. JLKN is trying to clear up all these messes in order to maintain the pride of MoD; parents are concern whether want to send their kids to the camp in the future; and potential-trainees are questioning how they're going to embrace NS when their time is up.

M-16 rifle training.


One of the mandatory requirement to join NS is the trainee will have to do medical checkup at government clinics nationwide. This however, has been overlooked by the parents and the trainees.

A person can felt absolutely healthy and no problem, but that doesn't mean he or she is perfectly medical-fit to join the camp unless he/she do the medical checkup. There is a potential unknown disease, symptoms or sickness which the trainee didn't realised during their entire life. Well, you can only know what's the problem in yourself if you went for a checkup, that's kinda logical isn't it?

Another thing is that, the NS camp officers (based on my NS experience) doesn't really bother much if the trainee did not hand over a complete medical checkup report. They just treat it as if there's nothing happened.

Of course, they do have "special care" for those asthmatic, minor-disability, or mild cardiovascular problem etc trainees. What I mean by "special care" is that, the trainees will be given a nametag specific their problems which they're required to put on them everytime in or out of the camp. They can be exempted in physical activities (the major fun events). That's it.
The easiest way to prevent anything from happening is disallow them to carry out those potential-hazardous activities.

I can't say that their action is wrong, because sensitive trainees might get "attacked" even if they do the slightest activity, like jogging around.


Trainees at the initial stage of NS (boys haven't shaved yet). Photo by Anan Amri.


The trainees have to be responsible for themselves too. They know themselves the best, what can be possible dangerous for them, and they should not fake any evidence if they're medically-unfit to join the programme. I heard a trainee faked their medical checkup in order to join the programme but eventually something happened, luckily it's not life-threatening but he was brought out from the camp soon after that.

To add up the misery, is the hygiene and cleanness of the camp itself. Most camps are located in rural areas, surrounded by vast jungle, or situated next to a river or lake. This may contribute to more possibilities of contracting unusual diseases that rarely found in urban areas.

To rub more salt on the wound, the medical supplies and services in the camp is not satisfactory. I've heard this year they added few medical assistants in every camp, but I dunno whether that really worked out or not. It'll be good to have those professionally-train personnels around, should the trainee needs any sort of treatment, whether it's a physical injury from the trainings, or fatigue.

Sometimes, there's overwhelming response from the trainees which could keep those personnels really busy to deal with so many patients. In this case, sending the sick to the clinic or hospital would be the best choice. But.... many camps chose to deal with it internally rather than sending the trainees out to clinics or hospitals.

Trainees on holiday break. Photo by Anan Amri.


There is something to do with the attitude of the offers in the camp too. Many times I've seen trainees complaining to their teachers/trainers in the camp they're feeling ill and so on, but eventually they're all turn down by the officers. I know some of them are feinting, well some of them are really ill. It's just that the officers thought that the trainees are acting and therefore they turn down the request for inspection or treatment.

Such attitude of the officers.... is questionable. Sometimes there should be no delay to send the trainees to the hospital, because you know, time decides whether the trainee will be able to make it or not. Any dragging and delay, is possible to make the matter worse. Upon checking the records, some of the victims' family claimed that the camp officers do not send the deceased to the hospital in time, which may be the reason for the tragedy turning from bad to worst. It's sad to say this but it's all human error.

Let us pray that there will be no more such depressing news anymore in this year. It's hard to totally eliminate all the errors, because even if humans tried the best to prevent such thing to happen, it's all up to the person up there to decide one's fate.

Hope this is what every trainees will experience....

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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

National Service: Boon or Bane? (Part II of II)

Do read National Service: Boon or Bane? (Part I of II) before proceeding to read the following post written by Michelle Tam.

How was the food? Was there enough for everyone?


I get this question all this time - seems like the quality of food there is a major concern on the mind of most Malaysians!

First off, let's discuss the quantity of food available.

