OF TEAMWORK AND FRIENDSHIPS

My NS began on 9 Nov 2010 as I said goodbye to my loved ones and started my journey as a fresh recruit. Although I struggled through Basic Military Training, my fellow recruits and I faced each challenge with determination.

Before we knew it, we were standing at the Marina Bay Floating Platform for our Passing-Out-Parade, with a brand new chapter awaiting me in my posting to the MSTF.

I still remember my initial amazement when I learnt that the MSTF is responsible for the 24/7 security of Singapore's waters - one of the world's busiest waters which thousands of merchant ships ply daily.

A greenhorn then in the watch team, I had my reservations about whether I would be able to cope with the scope of work and routine shift work. As senior watch members have described: "There are no weekends and holidays, just working or non-working days."

My supervisor Military Expert (ME) 2 Roy Tay, however, helped to lift my spirits whenever I felt down. I learnt much from him, not just in coping with the routine, but also in handling and managing my life in general.

And as I became more familiar with the MSTF's operations, I wanted to learn more from my experienced and resourceful supervisors who, besides imparting professional knowledge, also helped to develop my interpersonal skills.

Among them was my senior supervisor, ME2 Zen Lee. During the course of my work, I witnessed his relentless pursuit for excellence.

He did not hesitate to spend precious off-work hours to follow up and assist in rectifying any outstanding system defects.

He taught me that it was important to have effective communication and trust within a team so that we could overcome hurdles together, and showed me that the strength of a team lies in the individual team member's contributions.

I am honoured to have him as a role model, and in retrospect, I believe it was the strong camaraderie among our team that spurred us on as one in the toughest of times.

After being on the job for over a year, I earned my seniority and was entrusted to show the new guys the ropes. I bonded with the junior NSFs (Full-time National Servicemen) and learnt much from them as well.

Looking back, NS has helped me to improve myself. Besides teaching me about the importance of positive thinking and team dynamics, it allowed me to build many friendships which I will continue to cherish in the years to come.

"I remember my initial amazement when I learnt that the MSTF is responsible for the 24/7 security of Singapore's waters - one of the world's busiest waters which thousands of merchant ships ply daily."
- CPL (NS) Lim