Conscription

In this entry, i shall address one of the most pressing questions asked lately.
"When is my enlistment?"
And the the whole ups and downs about it.

Well, it started like this.
I missed my 1st school napfa test owing to a leg sprain and the 2nd to an eye injury.
Thus, the report submitted to cmpb from the school suggested that i did not attempt the test.
Consequentially, i was then eligible for the PTP(physical training phase) which is going to cost me an extra 2 months of NS time.
That alone sounded like an extremely bad nightmare and there is no hell of a reason i should be in that phase.
I am not fat, not unfit and neither do i like ns.
There is no way i am going for another 8weeks for i dread NS to the core.
Therefore, i booked napfa test date on the 21st of october at the toa payoh stadium.
Fortunately, that coincide with the Nike human race period and the evening training runs came in handy for my preparation for the napfa test.
If not for the Nike race training runs, i dont think i will be so motivated to run every other day for napfa.

Anyway, fate took a twist.
In the midst of all these training, my enlistment letter came.
On it, i was supposed to be enlisted on the 11th of December 2009 for the PTP phase.
Omg, that was freaking hell scary.
How can i be enlisted in less than 2 weeks after my A levels?
How can i face hell so soon?
By hook or by crook, i must past my napfa test.
And I DID!
Furthermore, i even secured a Gold, which was kind of expected...
Hey i am not bragging here, cause gold is seriously no big deal.
Anyway, i had always got gold for all my napfas in JC, so this could only carry on this way.
There is no room for a backslide.

Following that, obviously i was gloating away.
How could they have even thought of putting me in ptp when they know my napfa had always been gold these 2 years.
So disappointing...hai.
And i waited.
And waited.
But the second letter did not appear in my mailbox.
Oh no, i am not going in in 11 dec, no no!
I discussed with my friend regarding this matter, and he suggested that i had to call cmpb to notify them that i had passed my napfa.
Ok, so i called.
I told the guy about my tragedy, he asked for my particulars and checked my status.
Ah huh!
There was the problem, he said, this was because i took my napfa after i got my enlistment notice thus it was not reflected.
Okay, so he noted it and directed my problem to the relevant department.
A few hours later, i got a call from cmpb and the guy on the line told me that yes i will be issued with a new enlistment notice and i would not be going for the ptp batch.
But the problem is, he don't know when is my next enlistment.
All he could say was that things are still being finalised.
No matter what i asked him, he went back to the same answer which is the one ^^above.
I inquired about when will i be getting the new notice, he answered that^.
I asked about my new enlistment date, roughly, he told me that^ too.
Finally, i asked him what if i do not get my new notice by 11 dec, do i still need to report for enlistment?
Guess what, he went one round around the bush and went back to the same answer.
Fine, so he was equally clueless and by saying "its still being finalised" sounds better than "i donno".
Ok understood, i will just wait.

2 weeks passed, it was already mid november.
Omg, did they forget me or what?
The doom date draws near and its not funny anymore.
This time, i decided to take an alternative approach.
I e-mailed them instead of calling them.

This was what i wrote:

Hi,

I am a pre-enlistee. I got my enlistment date on the 15 of October 2009 scheduled to be enlisted on 11 December 2009 for the PTP  batch. However, I went to take my NAPFA test on 21 October 2009 at Toa Payoh stadium and I passed. I called the ns call centre regarding this issue and I was told that I would get a new enlistment date. I have waited for 2 weeks but I still have not received any notification. Thus, can I request to know my new date of enlistment(if there is any) as soon as possible as I am planning for my hoildays and I need it urgently to book my plane tickets. This is my NRIC if required, ----------.

Thank you.

Regards,
Chiang Chun Wei.

Hahaha.

The plane tickets thing may sound like a joke or an excuse, but its true!

Guess what i got in reply?

Dear Chun Wei,

        Currently, we are in the mist of finalising the date, the Enlistment Notice will be sent to you once the date is finalized. 

Yours faithfully,

-----

What the monkey hell?

Again with the finalising trick?

I wanted to reply and pressed them to step on the pedal, but my mom advised me against it claiming that these delays are just the result of the numerous red tapes in placed out that in the working world.

Pressing further would not be fruitful either as they do not process one case at a time, they do it by bulk, ie they would wait till all the ptp quitter wannabes finish their exit trials(napfa test) before they start the reallocation, which is after the deadline for the trials.

Fine with me, reasonable, and its not nice to make life difficult for people.

Who knows if i pressed on they might find me so irritating that they purposely make life difficult for me in return, ie misplace my documents on purpose then i have to go in in 11dec or wdv u can imagine.

So the yearning continues.

I heard from my friend that the last day to do the napfa test before its too late(to to rescue yourself) is 25 november.

I waited past that day, and still no news.

I began to panic, 11dec is now barely 2 weeks away.

Thus, once again i emailed them.

This was it:

From: Chun Wei
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 11:57 PM
To: cmpb
Subject: Re: enquiry on date enlistment

Dear Ms ---,

   

In view that my previous enlistment date on 11/12/2009 is only a week away, can I know if my Enlistment date is finalised and if the Enlistment Notice has been sent?

I really hope to get it as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Chun Wei.

And the reply was:

Dear Chun Wei,

1.                  We refer to your email appended below.

2.                  Please be informed that your date of enlistment on 11 Dec 2009 has been postponed to February 2010.  An Enlistment Notice will be sent to you once the actual date is confirmed.  You are likely to receive it by middle December 2009.

3.                  For any further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us again for assistance.

Regards,

Yes!

Finally, a positive reply.

Yay!

There was some light now.

Following that e-mail, i got a call from cmpb a few days later early in the morning while i was asleep.

Ok, maybe it was not early, 10+am, but i was still asleep.

Over my half woken state of mind, i was told that they have got my napfa test results and the previous enlistment to the ptp batch on 11 dec was nulled.

I was also told that my new enlistment would be around February 2010 and the actual date will be sent to me by mail at a later date which he told me was around mid-december.

Tried my best to pose my questions but i guess i could not express myself clearly in my half-awoken state of mind.

Thus, after a failed attempt to ask something i gave up.

All i wanted to know was what if i do not get my new enlistment letter by 11 dec, and there were any miscommunication, do i have any evidence to safeguard myself.

I do not want to be accused of skipping my draft.

But obviously my queries were not posed and were left hanging in my mind.

Well, i thought lets see how things goes then.

And fortunately, i recieved my new enlistment letter today!

Wohoo!

This puts this episode to rest once and for all.

Thanks by the way for putting me through such an endearing roller coaster ride.

Kept me in suspense for more than a month, thank you.

And this is it folks i shall announce my new enlistment date.

                5 feburary 2010, at 1.45pm.

Its school 2 for those who might be interested.

Normal BMT phase.

Finally so thats settled.

Now i shall move on to the nest issue, last week's quiz. 

How would i react when i see i bat?

and the answer is...

I would jump up and imitate Batman(ie put my hands on my waist and shout batman).

Lol.

So all who voted got it right.

The only anomaly was me, which was deter copycats.

Haha.

Ever since, i watch one of those batman movies and one of those seens where many bats flew out of batman's lair to unveil batman exiting from his den etched into my mind, i can help doing that.

Whenever i see a bat fly by in school i would remember that scene and i would have to "unveil batman".

Lol.

Its very funny actually if u know how to appreciate this little gig.

Childishness do make the world a happier place, "why so serious?"

Thats all for this entry folks.

Cya soon, and stay tuned to cw's world.

Scott signs off.