Monday, August 05, 2013

Dental and medical review

It was a busy day for me today. Woke up to the sight of dark clouds and reminded myself not to leave the house without an umbrella. Together with Ping Hwa, we were having a dental review at Kranji Camp II in the morning. It is part of a "package" to get yourself discharged from the military after two years of service.

Compared to Sungei Gedong, Kranji Camp is so much more accessible. It requires one to use only five minutes of his life to walk there from Yew Tee MRT station. On the other hand, there is only one bus to Sungei Gedong and it takes approximately fifteen minutes for me to travel from the bus stop to my bunk.

As it was raining, the ground was soaked in mud but I did not bother as I was wearing a pair of Asics Gel 105 SP shoes. You probably know what footwear am I referring to if you are serving or have served NS. It was the first and last time I am wearing these running shoes with non-sports civilian clothing in public. I planned to throw them away after today.

The dental review was speedy like what I had expected of a military dentist. I counted that I opened my mouth for only seven seconds while the dentist "examined" my teeth and kept saying incomprehensible dental terminologies to her assistant.

After the swift dental check-up which we obviously passed with flying colours, we decided to have lunch at Yew Tee Point. After visiting the place for the first time in my life, I must say it is one of the least unattractive (see how polite I am to use this adjective) malls in Singapore. There's only first floor and basement one, the end. Not even a second floor?

We left the place with huge disappointment before heading to less glamorous-looking Yew Tee Square. At least it had a food court which we dined at. I wanted to check out the China stall but the China man told me that his ingredients have yet to be delivered to him. I felt like telling him to close his stall and return to China instead of occupying the space at the expense of another hawker.

Headed back to my camp in the afternoon for the final medical review. Oh yeah, it was even more laughable. At Kranji, I got to see the dentist. At least I got to see the person who was signing the piece of paper that I needed on the last day of my service.

I did not even get to see the doctor for my medical review. The medic just handed me a piece of paper which was already signed by the medical officer. The result? I am fit. So, the doctor was able to declare a person without even having to take a look at him? Never mind if it is just wayang like the dentist but at least have some professionalism to meet the other party?

Such incidents can only take place in the military. Some say there are things which you can only learn in the military. I say those things are the monumental screw-ups which every NSman experienced at least once during their time serving the nation employees of SAF.

And here's a (random) picture courtesy of Singapore 9GAG.


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