BMT Mis-fits

Well let me tell you a few of those characters that I still remember.

Character No. 1: The Sotong
This particular species of recruit is one of the most dangerous. If you become his buddy his basic display of understand would cause not only his buddy but the whole platoon to get into trouble. Remeber the 'KOTEK' that I mentioned in my previous post? Well let's call him Sotong here.

Description: Skinny, pimpled, Dark Black plastic glasses, Chinese as first language, No girlfriend, A-Star student during his pre-NS days.

I remember the relationship we had with Sotong was a love - hate relationship. We loved him for the wrong reasons. He was the source of entertainment during night snack because everyone would be asking him about his gf (even though we know he had none). He was alway the target of our instructors as well as the majority. He was the guy in charge of pouring rubbish, washing toilet, doing fatigue. The reason is that he basically screws up on most of the tasks to him and as a result gets more task as a form of punishment. He is also one of the greatest asset of a PS because he creates the opportunity for our PS to punish the whole platoon. Remember all for one and one for all? Well that is a stupid philosophy. This guy will always be late for fall-in, will turn the wrong way during a parade, will follow the wrong commands, will say the wrong things, basically LOSER. I guess we need people like this not even in the army but real life.

Character 2: The Hero
This species always seem to think he represents the whole group's thinking. You never ever want to be near the hero. He will volunteer for everything, He sucks up to the instructors and he spies around the platoon to see if anything wrongfully is committed.

Description: Ultra egoistic, Loud, Mr. Know it All, Mr. Have-seen-it, Chauvanistic arsehole

I believe every platoon has a few heros, these are the people who stand up who aspire to become an officer. To go to OCS and become future leaders. When ever they have a chance to be an IC, they throw their power, shout at their peers and have no humane feelings for their colleagues. This person can be seen most of the time at the company line office where he does admin work for the instructors as well as running to the canteen to buy curry-puff, kopi, nasi-lemak for the instructors. These people do make it to OCS (I shall cover these species when I write more about OCS - Officer Cadet School).

Character 3: The Kia-See King

This species basically is scared of every single thing. He makes sures that he does everything that the instructors tell him to not because he aspires to be THE HERO but he submits because of fear. Fear of punishment, Fear of rejection from his peers.

Description: Comes in different sizes and shapes. Have high tendancy to crack during intense training and conditions.

The Kia-See King is quite hard to spot because of his availability to blend in well with everyone and basically agreeing to the vast majority. However, once given a task which requires to lead or requires critical thinking - he cracks. This is evident when he uses qoutes others to get the job done. Popular quotes are 'because Sergent says so..' , 'I scared later I kenna.....', 'help leh.....', 'dun like that lah later Sergent.....'. When it comes to jungle training or section movement, this guy would shout for people to cover him but he will never cover you. Can be found hiding away from the action (but not to be confused with another species called the Shiam or Taiji King). Most dangerous during live firing or grenade live training. He usually cracks but is too scared to tell or show. Some Bo-bo shooters falls into the category (Bo-bo shooters are people who cannot aim and hit the target during firing of live rounds). Kia-See King usually have a chicken heart so during the midst of high activity or action, he gets lost and may have tendancy to commit suicide if not discovered at the right time. This guy usually will not want to hear ghost stories too. (I will share some personal experience when it comes to Ghost in my later posts).

Character 4: The Slacker - Shiam King

This species also stand up in the crowd. Most are untidy and look very sloppy. They are most vulnerable during 'turn-out' or 'stand-by bed'. They are extremely dangerous on these occasions because their behavior is uncontrollable. They have no disregard for policy or instructions, most of the time causing others to be punished together with them.

Description: Smart 4 sleeves being folded below the elbow. Boots unpolished. Wears the same underwear for 1 week. Un-washed No. 4. Have no proper hygine. Usually have no supply of toilet paper roll for the whole 5-months. May have Body Odour (BO).

The slacker or shiam king have a distinct habit of not following orders properly. Have dis-regard for timing. Can be found sleeping most of the time on his bed without taking off his uniform or boots. I remembered this guy spending 1 week out-field training and then coming back to camp, without bathing but falling asleep with that stinking attire on his bed. His bedsheets are usually yellow and it is unfortunate to be marching/sitting/sleeping/sharing a tent/bathing beside him. Ok, you may ask why bathing? Well this person will not even bother to buy his shampoo or soap but tends to borrow. But of course, being a slacker or shiam king does not necessary make him a bad guy. He just don't care about what others think.

Character 5: The Wa-yang King

This species is not easy to spot. Has exceptional ability to react, talk, counter, imitate - a talent who qualifies for star search. Can be dangerous or an asset to a platoon. Do not be confuse with the Shiam King. The Wa-yang King has high EQ and is versatile to changing physical and mental conditions. His survival is to change to avoid detection.

Description: N.A. You can only differentiate him from the rest after fine observation of his EQ.

Wa-yang King only volunteers for things when it can score big political points with the instructors. He will look out for projects or assignments which is visually obvious to the instructors and his peers of his efforts. Even simple assignments like being the song IC can score big political points because his voice is the loudest, he boost morale, he make sures the platoon marches in the right timing, he creates and he gets noticed. Most people knows him and appreciates his effort because music in the army sung by 50 men can be quite an up-lifting experience. I mean Wa-yang and Music comes together right?