People always ask me about wat i do in the navy. Not to imply that i have many things to do, but i simply do not know how to start describing. To say that i'm defending the seas of Singapore is too vague. Probably only over a few entries will i be able to describe appropriately.
Well, presently, i have no 'real appointment' in the navy. as new officers, either freshly commissioned from midshipman (our term for officer cadet) school or returning from uni studies, we are collectively called Officers Under Training. OUTs. As the name applies, we are under training. However, we are no longer training in a school, but working onboard ships to apply and practise knowledge learnt from school, and pick up other soft skills. Note that the school does not refer to uni edu, but midshipman training. This is quite common amongst the professional careers. Doctors have housemanship. Architects do. Even your lecturers at uni undergo a phase as "post-doc"s before they are officially accepted to the uni (ie obtain tenureship).
yeah. this is the period where we learn from officers who are doing the real stuff, and understudy them with the hope of taking over their responsibilities in the future. for us, this period is around one year, and not many of my peers like this phase. One senior officer likened this phase to an apprentice learning from the master carpenter. However, I prefer to liken it to the ancient times where the disciple learns from the kungfu master. yes, as in the martial art flicks, we have the disciples doing the meanial work and running errands and be totally subservient to the master.
well, we do not do much menial work now, but in the past, the OUTs certainly do. i've heard senior officers telling us that they had to wash bilges (you can imagine them to be drains of a ship). but menial work has manifested into administrative stuff like checking email, filing documents, doing duties, organising events, etc etc. so, u can see why most of us dislike being OUTs. esp the newly commissioned officers, the 2LTs. a lot of them feel v disillusioned. (another reason is probably cos they see their army counterparts commanding respect as PCs, while they have to be humble to other officers and the senior specialists).
however, now that i'm going through the OUT phase for a second time after my studies (i was an OUT before i left for studies 4 years ago), i feel that i'm able to accept my status, and in fact find satisfaction in wat i do. it's only right that OUTs help out the appointment holders (the other officers) with the menial work, as this is the one way we can return for the knowledge they impart. this is in sync with the 'mentor-disciple' relationship described in nichiren buddhism. while the mentor imparts knowledge to the disciple, the disciple reciprocates by protecting his master. (for those who grow up with the old kungfu movies. when the master is being attacked or challenged, it is the disciple who comes forward first to accept the challenge.)
sadly, this concept has been gradually eroded. This is esp so in the education sector. the mentors/teachers are constantly under scrutiny to give their best in teaching the students. moreover, teachers may get under fire in circumstances. students no longer accord their teachers the due respect, and let alone defend their teachers in times of difficulty. when their teachers are being 'bad mouthed', the students would probably join in the 'bad mouthing'. this is more so as an OUT. i've seen some junior OUTs 'bad mouthing' their immediate superiors and at times report the 'wrong doings' of their immediate superiors to higher authorities. Of course, such acts aggravate the relationships between them, and the OUTs learn v little.
On the other hand, i've seen great examples of good 'mentor-disciple' relations. paul and kc (the senior OUTs onboard my ship, they've left for course since feb) are certainly such examples. they've been v conscientious in their work and has contributed much to the administrative work of the ship before me. paul for example ran the core-value program on behalf of my CO (Commanding Officer = boss of ship). they performed all the admin tasks that were thrown to them dutifully and without grudge. their commitment to the ship was rewarded when CO gave them plagues before they left the ship for course. (i seldom heard of OUTs getting plagues from COs). but the impt thing is that their positive attitude facilitated the transfer of knowledge from 'mentor to disciple', and earned them much respect from fellow OUTs of other ships.
Hmmm. i started out from talking about my work as an OUT and digressed to mentor-disciple. think i need to improve my blogging/essay writing skills.
Well, presently, i have no 'real appointment' in the navy. as new officers, either freshly commissioned from midshipman (our term for officer cadet) school or returning from uni studies, we are collectively called Officers Under Training. OUTs. As the name applies, we are under training. However, we are no longer training in a school, but working onboard ships to apply and practise knowledge learnt from school, and pick up other soft skills. Note that the school does not refer to uni edu, but midshipman training. This is quite common amongst the professional careers. Doctors have housemanship. Architects do. Even your lecturers at uni undergo a phase as "post-doc"s before they are officially accepted to the uni (ie obtain tenureship).
yeah. this is the period where we learn from officers who are doing the real stuff, and understudy them with the hope of taking over their responsibilities in the future. for us, this period is around one year, and not many of my peers like this phase. One senior officer likened this phase to an apprentice learning from the master carpenter. However, I prefer to liken it to the ancient times where the disciple learns from the kungfu master. yes, as in the martial art flicks, we have the disciples doing the meanial work and running errands and be totally subservient to the master.
well, we do not do much menial work now, but in the past, the OUTs certainly do. i've heard senior officers telling us that they had to wash bilges (you can imagine them to be drains of a ship). but menial work has manifested into administrative stuff like checking email, filing documents, doing duties, organising events, etc etc. so, u can see why most of us dislike being OUTs. esp the newly commissioned officers, the 2LTs. a lot of them feel v disillusioned. (another reason is probably cos they see their army counterparts commanding respect as PCs, while they have to be humble to other officers and the senior specialists).
however, now that i'm going through the OUT phase for a second time after my studies (i was an OUT before i left for studies 4 years ago), i feel that i'm able to accept my status, and in fact find satisfaction in wat i do. it's only right that OUTs help out the appointment holders (the other officers) with the menial work, as this is the one way we can return for the knowledge they impart. this is in sync with the 'mentor-disciple' relationship described in nichiren buddhism. while the mentor imparts knowledge to the disciple, the disciple reciprocates by protecting his master. (for those who grow up with the old kungfu movies. when the master is being attacked or challenged, it is the disciple who comes forward first to accept the challenge.)
sadly, this concept has been gradually eroded. This is esp so in the education sector. the mentors/teachers are constantly under scrutiny to give their best in teaching the students. moreover, teachers may get under fire in circumstances. students no longer accord their teachers the due respect, and let alone defend their teachers in times of difficulty. when their teachers are being 'bad mouthed', the students would probably join in the 'bad mouthing'. this is more so as an OUT. i've seen some junior OUTs 'bad mouthing' their immediate superiors and at times report the 'wrong doings' of their immediate superiors to higher authorities. Of course, such acts aggravate the relationships between them, and the OUTs learn v little.
On the other hand, i've seen great examples of good 'mentor-disciple' relations. paul and kc (the senior OUTs onboard my ship, they've left for course since feb) are certainly such examples. they've been v conscientious in their work and has contributed much to the administrative work of the ship before me. paul for example ran the core-value program on behalf of my CO (Commanding Officer = boss of ship). they performed all the admin tasks that were thrown to them dutifully and without grudge. their commitment to the ship was rewarded when CO gave them plagues before they left the ship for course. (i seldom heard of OUTs getting plagues from COs). but the impt thing is that their positive attitude facilitated the transfer of knowledge from 'mentor to disciple', and earned them much respect from fellow OUTs of other ships.
Hmmm. i started out from talking about my work as an OUT and digressed to mentor-disciple. think i need to improve my blogging/essay writing skills.
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