As you may have surmised, we were fed 6 times a day. Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, evening tea, dinner, and a light supper of sorts at around 10.30 pm. For breakfast, there would be stacks of fluffy white bread, slabs of margarine and containers of kaya and strawberry jam and even peanut butter, if I remember correctly. There would be hard boiled eggs and kicap manis. There would also be heavier dishes for those who like a hearty breakfast - sometimes there would be fried kuey teow, nasi lemak, roti canai, porridge, and a few other varieties that would differ and rotate from day to day. For the heavier meals like lunch and dinner, there would be rice and an assortment of dishes like curries, fried stuff, and vegetables and there would always be fruit at the end of every meal. I remember us getting bananas, apples, oranges and the juicy pears that everybody loved. For the teatimes, there would be sweet, hot tea and little snacks or local kuih like currypuffs and even bubur chacha.

It could be said that the food was abundant - only the time to eat it was lacking. There were never any limits - for instance, if you liked the pears and wanted to bring some back to your dorm, by all means load some onto your plate. The girls always ate less than the boys, and boys being boys, their share of food on their side of the canteen would be finished first. If most of the girls had taken their share (it was a buffet style dining concept) and there was lots left on our side, the boys were more than welcome to take second or even third helpings.

Sounds great, you say! Looks like there's enough to go around for everyone! That's very true, but let's look at the quality of the food.

The food might not suit certain palates and tastebuds - I know some people who rarely ate at the canteen and chose to survive on snack food and fast food available at the cafe (a very popular hangout spot - the equivalent of a Starbucks in any major shopping mall) and a burger stall which was also near our dorms. Some deemed the food provided too oily, others too spicy, while some were just picky eaters. Some only appear at the canteen when there's nice food on the menu, like an English breakfast with baked beans and sausages, or a barbecue dinner with succulent lamb cutlets and coleslaw.

It really depends on how selective you are with what you eat, what sort of a budget you had, and what you deem edible. To me, everything was edible...nothing would outright kill you. Besides, it's National Service, not a gourmet festival! Those who came from less fortunate backgrounds wouldn't bother paying extra money for a burger when they could get their meals at the canteen for free. Those who didn't like the food and could afford it, chose to pay to get something else to eat.

What about the vegetarians, you ask? Well, the management at my camp was very attentive. They provided good food for the vegetarians and there would always be a special corner where vegetarian food was served, like dhall and sambal tofu and an assortment of vegetables. Personally, I thought very highly of them for catering to their needs without fail.

So there you have it - don't worry about going hungry or starving at NS!

Hmm, your schedule sounds very packed. What did you do for fun?


I have to say that for the first batch of any NS intake (the ones in January), the schedule is VERY hectic and the activities are spaced rather closely to one another. Why so?

See, the first batch gets the MOST holidays of ANY intake. We get breaks for Chinese New Year, the odd day off here and there, and according to my estimation, I actually served only two and a half months, not three! Therefore, to make sure we had as thorough an experience as other batches, our schedule was decidedly more packed.

The activities themselves were fun most of the time, but during the weekends where we get our handphones back (YAY!), most decide to catch up with their family and friends. See, it's much better to 'gayut' or talk endlessly on your handphone as opposed to yakking away on the public phone while a long queue grows behind you. Others choose to read, play board games or just chill out with their friends.

There was also a TV in the canteen where you could catch up on whatever RTM and TV3 were offering - of course, there was no Astro. You could also hang out at the cafe and chat over a cup of coffee.

How about your religious needs? There's a surau for the Muslims, but what about those of other faiths?


When it came to religion, as far as I know there was never a problem in my camp. The management was always very accommodating. Buddhists would be brought to a nearby temple, Hindus to another temple, and Punjabis would be brought all the way to Seremban (my camp's in PD) so that they could pray at their Gudhwara.

Let me relate to you a personal experience. I'm a Christian, and there weren't many of us in camp. At first, our trainers brought us to a church where the sermon or the prayer meeting was conducted in Mandarin. Problem is, most of us couldn't understand much Mandarin, we were 'bananas' so to speak. So we told our trainers the problem, and the weekend after that, they drove around with us in the van until we found a church where the service was conducted in English! I for one really appreciated the fact that they understood our problem and took the trouble to accommodate our request.

Hmm, NS sounds pretty bearable so far. Surely there were some downs?


Of course there were some less than pleasant parts...but they weren't horrible enough to ruin my entire experience.

For instance, I didn't really agree with the whole 'One person slips up, everyone gets punished' rule. It didn't strike me as fair, and being a Corporal or one of the trainees that were granted ranks, you get scolded before the trainees in your company get their share of the tongue lashing. However, I learned that this proved to be a somewhat effective measure - the jokers and the less disciplined lot, while loving the attention they get when they goof off, learned that others didn't appreciate doing push ups or extra marching as punishment for their deeds. To avoid being disliked by their peers, they learned to behave.

