🙌🏻 God in my Workplace - IRAS

2 years ago, after A Levels, almost everyone got their PES status and enlistment date except for me. I was still on PES D (pending status) because I have several medical conditions. I decided to work part time with two of my JC classmates who were enlisting in April 2016.

My initial plan was to work until I receive my enlistment letter then I quit. What happened was me and my other colleagues were split into two different teams. Me and this guy called Ogawa were sent to the back-end team while the rest were sent to the front-end team. I was very unlucky to get an eccentric and unreasonable superior. She favoured Ogawa more. Also, she didn't like me because I was very close with the front-end people and I kept taking frequent breaks to the pantry and the toilet.

This worsened when one day, after getting my A Levels results, I wanted to take a day off since I was also sick so I texted Ogawa for her number. I messaged her and another one of my superiors. In the end, Ogawa gave me the wrong number and she was very angry at me taking leave even though I already texted the other superior and Ogawa was the one who gave me the wrong number. My two JC friends were planning to quit 1 month before April because they wanted to relax and enjoy before their enlistment. If I were to enlist in April I will also choose to cut work one month before I enlist.

When Ogawa submitted his resignation letter, she also asked me to resign. At that point of time, I was very upset because it was unfair to me as I only took one day leave when I was really sick and it was after my A Levels results. Also, it was obvious that she was biased towards Ogawa and she also disliked me from mixing with the front-end people and getting very close with them.

As I asked God why did I got 'sacked' even though I didn't deserve it because I originally wanted to work till I get my enlistment letter which I expected it to be around June, God had a better plan for me.

Few weeks later, I received a call from MINDEF asking if I want to enlist in April or Octocber. I obviously replied April because I already 'quit' my job and I wanted to enter University at the right year. Throughout this whole experience, I was wondering where God was after I got 'sacked'.

However, after a few weeks later, I could see God's hand in my life. God actually had a better plan than me and He broke me so that His glory could be manifested when I feel broken and at my lowest.

Sometimes, when we feel that God is not there or we can't hear or see God or we can't figure out why some 'bad' things happen in our lives, God is actually working behind the scenes with a better plan crafted out for us. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'.

🇸🇬 Viewpoint on Army PES B2

Every Singaporean male have to go through National Service, be it in the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force when one reaches 18. Everyone is given a PES (Physical Employment Status), in which the status will help to factor in which vocation one is posted to.

Before enlisting, the medical officer talked to me and asked me if I wish to go to Tekong because of my sleepwalking condition. At that point of time, hearing how good PES C life is from 8 to 5 while only going through a 1 month BMT (Basic Military Training) course, I was very keen to get PES C. I told the doctor that I wanted to go into Tekong, because I thought I would get PES C and I did not want to get PES E.

In the end, it was one of the worst mistake that I made in my life. I got PES B2. PES B2 is the new PES C1. Most people who are PES B2 will get PES C vocations. The only two notable difference between a PES B2 and PES C recruit is that PES B2 have to go for IPPT and includes a 2-month BMT course instead of 1 month.

This might seem good, but the main bulk of people sees us as PES fit instead. They assume we can do PES fit stuff. However, PES fit are people that are PES B1 and above. We are excused from SOC and more than 10km route march in BMT. We also cannot go to command school after BMT and we have a lot of physical statuses and conditions. Some people see us as PES, some people see us as PES fit, but no one sees us as an individual unique PES B2.

We are the sandwiched PES, doing the chiong sua stuff in BMT but in the end don't have a single chance to go command school and most of us end up in PES C vocations. Being a PES B2 serves no motivation in BMT. You are deemed as PES fit and they make you do some xiong stuff and push you above your physical limits, but in the end some of us cannot get silver or gold for IPPT due to us having excused 1 or 2 stations. We don't even have a chance to go command school, so there is no point trying hard in BMT.

People in PES B2 all either want to up or down PES, no one wants to get stuck and stay in PES B2. Why bother staying in the middle where you can chiong or geng all the way? Don't forget that even though we are deemed as PES fit, even if we pass our IPPT beforehand, we still won't get 2 months off our National Service, unlike those PES B1 or A people which if they have passed their IPPT beforehand they will only have to serve 1 year 10 months.

Personally, I, like the other PES B2 people, also feel very discouraged by my PES and very demotivated in my BMT. However, this does not mean that my world ended. Even though till now I sometimes still feel very salty about my PES status, I still learn a lot of things being a PES B2 soldier.

In life, there are certain mistakes that you will truly regret and also there will be some unfair circumstances. However, this is what life is all about. I am just being exposed to a small part of the world by being in the army. I have learnt how to deal with certain unfair circumstances and learnt how to accept certain things like my PES status in my life. I have also learn to be grateful, because imagine if I got PES B1, I might be dying right now in some combat unit. Also, I managed to learn a lot of useful skills in army which i can apply in the future in my life.