It's ironic and plain tragic that the only people who seem to acknowledge and gratify the actions of our soldiers are that of our fellow brothers in arms under the same obligation to uphold duty, maintain honour and selflessly (and I use this word after much discretion and thought) protect our country. Yet we never hear phrases such as "thank you for serving" enough, if even at all to be honest. Is it really that difficult to inject some sort of positive element into the whole concept of serving National Service? It really wouldn't hurt to hear some form of encouragement or basic acknowledgement from the general public (and not the military generals; that's the fault in our stars); in fact, I would go to the extent of asserting that changing the way civilians treat our NSFs and NSmen can go a long way in changing the mindsets of every Singaporean son being conscripted into the army. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a long and dreary 2 years of our lives if our efforts to keep war and instability at bay were occasionally (once?) commemorated.

It's almost laughable how we have reached a low-state of pleading to cut back on all the negativity and hate shown to our soldiers rather than encouraging a more receptive congregation. Nobody said there had to be fanfare or a celebration of grandeur; but it would be nice to be regarded with the same dignity and respect that every other plain-clothed civilian garners (which is ironic, because that same dignity and respect is coveted by the very people who live, and die, to protect it). Perhaps you might reckon that using bold terms such as 'life and death' is to the point of glorifying what our soldiers are doing but it is only fair that we too employ the use of exaggeration in the analysis of our armed forces since the public does the same to us. And trust me when I say that in the tenure as a soldier for some of us, we do reach points of ostensible life and death. We literally brave the heat and cold, persevere in the face of fatigue and grime and sacrifice so much of our time as part of the nation's effort to breed a herd of formidable soldiers. We try to embrace these 2 years and take it within our stride and despite relentless effort to shape our mindset that we here to protect and defend our nation's sovereignty, we can't help but question the motivation that keeps us serving given the public view on our importance and significance. We don't need to be overstated, but being undermined is a completely different affair. Can't we just get some love once in a while?

It almost hurts when they bite the hands that feed them and somehow my motivation for serving has been skewed to be about myself--for personal pride, personal development and personal gain. What happened to the bigger reason above all that--for duty, honor, country (then again, something like that is all too altruistic to exist).

I say that I will die for this country. But will it kill you to cut back on all the hate and negativity?