There were also times when everyone got yelled at for the mistakes of only a few. I remember when we were all decked out in our traditional best for a cultural night, when we were punished just because a few people had broken some rules. Imagine girls in baju kurungs and kebayas and guys in baju melayu and kurtas, looking all nice and elegant, having to do push ups. Looking back, it must have been quite a comical sight!

There was also a foul black pool beneath the monkey bars - those unable to make it across would fall into the nasty stagnant water and clamber out smelling like dead fish. Needless to say, most of us had a dip in it as pretty much everyone was useless at monkey bars. However, with the ironically named 'Kolam 100 Bunga' or 'Pond of Fragrant Flowers' (there were many names, but I only remember that particular one) beneath our swinging feet and straining arms, many of us learned. Fast.

Also, there were supernatural sightings, which occurs in almost all camps really. Some on night duty reported unusual coldness at certain part of the camps, while others swore they heard boots clomping on the roof of some dorms.

For those who dislike physical labour like mopping or cleaning out the bathroom, NS will be difficult as we have gotong royongs quite often where everyone is expected to pitch in. Those who are handphone dependent or Internet addicts will also find themselves restless and feel 'cut off' from the world.

Last, but not least, apart from my friends and family back home - I missed my washing machine very much. Remember people, the TV you can do without, while a washing machine really saves you a lot of time and effort! We did have a laundry service that washed our class clothes, sports clothes and famous 'blue zebra' uniforms, but this was tricky - if you don't time your laundry correctly, you'd have to wait for the laundry truck to come, quickly haul the big heavy laundry bag into the dorm and quickly find the uniform set you need! This happens sometimes when people forget to send out one set of uniform for washing yesterday, wear a nice clean set today, then realise they don't have a set for tomorrow!

What were the parts of NS that you truly enjoyed?


Now that you know most of the basics of NS, let me remind you of the good that makes me recall it with fondness.

My trainers were very sporting. Sometimes, when we have packed lunches in the bus on the way back from community service trips, we'd ask them to let us have a picnic of sorts, to let us eat at the beach. When we weren't hard pressed for time, they would agree and join us for lunch, and we'd scamper off to the beach happily, find a nice picnic table, distribute the packets of food and eat together with the wind in our hair, the sea right before our eyes and golden sand beneath our feet.

Sometimes, the female trainers would join us girls for a giggly gossip session at night, just joining us in our dorms in their pajamas and bringing along their bolster, and it would be SUCH fun to hear about previous batches, how much naughtier our batch is even though the ones before were no angels, share snacks and laugh and talk into the wee hours of the night. The trainers were still authority figures, but more importantly, they became our friends.

I really, really enjoyed the Community Service module - there were many activities, but I remember helping to clean out the Balai Raya of a village together with my friends, walking from door to door in another kampung to talk about the dangers of Dengue fever and handing out pamphlets so that the kampung folk would be reminded of how to prevent the Aedes mosquito from breeding.

I got to meet people from all walks of life, from all sorts of backgrounds. There were extremely rich people, and extremely poor people whose parents could not afford to visit them. There were those hoping to enter university and talking of education plans after SPM, while others spoke of returning to jobs as a factory worker or as a salesgirl. I got to know the person behind the stereotype - a Minah Rempit or a female illegal racer, who really was quite sweet and had a wicked sense of humour, and scars on her knuckles as a testament to the accidents she got into. A boyish girl who got into trouble for her penchant for the fairer sex, but was really a very down to earth person who only got defensive and abrupt when people questioned her sexual orientation.

The numerous inter company competitions were fun and fostered a healthy sense of competition as well as a loyalty to one's company. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta. We all had our own company songs, cheers and flags, which we had to guard zealously. If any company lost their flag i.e. left it unattended and let a trainer take it, the entire company would be punished. We were all fiercely competitive, striving to be the best in any activity, be it water rafting or jungle trekking.

