Today was SAF day. I hate SAF day. We arrived at 2+pm, and waited till 6+pm for the pre-parade segment to start. And it gets worse.

I was marinated in rainwater for 6 hours, as it rained non-stop, being a drizzle at the best of times. Mother Nature was showing her disdain of the SAF! In fact, she threw a lightning storm at us, but they didn't declare Cat 1 or even activate their wet weather plan! We were hapless, and expressed our frustration by moaning and shouting when the rain became heavier. I have a feeling that's going to be interpreted as "enthusiasm" in official accounts ie Pioneer Magazine. Some poor JC students had to attend the parade - their waterproof uniforms stood them in good stead!

For a time, we were also not permitted to go to the toilet, evidently because they feared we would abscond. And when they finally let us go, everyone started smoking in the toilet, so the air was thick with smog. And the smoke was even worse after the whole event, when even more people went to the toilet to relieve themselves, in more ways than one.

The MCs tried to get us to do a SAF wave, but on their first attempt, no one responded. In the end, the wave went a respectable three rounds around the stadium, complete with rubbish flying into the air as the wave crest moved through the stadium - I hope no one was hurt by the killer litter!

Quite a few items were stolen from NDP. During the recycled unarmed combat segment, one guy ran out late, so he was running way behind everyone, struggling to catch up. Aww.

They presented some soppy communalistic song by Tanya Chua. Except that she wasn't there - they just played a track from her CD. That was utterly cheapskate.

One member of the band passed out during the parade! Erk. It couldn't have been heatstroke, since it was raining all the way. Oh dear.

Malay is very weird - there is even a drill command to lower your head even. A funny sounding phrase was also shouted repeatedly - "punji punji". It made everyone amused and everytime it was shouted, people giggled or sniggered. A malay friend advises: "sheesh i was wondering what was so funny bout it. i think it refers to the flag bearers". Ahh.

They gave the President a Gore-Tex raincoat and a jockey cap to wear. Yeh. We, on the other hand, were issued with Vietnam-made, blue coloured condom-ponchos which tore easily and left us semi-dry at best. I think half the SAF is going to report sick tomorrow!

As expected, a September 11th reference was made in Tony Tan's speech. Maybe someone should have hijacked a plane and flown it into the National Stadiumm, killing the top brass of the Armed Forces. 9/11 is overused, especially to justify all manner of repressive policies. Also, much was made of the 'dedication' and 'commitment' of NSmen. More like our fear of going to jail.

The MC kept pronouncing 'provost' as 'provo'. Irritating.

All the items involving marching were too long and too draggy. They deadened our minds. Which is why I'm so uncharacteristically un-verbose in this paragraph.

After the whole thing, my sister and brother in law brought me a change of clothing, which is why I don't have footrot now. We had dinner nearby, at Wildfire's, and the waitress there was as tall as me and reminded me of Yunxin, with the similar bearing and slightly familiar features.


Something interesting I found out while trying to find out what the hell the Peoples' Defence Force does.