Cherchez La Vérité

"And across the Straits of Johore, you can see Pulau Sarimbun, which was used by the Japanese Imperial Army to..."

Baking under the scorching sun, I held the placard up for LTC Chang. The metre wide piece of cardboard showed a map of North-western Singapore, red and blue markings denoted Japanese and British positions. The Australian troops positioned at Sarimbun beach were outnumbered 7 to 1. Poor co-ordination by the British command, coupled with underestimation of the Japanese Army's capability and failed intelligence eventually led to Singapore's downfall. Hard to believe that the Battle for Singapore started some 60 years ago on Sarimbun.

Zaini and I had to accompany LTC Chang to the Battlesite this afternoon. He's to give a lesson to the cadets in about 2 weeks time, about what took place on Sarimbun Beach during WW2. Being the subject matter "experts", Zaini and I accompanied him to see if he had any queries on the ground. Problem was, we weren't any more knowledgable! The facts were read off the lesson plan, and Zaini and I didn't have time to read up earlier, after being given the task of escorting LTC Chang just a few hours earlier by our boss. Talk about late notice!

It was a nice change from the comfort of the cosy, air-conditioned office. Walking on the dirt tracks and rustling through the long grass made me reminisce about my cadet days. It was nice to be reminded.

In the car, LTC Chang shared to us the news about our NS liability being cut by 2 months. Sweet. March 2005 still seems a long time away, but I'll take the extra 2 months off thank you. Good job Mr Teo.

Driving lesson tomorrow. Haven't driven in 3 weeks. Which pedal to accelerate again?

posted by gabriel @ 10:31:00 PM