We got to see some cool things, like a huge weaponry and army vehicle exhibition. I remember looking at the gleaming barrel of a machine gun on display, and watching another soldier demonstrate how a rifle is properly held. One of the best memories I have is actually being inside an armoured tank, and emerging from the top together with two other friends, laughing exultantly in the sun as we waved to our friends and the trainees from other camps while the tank rumbled around in a big circle. This was an honour and a privilege available only to a few due to time constraints, and those with ranks were given a chance to ride in the tank - a chance which I will always cherish.

Others had a chance to be on a ship at a naval base, which must have been awesome. I got to see JPA RELA members scaling down a tall tower in a jaw dropping display of skill and bravery as they demonstrated a rescue attempt for civilians trapped in burning buildings or those unable to make it to safety. I got to see the inside of a fully equipped ambulance, the fireproof gear of firemen and the tools they use. I trekked through the jungle with my company behind me, each of us holding on to one another's belt in a demonstration of faith. I had a parang in one hand, and the only lantern we had in another, while another one of rank navigated our way through the leafy darkness with a compass.

We battled the choppy currents of the sea as we rowed our rafts, yelling out a count in unison to help us glide through the waters. We did the camp's signature 'Chicken Dance' totally unabashed, enjoying ourselves en masse as our trainers turned up the song on the radio. We slept beneath the stars, waded through mud, frolicked in the sea, clomped through swampy marshes in jungles, built glorious bonfires that kept away wild animals, were scared off by hundreds of fire ants, but helped each other set up camp in a different location.

Sometimes we got into arguments, sometimes a company declared another company to be their rival for the champion's cup, and sometimes our competitiveness got the better of us, but on the last day, we all cried like babies as we waved goodbye to our friends. I remember super macho guys weeping quietly as they hugged their good friends tightly, girls taking pictures together with puffy red eyes and half-happy-half-sad smiles, people exchanging handphone numbers and e-mail numbers at the very last minute. I remember looking up at a bus, with a boy gesturing the universal 'call me' sign from behind his window, and how we laughed as he mouthed his number slowly while I took it down! I watched the buses depart from the compound one by one - being a Serembanite, my parents picked me up, while my friends from Johor and Malacca returned to their hometowns by bus.

I have a whole treasure trove of memories, mostly good, and I hope I've managed to give you readers a clearer idea of what goes on in the 3 month program. It was truly an unforgettable experience for me, and if you guys get the call (and if it doesn't clash with your tertiary education plans), I entreat you to give it a go. Apart from having what would hopefully be a great time, you'll learn a whole lot of things, like independence, resilience, patience, a greater understanding and empathy for people from all walks of life, a reinforced sense of unity - and, of course, compass reading skills ;)

Carpe diem!

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Sunday, April 13, 2008

NS experience

Posted by CLF

Like many young Malaysians, I was chosen to join the National Service (Program Latihan Khidmat Negara) in year 2007. I was chosen for the 2nd group (March-June), and placed in Kem Wawasan near Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

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Chosen for NS, some people will be dancing in joy, while some will brandish their agony and despair for being "forced" to join the program. It's a love or hate affair, like many thing else. For me, I'm 50-50 when I realised I was chosen.

On the negative side, I was thinking will it be waste of time to spend 3 months to train in the camp when I can learn and explore more new things before continue studies?
On the bright side, I take it this is a chance to get to know more people, as well as experience living in a military life (not close to it actually), this will be the only chance in my life I'll be doing this (unless I'm joining the army, which is very unlikely).

My attitude towards NS changed, soon after I came back from it.

First of all, many people lash out negative feedbacks on this program, saying it's a waste of time, energy & resources. Heh, only those who didn't join the program see it for themselves will comment in this manner. I'm standing firmly for my stance, National Service, PLKN, is not a waste of time, energy and resources.

If you look at the statistics from JLKN (Jabatan Latihan Khidmat Negara) since the 1st batch in 2004, more than 90% of the trainees agreed that the program is beneficial as they learn lots of new things there.

So, what I actually gain from NS? Heh, I think the most important lesson I learn is mutual-respect between one and others. Although we're living in a multi-racial country, there's still unavoidable racial slurs passing around, including in NS camp, I believe many trainees had the same experience while staying in NS camp.

Well, for the case in Sabah camp, at the beginning it's quite obvious that trainees from Semenanjung will gather together while the local Sabahans are with their own kin. After some time, you'll see all of them will be mixed up together. Same goes to the minorities too, the most important is that all of us could get along well together. Without this, I dare to say you wont be able to enjoy the best out of NS!

