A Long Way From Home

This will be home for the next 6 weeks - the LST RSS Endurance. No mail, no TV, no internet, no GSM, no sound, no picture. Just the sun, sand and the sea.

Just my kind of job.

People have been asking, "Why did you sign on?". I've always answered, "Why not?" I believe God made me a fine soldier for a reason, and I intend to fulfill the purpose of my design to the best of my abilities. I am a Christian, then a son. Brother and friend. Now I'm adding sailor and, hopefully, officer in time to come. What a great many things for a man to be! That's cause man wasn't made for any single job, his capacity surpasses that, I'm sure. Jobs fit a purpose, they're not the same, but that's another story for another time=]

I'm gonna miss HOME...3 weeks of confinement in OCS was bad enough, I'm not sure how I'm gonna fare for 6 weeks. Hey y'all reading this - I'm gonna MISS YOU. Oh well...Gotta earn my pay. I'll always remember 2WO Razali's favourite phrase - "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." To all my beloved cellmates, and to anybody reading this, push on to do the right thing, it's gonna be worth it in the end.

The RSN emblem has a Singapore coat of arms over an anchor and a laurel supporting it all. The anchor signifies the navy's seafaring nature, with Singapore at the center of its purposes and the laurels for excellence. In a more individualistic point of view, I see the anchor anchoring me to home in the center, with laurels of grace supporting me as I leave it behind when I sail. A corny thing, maybe, but I've learnt that these things preserve who I am when I'm away on long trips.

Ok, enough of such serious stuff. I celebrated my birthday in camp last week, with my brothers from MIDS wing. They got me a RSN cake! I'm glad to be in the company of such motivated and diligent people, and it comforts me much that they're people I know I can count on in the difficult days ahead till we commission as officers. Maybe not all of us will make it, and we're all different in some ways. But we are all working towards something in common, together, and that's all I need to know. Nothing comes close.