Winning the battle over fear and ambivalence
For many years, I giggled at the madness of national service. That is, until I looked straight down the barrel of a Singaporean Special Operations Forces commando
By Kelvin Tong
I DO not doubt Chairman Mao's claim that power comes from the barrel of a gun - unless that gun happens to be an M-16 in the hands of a Hokkien-spewing, duty-shirking and malingering Singaporean soldier.
Like many able-bodied males of my cynical generation, I found the notion of a Singaporean army intensely funny. Kiasu, kiasi and often myopic (almost everyone in my Basic Military Training platoon wore glasses), the average Singaporean soldier is a far cry from the American marines or Kopassus commandos glimpsed on CNN.
We are way too short and way too skinny. We shoot funny and spend too much time during reservist training calling our girlfriends on our mobile phones.
Forget Afghanistan and Aceh. We look like amateurs compared to the rank and file of the world's armed forces. We are better off paying the Gurkhas to look tough on our behalf.
Why bother with national service? And just what is the point of making pot-bellied, middle-aged uncles do chin-ups during their in-camp training?
For many years, I giggled at the madness of it all.
Until I looked straight down the barrel of a Singaporean Special Operations Forces commando recently.
APART from the economic slowdown and Sars epidemic, Singapore's biggest headache is terrorism.
Like the rest of the world, our tiny island state is not impervious to attacks by extremist troublemakers. In fact, given our taste for promoting our secure borders and economic prowess abroad, we are a mighty attractive target for global misanthropes looking for a big, noisy score.
Disturbed by the possibility of some lunatic setting off a bomb in Shenton Way, I started work on a drama series more than a year ago.
It was going to be a what-if story. What if Singaporeans wake up one fine day to the news of a terrorist attack on our homeland? Will we have the ability, guts and resolve to fight back? Or will most of us pack our bags and catch a no-frills flight to - I was about to say Bali?
I wanted to explore the psyche of people like me - well-intentioned but ultimately-frightened third-generation Singaporeans who did not have the privilege of eating tree roots during the Japanese occupation.
Will we don our fatigues and do our soldierly duty or will we empty our bank accounts before writing a resignation letter to Singapore Inc.?
Honestly, I had no idea. I was not even sure of myself. I really did not know what Singaporeans will do if terrorists blew up Newton Circus. And so, I set out to satisfy my curiosity by shooting The Frontline, a six-part what-if drama about the day the unthinkable happened in our backyard.
In a nutshell, The Frontline features Ix Shen doing cool things with a Magnum. It also includes a squad of neo-anarchists, a couple of bombs, a sniper bent on taking out civilians in the HDB heartland, a hijacking and a hostage crisis.
This was to be my cauldron for divining the Singaporean response to terrorism. The show was going to explore the notion of national resilience. The plot features just as many gung-ho Singaporeans as bag-packing cowards.
I must confess that I embarked on the project with the same reservations that I used to entertain about the Singapore Armed Forces. Happily, I am proud to report that I now stand corrected.
AFTER a two-month shoot, during which the Ministry of Defence sent many of its frontline anti-terrorism troopers my way, I am finally cured of the giggles. I no longer think national service is a burden.
Because of the show, I had the rare privilege to come face to face with the men and women who work quietly around the clock to ensure that hacks like me can write dubious columns for the newspapers in relative peace and security.
And I am terribly impressed.
Suffice it to say that any nutcase thinking of infiltrating Changi Naval Base had better pen his will in advance. The Navy divers on duty there are neither short nor skinny. And they are dead serious about their jobs. I have the footage to prove it.
The same goes for the elite Special Operations Forces. These people are scary. I have witnessed them storming a building. All I can say is that I am glad it is not my building.
They leap off ledges with the same carefree nonchalance I put into my morning strolls. They light explosives as easily as I do a cigarette.
Singapore's readiness against terrorism comes not just in the form of heavily-armed, Kevlar-armoured elite forces. There is a battery of supporting units that are just as hardened, tanned and ready.
One of the nicest bunch of military people I worked with during the shoot was the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.
These guys defuse real bombs dressed in spaceman suits that weigh more than 30kg each. Those suits do not protect them from blasts. They just keep corpses intact just so the dead trooper's folks have a body to bury.
I STARTED off wondering if Singapore could pull through a terrorist attack. One drama series later, I can confidently say that our armed forces are more than ready.
However, I am still not entirely sure about normal folks like me. Will I stave off the individualistic and very-Singaporean urge to stay far, far away from danger when the first bomb goes off? Or will I quit the fight and run?
Even before the first terrorist strike occurs, the war has already begun. That battle is in every Singaporean's heart. The frontline is not our borders or the smoking ruins of a pub. It lies right smack on the faith and trust we have in this place we call home.
Power can come from the barrel of a gun. But it can also come from conviction. And apparently, conviction flies further and faster than bullets.
really respect his commitment!!