Talk about those trainees from different racial background, we also couldn't forget religions as well. In Sabah, the Christians are "categorised" into few types (should I use this word?). There's the usual Anglican, Roman Catholic, Protestant, as well as their native SBS, SSB etc Christianity "types". Until now I havent really figure out what's all about, but I only know that some of their worship time is different, say, we're quite clear that they go for Church on Sunday, but for some of the Christians in Sabah, they worship on Saturday or Friday. I regret I did not ask my friends more details about the religions back then. :S

With all the diversity among the trainees, it's kinda surprising to see how all of us can get along well together. Here, the role of the trainers/teachers is vital. Kudos to all the trainers/teachers in Kem Wawasan, whose able to address our problems well. We're lucky to have great trainers/teachers there to help us out, especially those who're far away from home (well, how can you go back to Semenanjung from Sabah other than AirAsia? Swim? lol). Again, the trainers & teachers are the only place where you can channel all your problems.

Bear in mind, no matter how you complain to your parents, they cant really do anything to help you other than consoling through the phone. Unless the matter is serious, the parents can try to approach the camp's administration, or the person-in-charge of JKLN, Mr Abdul Hadi Awang & Mr Lee Lam Thye.

Another thing bout the camp I went..... the infrastructure isn't perfect. There's no direct electric current supplied (we're running on generators), and there's no chlorined water supply. The camp is located besides a river (Sg Papar), so that's our water source. There's a pump and filter to clear the water before it is channeled to the water pipes. However, I said it's imperfect, and the water supply is one of everyone's headache.

Sometimes, the pump stalled, means we wont be having water supply to do daily chores, how scary... And sometimes, the filter spoilt, making the water murky and dirty. We've to bear the circumstances and we've to use the "teh tarik" water to do things, use it to wash our cloths, and to bath with it! OMG!!

Hahah, when I think of that now, I guess that's some sort of weird experience. I dont really think the other camps will have problem like this, or maybe I didnt heard of it? Heheh.

It's quite unfortunate for me as I've to leave the camp earlier in order to continue study. I think I only stayed in the camp for 7 weeks (close to 2 months), and then I was sent back to KL.

When I first get into the camp, I've plans to "escape" from it, but the tide changed direction when I'm close to end my NS life sooner than expected. I'm a little regret to get out from there so soon, because the best of NS is the days before the upacara penutupan (closing ceremony). :(

I'd like to share with you some pics I took when I'm there.

Our weekly time-table. This pic is taken on the day I'm leaving, 6th May. (click for full view)

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Hari Terbuka, Open Day for the camps.

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Boys' nightmare lol.

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Rainbow over the camp admin office.

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We've to keep our boots shining all the time by polishing non-stop!

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M-16 Rifle practice.

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Community Service at Beringgis beach.

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"Datang dengan paksaan, Pulang dengan kenangan." Our camp's motto. :)

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A video tour to Kem Wawasan.


Rehearsal for the Open Day, featuring Jay Chou's "Fearless".


Last word from me, joining PLKN is really an unforgettable experience. I think it's a good training ground to build up a person's independence, and somewhat prepare to face the world out there, the life after school.

Hope you enjoy this post. :)

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Saturday, April 05, 2008

National Service: Boon or Bane? (Part I of II)

Written by Michelle Tam

I had the fortune (yes, fortune) to be among those selected to undergo National Service (NS) back in 2005, and ever since then, I've been firmly convinced that NS was a boon for me in many ways.

I know that many of you probably have some sort of distaste for the program - it's hard not to when you hear all sorts of horror stories from some who have undergone training and utterly hated it. However, since I had a pretty good time during my 3 months there, let me highlight some of the better parts of NS that become forgotten in the deluge of negative news about it.

This will be in the style of a FAQ - these are the questions I most commonly encounter from those curious about NS, so here's hoping it will help those of you who have been selected or are just plain curious about NS!

Where did you serve?


I served my 3 months out in Kem Rachado Bay, located in Tanjung Tuan, Port Dickson. It's supposedly one of the smaller camps in Malaysia - the canteen was barely a minute away from most dorms, and our training grounds and obstacle course were close by the dorms as well. One of the unique features of my camp was the fact that it literally straddled two states - one half of the camp was in Negeri Sembilan, and the other half was in the state of Malacca! Also, we were within walking distance of the beautiful (but purportedly dangerous) Blue Lagoon beach, which we used for our water based activities, unlike other camps which had to utilise man made pools.

