BenLow's blog

Here are some of the photos from Hillsongs! Most of them were taken outside cos there was no flash photography allowed during the performances. In the back row: Cheryl Lin, Christine, Hazel. Front row: Shaunald and Daryl. From left to right: Mark, Aaron and Darren. Darren's wearing my shirt. =S Ok they were on the hill calling out random names to see if anybody from the crowd responded. *** I'm quite unhappy the tagboard was deleted without prior warning. I thought they'd have sent an email when the tagboard was inactive. Gah. Unhappy about many other things. 1. Firstly missing out on church camp, and another extra guard duty on 14th June, a saturday of all days. 2. Secondly I've been feeling that all my other friends have gone ahead of me. They're all walking their paths much faster than me while I stagnate. Examples: Shu getting her driving license, all the gals accepting their unis etc etc. I've got a year and 6 months to wait. Which is incredibly painful. 3....

As promised, a couple of pics from the alpha weekend. Here's Prem and Gerald. And here's Daniel coordinating the games. A friend from another church, Gordon (on left) with Martin (on right). Last but not least, Sarah. *** Ok so the past week has been considerably good. With new operators coming in, we've got more people to talk to and new people to share our circumstances with. I'll be going back to Alpha, which will be xiong. But one thing I've come to realise about Alpha is that its people are really much nicer than the people in an infantry battalion. (After recieving lots of complaints from Wen Qin) Just tahan another month or so and it'll be done. Some activities this week included CO's Parade on tuesday, Alpha Company Workplan Seminar on wednesday and attending the Army Pride and Safety Day at SAFTI MI on friday. For next week I think there are a couple of exciting things around the corner, but not sure what they are. Update you guys further next week...

Ever since I was in secondary two, my ambition was to be a forensic pathologist. I was impressed by books read about the medical profession, hence I aspired to be a doctor since young. After much deliberation and research, I believed that pathology was one of the major fundamentals of medicine, and forensics was the way to put the concepts in pathology to full use. To make such a informed and serious decision at that stage of my life shows my resolve, passion and dedication to this field of study, and it is my life's dream to walk this path. But here most people ask: Why not take a forensic science course? Why not go abroad? Forensic science and Forensic Pathology are two totally different things. One makes you a Crime Scene Investigator, which is not what I want. The other allows you to deal with corpses, find out the cause of death, and right the wrongs in society one case at a time. That is what I desire deeply. Thus medicine, not forensic science, is the only path for me. Here ...

Its pretty interesting how being in med puts me in such situations involving major dilemmas. The 1 SIR and guard duty fiascos were just two of the few, and well... Here comes another one. So far what I've been going through is the Alpha Company UIP, supposedly the most xiong UIP out of the 5 branches within 8 SIG. Usually when people enter a new unit they'll first go through a battalion UIP, which we will be going through the next week. But since we came early, they made us do the company UIP first. Heres where things start to get interesting. Although we've been doing company UIP, we can only be sorted out into our respective companies after battalion UIP. But because of my medicine apps (gah everyone there's calling me MO already) there is only a small possibility I'll be posted back to Alpha Company, which I've been studying about for the past week and a half. Thats because Alpha Company is the only 24/7 operationally ready company. If I leave halfway (by dis...

I've been posted to a new unit: 8th Signal Battalion. What we do there is quite a big secret, so I'm in no position to reveal anything. But knowing military secrets makes me feel very comfortable haha. Right now I'm in a phase of unit life called the Unit Induction Programme. Its the toughest part of unit life, where you learn all the chim equipment and procedures, and your privileges like walking to cookhouse, eating extra food from the vending machines, listening to MP3s and going to bunk early get cancelled. Because of the studying till late hours, while feeling very bored it gets quite tough on your mind. However, my current unit life isn't all that bleak: after I finish UIP I'll have access to the computers, be able to bring all sorts of things to camp, go to bunk early to rest, play soccer, go to the gym, use the vending machines and what not. *** Alpha weekend was very very good for me. It was a time of renewal, a time of obtaining the peace of the holy spiri...

Woohoo... Sometimes I really think I'm blind. So many good things have been happening yet I've only seen the crushing pain the medicine course blues have given me. Event #1 Originally: Supposed to be in 10/07 platoon, with a majority of PES C, PES BP people. When I first sat in my bunk in the accomodations block I immediately felt out of place cos I was the only skinny guy there. No offense though, I'm very very skinny. Then... Was shifted to 11/07 platoon, which needed PES A and B people. Met lots of great friends, and people around my size at least. Felt more at home there. Event #2 Originally: Performed badly for an exercise, and was told by the course commander there would be a repeat exercise on either a weekend or a public holiday. Morale down. =( Then... There was no time to conduct an extra exercise due to the guard duties allocated to my course sergeant and others in my platoon. So no weekend/holiday burnt. Event #3 Originally: Was supposed to have guard duty last ...

Just reformatted my comp on friday... Accidentally deleted some important file needed so had to start all over. So now no DOTA, no iTunes, no photos, no songs etc. So anyone who wants to send me any of the above things please do so. *** Well med interviews were ok. Nothing very intimidating, confusing or difficult to answer. But of course I'm wishing I'd said more so they can accurately understand my position, my desire to enter medicine. Oh well its over and done with. One thing I've always been wondering is whether interviewers look out for the mannerisms, attitude, reaction of the interviewee or they look out for areas where the interviewee can contribute to their organisation. If it were the former I think I'd do well... If it were the latter I'm not very sure if I can make it... I'm trying not to think of it too much... But I gotta say it again. Too much hinges on this. Whether I can fufill my ambitions, whether the plans for my future come through, whether...

Exciting week ahead! Med interviews are on saturday at 12pm. Not the best time for me, but I think I'll take it. NTU Psychology has accepted me, so the backup plan is in place. Considerably nervous about the med interview though; it feels like so many things are hanging in the balance. Trust in God. I've always been relaxed during interviews, partly because I've always known who the inteviewers were, and also because the things I've done an interview for were never that important to me. Now this is really important (can't stop stressing how pivotal this is), and I've gotta get my relaxed self back. Besides that good things have been happening. I was originally supposed to do guard duty yesterday (which means staying back in camp till today morning around 9am) but my miraculous stroke of fortune there were extra guards, and I was chosen at random to drop out of guarding the place. Hooray. The week has been way too slack and as a result theres been a lot of intera...