Life Lesson #3 – Have Faith
Believe that someone is up there taking care of me by being focus and compassionate…
Like everyone else turning 21, I started thinking about becoming independent. I believe I was more mature than my peers, having begun working at the age of 7 and being raised in a family with limited resources. While studying at Singapore Polytechnic, I supported myself by earning an income every month. I delivered newspapers every morning, conducted street surveys, worked as a telesales agent, sold drinks at Kallang Stadium, and even worked as a part-time model. I didn’t want my family to pay for my expenses, as I felt my parents had already sacrificed enough for the four of us. I decided to enlist as a soldier right after graduating from Polytechnic. With strong determination, I topped the Basic Military Training (BMT) as the best trainee, even though my English wasn’t strong.
The worst part was that I didn’t even know how to give commands in Malay, as my parents couldn’t afford to let me participate in any extra-curricular activities at school; I had to help out on the farm every day. What I did have was the belief that if I gave my best, upheld my integrity, and treated everyone with kindness, I would always be blessed by someone up there. I remember during the BMT field camp, I was the first to finish digging a trench, and I kept digging until about 5:30 a.m. while all my other campmates had fallen asleep.
By then, I had developed numerous blisters on my palms after finally finishing digging my campmate’s trench. Exhausted, I decided to take a nap but overslept and was caught by my commander. Fearing that I might not be able to book out, I quickly apologized. Surprisingly, my commander praised me for demonstrating integrity in helping my campmates. This not only earned me his respect but may have also contributed to my topping the cohort, possibly due to the high scores I received in the peer appraisal. Ultimately, I was selected to attend the Naval Officer Cadet School in 1995.
I was deeply disappointed when one of my friends from Officer Cadet School labeled me a hypocrite, believing that joining the Navy was better than staying in the Army. This criticism hit me hard, and I even appealed to my Navy instructor, Captain Tay, asking to be transferred back to the Army. My reason was simple: I feared I wouldn’t be able to pursue my dream of signing on as an officer. My academic results were poor, and as a non-swimmer—having never had the time or resources to learn—I felt like I was at a serious disadvantage. Just before entering National Service, I tried to learn swimming, but I nearly drowned in the process.
From then on, I was constantly worried whenever I found myself in the swimming pool. Alongside this fear, I had already put in tremendous effort—training to complete the 2.4km run in about 8.5 minutes, doing 26 chin-ups in a minute, and becoming a sharpshooter with the M16 rifle. Despite all my efforts, when I was rejected the chance to return to the Army, I told myself that perhaps someone up there wanted me to face an even bigger challenge.
So, I decided to focus on what I could control. After my first swimming training, my peers nicknamed me ‘Diver,’ but I sank when I tried swimming, despite having a well-trained body. It shook my confidence and left me frustrated. The first few months were especially tough, as the Naval School placed a strong emphasis on academics. We had to quickly absorb a wide range of knowledge—ship handling, rules of the road, astro-navigation, basic military warfare, and much more.