What was your daily routine?


My daily routine was pretty much the same from Mondays to Fridays, and if I remember correctly, Saturdays were 'half days' and Sundays were days of rest.

We would be awakened by the azan, or the call to prayer, for our Muslim friends right before dawn, and while they shuffled sleepily to the surau, the rest of us non-Muslims would get ready for the day. After they were done, we would gather at the assembly area to sing the NS anthem and the Negaraku, and also recite the Rukunegara, if I remember correctly. After that, we would do our morning exercises, which would vary from simple twist-here-twist-there stuff, push ups, star jumps, to lots of running. Think running on the beach looks good in romance flicks? It's actually quite torturous and worse than running on concrete roads - double the effort to lift yourself up after your feet has already sunk into the soft sand.

After the morning exercise, we would go to the canteen for breakfast, before rushing off to shower and freshen up before morning classes began. There were several modules for our classes, some of which being Character Building, and another I remember was Nation Studies or Kenegaraan'. There would be a short morning tea break after an hour or so of class, and after that tea break, we would continue our classes till lunch. After lunch, there would be the physical training modules like march pass and obstacle course training which will normally take up the whole afternoon, before we indulge in some 'lighter' activities in the evening, like netball for the girls and sepak takraw for the boys.

After evening sports, we would freshen up - bathrooms are almost always full, because with the oppressive heat and the different sets of uniforms we had to wear, it got really hot and uncomfortable - and adjourn for dinner. ,After dinner, another round of classes would begin before we had our evening tea at around 10.30 pm, with lights off at 11 pm. But the day isn't over yet - at least, not for those on night duty. Those on night duty would have hourly shifts until 4 am to round the camp and make sure everyone is in bed and not, say, attempting to scale the 12 foot wall in the obstacle course.

Continue reading: National Service: Boon or Bane? (Part II of II)

Related link: Official website of Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (PLKN) | Photo by owaief89

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Saturday, July 29, 2006

Malaysian National Service (Khidmat Negara)

Posted by Chong

Update 10 August 2007: Semakan senarai nama peserta Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (PLKN) is available at http://www.khidmatnegara.gov.my/utama.htm Submit your email address to this subscription form to receive free tips by Malaysia Students directly via your email inbox.

The Malaysian National Service 2006 / 2007 short list was available early this week. Any Malaysian who was born in 1989 has a chance of being short-listed to undergo three months of the national service training. You can check whether you are selected for national service on its official website by typing in your Identity Card (IC) numbers.
The objectives of the national service programme:
  • Develop a young generation who are patriotic and with love for their country
  • Enhance unity among the multi-racial communities in the country
  • Instill a spirit of caring and volunteerism among society
  • Produce an active, intelligent and confident generation
  • Develop positive characteristics among the younger generation through good values
Source: Wikipedia
Since I wasn't selected for national service last year, I don't have any personal experience to share with you. However, some of my friends who did complete the national service this year shared their lifetime experiences with me. Most of them agreed that most activities in the physical module were very exhilarating and challenging whereas the character building module and nation building module which were classroom based, were mundane and tedious.

Contrary to my belief, my friends have put on weight instead of losing it during the national service programme. They explained that they took five to six meals which were the breakfast, morning tea-break, lunch, afternoon tea-break, dinner and supper in the training camps daily. However, they commented that the food is unappetizing and as a result some of them 'learned' to throw away the food. Rather than eating the food, they cook themselves instant noodles such as Maggie Mee and Indomie, you name it.

One of the merits for completing national service is that you will get 10 out of 10 marks for your co-curricular participation in STPM UPU application. This is irresistible if you plan to further your studies in local universities. A typical student who isn’t selected for national service can get full marks for co-curricular participation only if he or she is the president of a club/society/uniform body and has participated in an activity at national level.

To sum up, national service programme is an excellent preparation for life in the real society outside. Through this programme, the youths have the opportunities to mingle with others from different races and backgrounds. Indirectly, they learn to be more open-minded and tolerable. We truly hope the national service to promote unity within our young generation successfully.

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