24 April, 2011
BG Tan: Stand up and help the needy!
With many low income families and 1 to 3 room rental flats in the Chai Chee area, PAP candidate BG Tan Chuan Jin states his hope that Singaporeans can stand up and help the needy.
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Home→Singapore Armed Forces→Tribute to BG Tan Chuan Jin
Posted by: insidestory on 02 Jun `09, 10:12AM
My NDP Journey
Written by BG Tan Chuan-Jin on 24th April, 10:30AM
Until I was 17, NDPs were a little vague to me. Sure, like the other teenagers, I recalled the rolling tanks and marching bands and contingents -- all which I caught on TV... probably between mouthfuls of dinner
In fact, like my classmates, we were probably just glad not to have been called to march at the parade. If not for the Taiwanese exchange students my JC1 class had to host, I may not even have been there to watch the whole event.
But there I was in the sweltering heat of the National Stadium, belting out those stirring 80s National Day songs like "Stand Up for Singapore" (which I still have a soft spot for today). The mood was electrifying. And as the fireworks lit up the night sky and we recited the pledge, I figure that must have been what patriotism felt like. And I believe that's what many of my friends felt that day too. It is what we would call a 'hair-stand moment'!
But never would I have imagined then that one day, I'd have the honour organising an NDP, trying to inspire that same pride we felt, in a new generation of Singaporeans.
So where was this patriotic zeal coming from?
For me, it was not the marching bands and showcase of military hardware. Rather, it was how all 60,000 plus of us in the stadium came together to sing our hearts out. And you know what? Those embarrassing songs may not have been too deep and impressive dissected, but with the simple words, they made everyone in the stadium become one people. And we had great fun doing it too!
On New Year's Day 2005, I stood at ground zero, surveying the devastation that the Tsunami had wrecked on the town of Meulaboh, Aceh in Indonesia. I had been tasked to lead our Humanitarian Assistance Support Group to help in the disaster and it was the first time I'd been confronted with such abject loss.
It was surreal. Everything was flattened, the dead entwined with the collapsed buildings and trees. Bodies scattered about, left behind by the receding waves. There seemed to be no signs of life even as the odour of death lingered in the air. I remembered wondering where do we even start?
But start we did, and we tried to make as much difference as we could. We managed to help stabilise the situation and after 3 weeks, it was time to make our two-day journey home. I recall sitting on the upper deck of our LST, RSS Endurance watching the sunset. There was a quiet sense of sadness, but also of admiration at the resilience of the human spirit. But most of all, I realised there and then, how proud I was to be a Singaporean.
It was not simply the outpouring of cash and material support, or the many volunteers who offered to go over to help. But it was the manner in which our people rallied round and responded. Our soldiers, sailors and airmen reached out to help our friends, and treated the local people with a great deal of respect and dignity.
There was a lot of heart that went into what the guys did. It was touching to see them in their No. 4s kicking a football with the kids at the refugee camp during their rest hour. Or when my Logistics Officer, LTC Nasir lent a listening ear to a man who was fishing, not for food, but in the hope of finding something to remind him of his little girl who was swept away. He had nothing left and hoped that perhaps he could somehow find a scrap of her clothes or something to remember her by.
There was a tremendous humanity in our Singaporeans. "Regardless of race, language or religion", we acted as one for a fellow being in need. It is perhaps in times of crisis that one takes a peek into the heart and soul of a nation.
And I am so proud of what I saw.
And I remember clearly, as I reflected then, it struck me that the reason we were able to pull off such a large and complex operation within days was not only because of all the training and drilling we did in our exercises, it was also because of our being tasked to organise massive national events like the National Day Parade. NDPs are real life operations that trained us to plan to the 'nth' degree of detail and to ensure that everything turns out like clock-work.........
NB: For full text, please refer to the link @ http://zh.sgforums.com/forums/1390/topics/362413
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http://doingsingaporeproud.blogspot.com/
Doing Singapore Proud
Monday, January 24, 2005
Home Coming
Posted by: Proud Singaporean (TanChuanJinFan)
NB: Please refer to the above link for full text of all reports
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