By Chin Jhin Kai (Facebook post)
December 4 at 10:13pm
Police National Service is a brilliant yet often misunderstood form of National Service. As a Neighbourhood Police Centre Officer (NPCO) in Geylang, I can proudly say that I had a wonderful NS experience.
You’re serving in the police? Shiok right, no road march, slack!
Stay home/no book-in? Lagi best, lepak!
Huh, PNS-man also carry guns around?
Got real bullets inside?!
It is not unusual for questions like these to pop up during the common topic of NS with friends or relatives, after all, I (and I assume many others who had served PNS) have been answering them for a long time.
Yes - there are no road march, probably less physical trainings, and most of our vocations are stay-home (I have long forgotten the feeling of booking in/out since I passed out from training in Home Team).
Slack? If you define NS solely based on how physically tough it is, you can probably say so. But if one were to take into account both the physical and psychological aspects, my views may differ.
PNS had taught me to juggle between the morning and night shifts that can easily hit over 12-14 hours each. As we do not have structured physical training sessions after passing out, keeping fit becomes an individual responsibility we had to fulfil during our off days. There are times during busy periods (Sea Games, F1, etcetera) where our physical limits are pushed , and we can expect continuous and consecutive days of long shift hours with little breaks in between.
And yes - for obvious reasons, there are live rounds we carry around during our daily operations, even as PNSman.
We attend to messages when someone makes a ‘999’ call, ranging from minor disputes, small fights, affrays to cases like housebreaking, suicides, found bodies and riots.
We do proactive patrols around the neighbourhood to prevent, deter and detect crimes.
We chase after subjects, get into real struggles, and cuff up people who decided to go against the law.
We mostly do the same things as what you would expect a regular policeman to (not staying in the office all day long, and definitely not carrying dummy bullets or plastic batons when we patrol the streets).
Today is the day I officially complete my duties as a Police National Serviceman. To the young boys who are joking/serious about downing your PES status just to skip NS, keep an open mind about it.
Whether you end up in green or blue, one thing is for sure - you would have made wonderful friends who would remain in your lives for a long time, and to me, is my biggest takeaway from the 22-months stint. I told some squad-mates of mine before my last night shift yesterday, that besides feeling a little empty, I don’t really feel particularly sad. But damn, I ended shift and realised I was wrong.
I owe it to my Course Managers, Field Instructor and squad-mates for the wonderful training experience I had at the academy. It has been awhile since we came together officially and some of us may have not spoken for a long while, but I hold close to my heart memories and friendships forged with you.
To my colleagues, thank you for the wonderful experience during my NPCO journey. The more senior officers had pass down useful knowledge and guided me well, constantly giving useful advices that I would hold dear.
To the Alpha Newbies, I will never forget the beautiful memories made.
Damn, I’m a proud NSman.
“The sheep do not want the dog around. He looks too much like the wolf. He reminds them that danger lurks out there, just beyond the relative safety of the fence.
The wolf also hates the dog. He knows that it is the dog that stands between him and his prey.
It is because of the dog that he is lean. The dog is the reason the wolf is forced to stalk the darkness.
The dog knows these facts. Undeterred, he stands watch, ever ready to do battle.
Despite that he is an unwelcome guest in their mists, the dog is ready, at a moments notice, to give his life in defence of his flock. It is simply who he is.
- unknown"
