From Boys to Men , a recuit guide to BMT in the S'pore Army
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So who have seen this book before ?
Saw it in popular and the book is black colour
By Chee Junmin Lester | Tan Jun Da | Teh Wei Cheng
I read inside hor , look quite similar to the post ''BMT FAQ''
was wondering who copy who , or NS is the same...
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Hmm, our FAQ is quite old.Originally posted by Unidentified:So who have seen this book before ?
Saw it in popular and the book is black colour
By Chee Junmin Lester | Tan Jun Da | Teh Wei Cheng
I read inside hor , look quite similar to the post ''BMT FAQ''
was wondering who copy who , or NS is the same...
Who cares, what matters is that our recruits are well-informed.
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then is a 25 year old man who still has not served NS be called a boy?
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haha, tiao, its really a SAF approve BMT guide or a TRUE BMT guide?
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dunno leh , i was thinking since im bought it , shd i update the SAF forum with the latest ones.
But hor....... lazy to type everything in leh
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just read it, not bad, worth it for anyone going into BMTC soon.
language could be much more colourful thou
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so where can i go get it?
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Got teach you how to keng?
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the 3 authors are featured in the New Paper today.
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oh man , today nvr buy newspaper , can scan and post it here ? wan to see the article. or is there link ?Originally posted by Gordonator:the 3 authors are featured in the New Paper today. -
If you desperately want it , go Bras Brasah Complex Popular , coz happen to see it there , and i bought it there , other place i dunnoOriginally posted by Samuelpsw:so where can i go get it? -
i will post the article tomorrow.Originally posted by Unidentified:oh man , today nvr buy newspaper , can scan and post it here ? wan to see the article. or is there link ?
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Thank youOriginally posted by Gordonator:i will post the article tomorrow. 
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I won't be that stupid enough to purchase a army's guide..
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The complete Idiot's Guide to Being a recruit in the singapore army!
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The Electric New Paper
Recruit, senang diri*! This book's for you
3 undergrads write guidebook to help NS newbies through Basic Military Training
*at ease, in Malay
By Shree Ann Mathavan, 31 May 2007
Friends Mr Tan (left) and Mr Chee (right) teamed up with Mr Teh (centre), who was working on a similar book.
DO the terms half left down, 5BX and fastcraft make any sense to you?
If not, you've obviously not been through Basic Military Training (BMT).
Half left down means to assume the push-up position, 5BX are five kinds of basic physical exercises and fastcraft is the ferry which takes national service men to and from Pulau Tekong.
Such BMT lingo is explained in a new book, From Boys To Men, an unofficial recruit's guide to BMT in the Singapore Army.
Other topics covered include pre-NS procedures, rank structure, daily routine and proper dress code. There are even colourful lyrics of songs sung in camp.
The book is the work of Mr Lester Chee, 23, and Mr Teh Wei Cheng, 25, both studying business management at Singapore Management University, and Mr Tan Jun Da, 23, a dentistry student at the National University of Singapore.
They had taken time to get used to life in camp and felt such a book could help.
'Our book includes the more boring stuff and procedures as well as the fun stuff like the BMT lingo, the relationship between recruits and instructors and so on,'said Mr Teh.
Official resources available to recruits are the National Service Portal (www.ns.sg) and the Singapore Army website (www.army.gov.sg).
Mr Chee and Mr Tan, who have known each other since they were 15, thought of the book about four years ago.
The two created a manuscript and spent about a year meeting publishers. But publishers all wanted the students to cough up the printing and distribution costs.
Recalled Mr Chee: 'Most of them didn't believe in our work.'
Added Mr Tan: 'That was the time when we really felt like giving up.'
Then, in June 2005, a mutual friend introduced both men to Mr Teh's sister, Ms Alvinia Teh, 23, a director of publishing company MultiNine Corporation.
SIMILAR CONCEPT
And it turned out that Mr Teh had been working on a similar concept and had come up with his own manuscript on questions frequently asked by recruits.
So they put their material together. Information was culled from interviews with past recruits, personal experience and official websites.
Mr Teh said juggling the rigours of undergraduate life and their pet project wasn't difficult. All it took was proper time management.
MultiNine agreed to print and distribute the books at no cost to the three writers.
It was agreed that 10 per cent of the proceeds would go to the writers and another 10 per cent to the publishers, with the remaining 80 per cent going to production and distribution.
The book, which had its first print run of 2,000 copies, retails at major bookstores for $6.50 each.
The Ministry of Defence wasn't consulted during the writing of the book, but a copy has been sent to it.
The New Paper found that reactions to the book have been mixed.
Muhd Ayub Mohd Shari, 19, a Ngee Ann Polytechnic student who will be enlisting next year, doesn't see the need for such a book.
He said: 'I think you can't really learn these things by reading. And I think learning from your mistakes is better.'
But Neo Kuan Liang, 19, another Ngee Ann Polytechnic student, said: 'It's $6.50 that would cover me for a two-year period, so I think it's worth buying.'
Mr Jonathan Kwok, 22, an NUS undergraduate who completed his NS two years ago, also felt the book was a good idea.
He said: 'I went though BMT feeling lost for the first few weeks - not knowing what to do or expect.
'So I would have probably got the book if it had been out then.' -
how the first guy on the left looks like ah gua like that??
Friends Mr Tan (left) and Mr Chee (right) teamed up with Mr Teh (centre), who was working on a similar book. -
It's written by three chaps like you and I, not the SAF.Originally posted by soulwinner:I won't be that stupid enough to purchase a army's guide.. -
i wonder if the book is being edited by mindef people...just like our newspapers edited by ISD people....Originally posted by LazerLordz:It's written by three chaps like you and I, not the SAF. -
according to the TNP report, MINDEF had nothing to do with the book.Originally posted by kengkia:i wonder if the book is being edited by mindef people...just like our newspapers edited by ISD people....
Which is good, in many ways -
Nope. It's a privately published book.Originally posted by kengkia:i wonder if the book is being edited by mindef people...just like our newspapers edited by ISD people.... -
they shd get more men of different vocation to compile a vocation guide
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i rather they come out this book for the guys
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you write lah , publish liao put your name aka martin_lim85Originally posted by martin_lim85:i rather they come out this book for the guys
I sure sarpot you ar , i go popular sit on floor read and return
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but thenl...i feel that those three chaps got fear while writing out this book leh...real incidents that was not reported on press ...commander abusing men all these....etc....this book have no use if SAF dark side is not shown as well...what for called a guide right?Originally posted by LazerLordz:Nope. It's a privately published book.