Hope that this might be of help to anyone who will be enlisting to army soon.
Perhaps you might want to read through to have a rough idea.
After all, it's better for you to know something than nothing, agree?
I shall divide this 'guide' into 5 sections:
1. Logistic Preparation
2. Mental Preparation
3. Physical Preparation
4. Emotional Preparation
5. Health/Medical Preparation
1. LOGISTIC PREPARATION
So the question most would ask is what to bring when you enlist
or perhaps during your subsequently book-ins.
Here's a list of my recommended items,
which might not be as good as some others you might find on the net.
Compulsory Items: NRIC
Essential Items:
1. Alarm Clock
2. Toiletries
- Toothpaste, toothbrush
- Shaver (*up to you, as you will be issued one also)
- Body soap, shampoo (*Up to you to bring for shampoo as after all you are botak you see)
- Toilet Paper (*you will be issued 2 rolls but recommended to bring 1 extra if you are that type that uses a lot lah)
3. Underwear (*fucking important, and please bring enough for yourself)
4. Washing Power (*more of for first 2 weeks when you don't get to go home, definitely need to wash)
5. Swimming Goggles (*for swimming lessons, especially non-swimmers)
6. Clothes Hangers & Clips (*I would recommend bring 8 hangers, but at least 5 la uh)
7. NON-CAMERA mobile phone (*and fully charged of course, you are not allowed to bring charger to charge there by the way) and Portable Charger, if you have
8. Your wallet and house key, of course.
9. Amulet, if applicable (*not all parts of Tekong are 'clean', if you believe in it, just bring)
10. S$2 for hair-cut
Other Recommended Items:
1. A all-black-coloured Watch
2. Nail Clipper (*you will be issued with 1 set but it's not a very good one, best to bring own)
3. Your own Slipper (*for movement along bunk level or during admin time)
4. Addition spectacles (*JUST in case la uh) & Spectacles Accessories (hooks/band, cloth, etc) if applicable
5. Stationery (*with at least one of the following, it will come very useful, trust me)
- A blue pen, a black pen, correction pen/tape
- A pencil, easer
- A ruler
6. Coins (*and bring damn a lot, can be used for buying drinks from the vending machine)
7. Packet Tissues
8. Plastic Bags/ Zip-lock Bags
9. Essential Medication (even if you are not sick, just let it be your mini first-aid box; STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR PTP BATCH, i assure you the chance of getting sick is very high)
- Panadol Flu/Extra
- Strepsils
- Antiseptic Cream, etc.
10. Plaster, LeukoPlast (*especially good for route march)
11. Muscle Pain Relieving Cream (* STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR PTP BATCH)
- Deep Heat/ T-Mac/ Yoko Yoko, etc.
12. Hand Soap
13. Insect Repellent and Itchiness-Relieving Cream (*FYI, Tekong's mosquitoes are just so powerful, you will get what i mean when you get a bite from them)
14. Unwanted cloth/Rags for area cleaning
15. Toothpick (*you will know why)
16. Febreze, the anti-bacteria spray (*STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR PTP BATCH)
A more comprehensive guide, is one done by one of my platoon mate in BMT, is as follow: The 2011 BMT Guide, 2nd Edition should be useful enough for most of you.
2. MENTAL PREPARATION
First and foremost, the very first thing you must know is that life in army is not going to be like in school. High level of discipline and orderliness is expected and there will be a lot of regimentation i.e. you will be restricted a lot of your behaviour and actions. And the worse ever thing to do is to resist or fight back, it will only bring more trouble for you. Getting confined and charged (yes, charged, and under a military law) for some small lame reasons is not worth it. Spending your weekend in Singapore is much worthwhile than that. Just follow as instructed, be smart and behave yourself as necessary. That will do. If you are not aiming to go command school, then i would say just stay low-profile. It should safely get you through your BMT. At times, act blur do help but at the correct time please. Adopt a correct mindset & set your path right at the start and you should be able to enjoy (yes, enjoy. really. may be you will realised it only at the end) your BMT journey.
The best i would recommend is to read up the stuff at iPrepNS or if you are lazy to read, go and watch the videos at YouTube on the series 'Every Singaporean Son'. Go and read up and watch to have a rough idea to minimum your uncertainty of army life.
