NDP & NS

It 's been awhile since I went for a run! I was pretty exhausted right after the run. Probably because I stopped training so long. But I was glad that I managed to push myself to run 4km today despite being so tiring. Hopefully I can maintain this kind of lifestyle.

Tomorrow is another day of NDP. Hopefully I can enjoy it again haha.. So far there has not been one rehearsal that is without any problems. So I wish things can go smoothly for once. However something disturbing me is that a certain few people on higher management level tend to know little things on the ground and they make many assumptions - Based on the reasons they gave for some of the orders or sometimes there's no reason given for orders. As such, they came out with many redundant or sometimes, illogical ideas that cause many inconveniences to people. Why can't they spare some thoughts for the people working under them?

Another thing lacking is imperfect knowledge. Information flow between 2 parties always has to go pass a middleman. As a result, it causes multiple delays in passing information or in worst scenario, information is not passed to either party at all. All the information gathering and disseminating has to be done through the single person causes too many things for that one person to managed. In economics, it's decreasing marginal returns. Moreover, both parties do not know have the information to contact each another and this contact information lies with that middleman. If only our voices were strong enough to make changes.

When it comes to military, some people tend to use their rank to suppress ideas and voices which is a saddening situation to see. This culture of "sucking thumb" needs to be changed because people would be blindly following orders and it causes inefficiency in the organization. It also stymie the training of every soldier to be a thinking soldier. It is discouraging as people can think about many ideas but only few would help them to implement it. Therefore, many soldiers end up being ignorant and showing little concern and enthusiasm in their work. Sometimes they do listen to our ideas and voices. But this has to be done at the right moment which by then, it's already too late. In the sense that you have already gone through it. Not everyone can be self-motivated like the soldiers we see featuring in magazines or videos. After all, nobody likes to be controlled by others. Hierarchy is too overwhelming and it's influence should be reduced in my opinion.

However, serving NS is not totally a bad thing. I have learnt to lead people as well as how to manage under me and work with people of higher seniority. It has also trained me to remain calm at all times, think thoroughly as well as to make logical and rational decisions. All these are important life skills will be applicable to anywhere I go. It's also during NS when I learn to treasure my family and friends. Without their consistent encouragement and help, I wouldn't be what I am today. I should show appreciation to them someday to thank them for their love and guidance. Geez. Got to go now. Hopefully, I'll remember to write again soon.