Chronicles of a Discoverer...: And the Point is...?

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Two days into my In-Camp Training and already I am dreading to go back... :)

Blessing or Bane?
I know that many will say how blessed I am when they know that I don't need to "chiong sua" and go for military exercise or do physical training, just sit in aircon office and do office work. But little do they know that this could also be some sort of mental "torture" as well, especially when you are leading a fast-paced work life outside of NS and now am slowing down tremendously during NS, to the extent of sometimes having nothing much or nothing meaningful to do... maybe it is just a good time for me to slow down to prevent myself from burning out.

The Challenge Outside NS
Coming from a social service organization, where resources are limited, I would say that I am constantly challenged to critically think about the rationale behind everything I do. Since I have to do almost anything and everything necessary in my role, I can't afford to waste time and resources doing redundant things that serve no purpose at all. I have to also think "how things can be better?" so that I can constantly improve the way things are done.

Culture Shock
Serving my In-Camp in my current unit is indeed a culture shock; what upsetting me the most is how I am involved in doing things in ways that, in my opinion, are ineffective, inefficient and worst, sometimes meaningless.

But on one hand, while I find that many things could be done more effectively and efficiently, on the other hand, I struggle with the "NSmen mentality": "don't talk too much or be too efficient or else you will end up with more work". Just find that some of the work, including the ones I am doing, can be done in a more efficient way or even avoided, if careful thought has been given to the rationale and proper planning done.

So, it can be rather challenging sitting in a office that is so quiet (not much interaction between staff and no radio etc) doing something which not as meaningful. All these while, worrying about work that is piling up back at work, which means that life would be difficult again (as if it hasn't been difficult 2 weeks before when I was rushing to arrange for coverage of duty) since I will be slogging to clear my work for the next 2 weeks after I return to work.

Nevermind me, just airing my grouses :) I, of course, still know the importance of National Service and I will say I also learnt important things for my volunteer management programme: