You will never know what is truly good, until you’ve gone through what is truly bad. Ironically, the highs of my service term in Hotel Wing are defined by the lows I face. As a Christian, I once asked, “If God loved the world so, why did He allow the pain and suffering through war or natural disasters?” The answer is simple, without pain; there wouldn’t be compassion simply because you have nothing to be compassionate for. The answer becomes more obvious to me as I feel the ‘pain’ of training, it defines the things around me that I appreciate and cherish.

At the peak of my fatigue during our Exercise Scorpion King, where blisters, wet uniform, heavy eyelids as a result of endless digging is close to driving me to a point of delusion, a helping hand from my buddy was a light at the end of the tunnel. A simple gesture can become a high when I was at my lowest. I would say that in my service term, its people who are willing to put in that extra effort that makes my stay worthwhile.

The world is about perspective. If a person tells himself daily that an apple tastes like an orange, one day it will taste like one only to him. There are many things we are made to do that we don’t enjoy doing. Sometimes, we moan and complain because the choice has been taken away from us. What we don’t realize is that the choice is very much in our hands. We can simply choose to like the things we are doing or not. However, to like something that we don’t enjoy doesn’t make any sense at all.

The secret to this is to know that we sow what we reap, that the highs always come after the lows. You will always feel low during the activity, but you will feel high when you reap from it. I use to detest the interval training we had almost every week. Every round makes you feel like throwing up, it’s no wonder they make you eat breakfast after interval training and not before. However, the fruits of your training reflected in your IPPT test, in your physique, in your general health give an exhilarating sense of achievement. The feeling is the kind that you will never feel after completing a game or finishing a book. Every low will become a high eventually. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes you won’t even realize it. But knowing it and constantly reminding yourself of the fruits of what you are doing at that moment will relieve yourself of all the ill feelings you have about the activity. Your low will become a high once you know the purpose of your activity. When this becomes a habit, it will soon develop into a lifestyle that comes so easily for me. And the next time I write this, the title will be “The Highs and Highs of Pro Term”.

Two more weeks marks the end of service term in OCS, Hotel Wing. The times were tough with short weekends, endless timings to meet, tests to pass and missions to complete. IPPT, SOC, Scorpion King, a thousand sit-ups, it never ends. But it will one day. If there’s anything that the end of service term taught me, it’s that tough times never last.

On this tedious road to officer ship, you experience things you never thought you’d go through ever. It’s truly a life adventure that teaches you many things. One of the most key thing made clear to me, is the importance of your brothers in arms. All those stories you hear about army being fun relies on this. To a majority of people, the things you do in the army are never fun; they are anything but fun. It’s the people you do it with that makes it a worthwhile experience. The one who will offer you a helping hand when no one will, the one that will be there when you felt all alone, the one you goes through the same things as you do, will also be the one that stands on the commissioning parade square, next to you, receiving the rank that all of us worked so hard for. If at the commissioning parade square, you can say you’ve made a few good friends, friends that will be there for you for the rest of your life, what’s nine months of hardship?

Hotel Wing doesn’t push your limit; you push your own limit. Hotel Wing does a fantastic job of giving you the optimum environment to achieve what you never thought you could achieve. From a mere pass in BMT to Gold in OCS for my IPPT is enough proof. The relief of not having to do remedial training, the sense of achievement of getting the first Gold in God knows how many years, and the smile plastered on your face when your friends congratulate you makes up for all the training, anxiety or effort.

One realization will be that as a full-time serviceman, you will see how precious your loved ones are, what price has to be paid for them to live a peaceful life. It’s hard for one to see, but training to defend our country means protecting our loved ones from aggressive neighbours. Every blood, sweat and tear you shed, it’s for no one else but the ones you love, the ones you hold dear to your heart. No one can see this, but knowing it yourself is enough. Because it’s the selflessness and sacrifice that keeps your heart still and doesn’t let go of the things you learn, simply because they mean something. If your training has a purpose, a perspective that means something to you, it’s so much easier to go through and often worth the while.

Before I came into Officer Cadet School, I often question the value of pride or honour. Are these mere feelings truly worth the hardship, sacrifices and pain? Aren’t these just fleeting emotions that anyone can have? What can I buy with pride or honour? Being in Hotel Wing, one soon realizes that pride and honor are the currency that you receive for your diligence and hard work. Never mind the above average income you receive, the real income goes straight to your heart. The pride and honour mould and sustains your attitude as a true officer. H for Hotel, H for honour of the highest caliber.