3. PHYSICAL PREPARATION
As you would expect, definitely there will be Physical Trainings (PT) and Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) that you have to clear before you passed out as a trained soldier. Hence your physical fitness needs to be up to a certain standard. If you have cleared you NAPFA before you enlist, you should be under the enhanced batch i.e. 2 months BMT, if not then the Physical Training Phase (PTP) batch i.e. 4 months BMT.
My recommendation:
PTP Batch - OBJECTIVE: Start up your physical exercising momentum.
What i can assured you is there will be a lot of PTs to do, and there's plenty of time (8 weeks) for you to train during your PTP phase. If you put in that effort, results will definitely be seen. I've been through, i know. Those who didn't pass their final IPPT is only those who REALLY REALLY REALLY cannot do one, which is like the rare few, or those who don't put in effort. Be assured that you physical fitness will improve, but it's best that you start to do at least a bit of gyming or running before you enlist. Even if you are freaking lazy, just got for a short 1 round a few time per week. Start the momentum and it will help your body to adjust to that sort of muscle-aches you will get.
Enhanced Batch - OBJECTIVE: Maintain your physical fitness, don't let it drop a single bit.
Once you slack down and allow your fitness level to drop, it takes quite a bit of time to get back. Usually, enhanced BMT batch (aka those who got Silver and Gold for NAPFA) will have a very tight training schedule and very little time for physical training. You wouldn't have as much time to train up your physical training as there's a lot of military soldiering skills to learn and that's enough to get you tired off easily. Hence, it's recommended that you continue to go for your gym, runs or whatever sports you have been doing. Don't have the mentality that you will train later when you enlist and let your muscle to rest first before you enter army. The truth is you will have no time.
4. EMOTIONAL PREPARATION
Life in army is definitely not easy nor is it as comfortable as that of at home or in school. BUT, it can be fun and it's not as BAD as you would have thought. Always tell yourself that if so many people has gone through the same shit as you, they can do it, so can you. For sure, there will be fears of some sort that you might not be able to cope and stuff, but i can assure you that it can be done one. All the trainings are structured such that even idiots can follow and emphasis on safety has been placed high. No worries. It's usually a matter of you doing well or not, not so much of whether you can do it or not. Set a positive mindset and you will feel a lot better.
5. HEALTH/ MEDICAL PREPARATION
Spending 2 or 4 months in a military camp, it's hard not to get sick. Unavoidably, you will get some cough, flu, sore throat, fever and possibly some injuries like sprain, strain, wounds, etc. That is more the need for you to take care of yourself. Especially for the PTP batch, the first month is a high peak period for getting sick as your body is still adjusting itself to all those physical straining activities.
Thus, it's advisable to bring the following to camp:
- Panadol Flu/Max/Extra
- Strepsils
- Plaster
- Antiseptic Cream, etc.
In addition, it's recommended to:
(a) Drink water frequently even if water parade is not conducted. This will hydrate yourself sufficiently and reduce significantly the chances of you getting sick.
(b) Never share water, even if you don't have enough water for water parade. Sharing water is the fastest way to spread all the virus among yourselves. It surely doesn't feels good to be sick, so just trouble yourself to refill at the water cooler but just don't don't don't share.
(c) Avoid reporting sick unless you REALLY REALLY REALLY find the need to, like say fever. It's better (both the doctor and the medication) to see the doctor back in Singapore than at the Tekong Medical Centre. Trust me.
(d) Inform at least two other person if you are really unwell. Especially when you guys are carrying out some physically demanding activities (or even when you are not), at least someone will look out for you and is aware of your illness in case anything happen. Just remember anything can happen to you at any time, even rest time. Never keep it to yourself.
(e) ALWAYS do your warm up and cool down PROPERLY before and after each PT, route march, etc. It will help your body to recover fast enough for the next day. If you have done a good workout for your PT, you should feel relatively shoick while stretching your muscles during cool down. Really. If you want to prevent injuries, do your warm up properly and if you want reduce all that muscles-aches after a exercise, then you better do your cool down properly. It will help.
Hopefully all the above has been useful guide for you. Any feedback just write it under comments. Thank you. =)
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