5/13/2007

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Quietly and unceremoniously they packed up and left for a journey to adulthood. More importantly it was a call of duty to serve the country. Young men, bright eyed 18 year olds, were enlisted to be trained as soldiers and other uniformed services the day they finished their secondary schools. For the next two to two an a half years, they belong to the state. The parents reluctantly, hesitantly, and tentatively let them go. But deep inside them they harbour an unspoken fear. Many return to rejoin their families after their National Service Training. Some don't. We have just witnessed another undescribed grief of parents whose precious sons failed to return home, alive. The tragedy of losing someone so precious, someone about to embark on a journey of life as an adult, getting a job, courting a girlfriend, getting married, becoming a father in his own right, all vanished, while answering the call of duty. The pain was suffered in silence. The parents accepted that as any citizens would do so. It is the price of citizenship. The ultimate sacrifice the citizens made for the country. We are the citizens of this island. Are we appreciated or are we just some digits that can be replaced by foreigners with no qualms and conscience? All parents share the grief of these unfortunate parents quietly, in their hearts. The sacrifice to the nation is not only the NS men, but the parents, the siblings and all who knew the fallen men.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Victims family should demand at least S$2 billions from pap governments for Compensation B'cos who r protecting their wealth & imposed 20% NS tax for those riches(bosses, investors, foreigners worker including PR) who earned more than s$600k annual or course foreigners irregardless high or low pay.

I wish all singaporean's all the best & strike hard to be rich to get out of this cheappo slave nation. B'cos if you r either not rich or in the top managements(ceo, mp, vp, md etc). U will be forever be a slave work till dead reason our government monopolised investment company involved.

Anonymous said...

you should be asking who the ultimate murderers if you really care about the ultimate sacrifices?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

matilah would have a lot to say about the role and responsibility of the state. i still believe that the entity of the state is still relevant today and for a long time.

how to compensate the parents whose retirement ticket has been shredded to pieces? i do not know how much the govt is compensating, but it better be a significant amount.

as for the ultimate cause,... the maker.

Anonymous said...

Sure I would. But the state is a direct result of the "will" (collective) of the people — they always get the govt they deserve. And self-defence by way of conscription — while against my own natural-law-based principles — is simply the "reality" in S'pore.

The Taiwanese jets are old and probably breaking down.

Anyway, in all matters military, accidents do happen. Even in Iraq in the present, soldiers occasionally get killed by equipment malfunction or "human mistake" of friendly fire.

I might be against conscription, and I might be anti-war, but I am pro-soldier and pro-military.

Until— or if ever — our species gets to a point where we no longer require states to supply defense, we will always have soldiers (and sailors and air personnel) — even in a privatised military — to protect us, our property and our loved ones.

The human race has been involved in warfare since the very begininng. As silly as it looks — we FIGHT to PROTECT LIFE.

Until we "grow up", that's not going to change.

(Silent salute of respect to those killed in training)

Anonymous said...

Quit the melodrama, Redbean. What happened was an accident, nothing more. It was his time to go, so the Grim Reaper has come to collect his due. You always must over-complicate things, musn't you ?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

it is not medodrama anonymous. just put yourself in the position of the parents or siblings. only then will you feel the hurt and the pain.

it may be an accident, but the lost is real and devastating. unless we are just an unfeeling people where every one is just a digit. die so what?

feel a little, try to be a human.

Anonymous said...

Singapore is not a place to be a human redbean. It is a place for rats who enjoy being a race. In a race, winning is all that metters. If a fellow rat gets kicked out of that race and have its life snuffed out, that is simply the price it paid for being in the race. It has lost, there are still many rats still in the race to the finish line. Every rat for him or her self. No feelings, no emotions. Ready, get set, go.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

we may joke about this uncaring brutal truth. but it really is not a joke. there are many who have made it materially and laughing at the silly average singaporeans who are still struggling and complaining about bus fare increase by 10c.

civilisation may have been around for several thousand years. but the selfish and thoughtlessness towards the lesser beings never change. many will only give lip service to the downtrodden but laugh privately or sharing jokes about their pathetic lives.

no doubt it is their wrongdoings and nothing much one can do about it. its their karma, yes.

but it is good that we don't laugh at them. we have to live our karma as well.

Anonymous said...

Redbean, I did not meant it as a joke. It is the way things work in Singapore, where if you don't have $$, you are nothing. You need to take those rose-tinted blinkers off and Singapore the gory, rotten reality that is Singapore, a country without a soul, correction, a country where money IS it's soul. There is no place for a caring human being in such a place.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi anonymous,

i don't mean that you are saying it as a joke. that was a general statement.

it is true that there are too many hypocrisies in this island. the reality is that, like you said, everyone for himself or herself. the rest is a joke or just a pr exercise.

Anonymous said...

If it is everyone for himself, why the hell are our children doing national service for a miserable salary, wasting two years during their NS stint instead of pursuing further studies and then being discriminated further when they join the workforce.

Sure, it was just an accident and just someone else's child.

Anonymous said...

Anon above, everyone has the choice to not have their male offsprings be subject to NS. All you have to do is leave before your sons turn 11, it's that simple. This fact is no secret, if you ring up CMPB and ask, they will tell this to you. Now, if you choose to stay within your comfort zone and not make that sacrifice to give your sosn a better future, and then later your son gets injured or killed while in NS, you only have yourself to blame, for you are the one who had surrendered him to the state. NS is not compulsory, for those who have the courage to pluck themselves out of that shithole you call a country, and leave.

Anonymous said...

To Anon above

Yes, everyone has a choice, but not everyone has the means to leave. It's simple as that!

Anonymous said...

If you want something bad enough, you will find a way. Making excuses like "not everyone has the means to leave" is just simply a cop out.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

i will address this topic on how important is citizenship to some singaporeans and why leaving is not an option over the weekend.

yes leaving is away out. but out of the frying pan into the deep blue sea.

Anonymous said...

"but out of the frying pan into the deep blue sea." That is called sacrifice, redbean. For the sake of the next generation. Stay in Singapore and you condemn your offsprings to a life of mediocrity and lifetime of being trampled by by the ruling elite. I'd take my chances with the deep blue sea any day over such a fate.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

i have posted an article this morning on the reasons why Chinese Singaporeans have not many places to go except for the exceptional and extraordinary.

the rest must make sure that this island will continue to exist to provide them a chance to live decent and with a little bit of dignity and pride as a human being.

for the majority of singaporeans, going overseas is not really an option.

many malaysian chinese have done that only to become second class citizens overseas. and many would like to return to malaysia if malaysia would only welcome them back as citizens with equal rights and equal opportunities.

and so are many malaysians and singaporeans of other races. for those who are able, they are financially very comfortable and secured in the countries they emigrated to. but it is never the same as a country where you can really call home.

singapore is the last bastion. lose it, they lose everything.