A Day in Kem National Service - 4 Jan 2009

He came running towards us. His awkward way of running confirms that it was AG. He looked smart in his light blue uniform and his shiny black shoes. He never had a pair of black 'leather' shoes and now we don't have to buy one. His mum's eyes were already like wells of water. Hers were not the only pair of eyes wet. His hair trimmed soldier short. When informed of our arrival, he was washing his clothes. He slumped in a plastic chair and related his experience thus far in Kem Terkok, Sg Siput. Between the tone of his voice, and his choice of words, it doesn’t take a psychologist that know that he is expressing his disappointment and aches. Let’s face it, life is hard at National Service. No wonder many shirk it. From little food to deplorable living conditions, little sleep and constant marching under the hot sun that makes your legs weak and your body faint. Truth be told, it’s an ulu place.

The main road you see is Lintang which is a sub road from Sungai Siput. A small signboard is all you get to give you a hint that Kem Terkok is 1.5 km from this signboard. The small road accessible to only one way of vehicle at a time passes through rubber plantations and palm oil plantations. AG had said that its so ulu to deter anyone from escaping :-).

We started our journey at 6:50 am and reached the campsite at 10 am. The highway in the morning was covered with mist, like the fog you experience in England, especially on the Perak stretch. There were already a couple of families there visiting when we arrived. They page for him, “Sila mengambil perhatian, di kehendaki wira Ahh Moosss datang ke kawasan lawatan sebab keluarga anda sedang menunggu.” We had heard a fair share of people mispronouncing his name. We had to call him on his phone as he had not heard the announcement, after all he was focusing hard on washing his clothes. We were elated to see him.

The long blue roof houses the meeting area, while the smaller blue roof in the foreground of the picture houses the sundry shop. A can of coke goes for RM1.70 (not too bad). Yes, folks if you didn't bring a pail for washing clothes along, you can even get it there for RM6! We cannot venture beyond the coconut tress.

Now comes the hard test. We had wanted to bring AG out for the day but they wouldn’t allow. Prior to that we had prayed that we would be able to bring him out. Despite reasoning, they still said no. I could tell that Amos was ultra disappointed. They said that the Kem Kommander was away and no one to give the approval. Fair enough, I asked for the 2nd in command then, they replied that he is also out. In an organization and set up that relies on a chain of command and authority, I reasoned again that then I should see the 3rd person in command in the Kem. This went on for a few minutes. After that, he said, “tunggu sekejap…” my hopes were raised. We left the camp at 10:30 am with AG after he gobbled down a piece of cake. The family beside our table came to enquire what forms are we filling up. They thought we were filling up the early release letter/form for CNY. No, we told them we had written a letter for that already and we brought along to get them to acknowledge receipt.

We explored Sungai Siput town which is about 10 km away. We went for “chee chong fun” for breakfast and went to THE STORE to browse some items. Then we went to the most expensive restaurant in Sg Siput, the KFC restaurant :-). Had lunch there, and proceeded to have some cendul, probably best in town. No, we did not see Samy Vellu. Later went to a hypermarket to buy some items and guess what, it is time to bring him back to the camp already, as we promised he would be back at 4 pm.

We discovered that God's favour is upon AG as we experienced the following:-

a. trainers were helpful, friendly, and polite

b. we were able to go out despite the rules (later found out from AG that we were the only family that able to go out of all the 90 odd families that came that day)

c. good dorm mates despite different races (that is the aim of this national integration thingy, right?)

d. little but powerful events that lets him know that God is in his midst

Sorry I don't have the permission to post his picture taken with his mum as I need to respect his privacy and wishes especially with his new hair style.

We find that suddenly many youths are Christians because it will guarantee you out of the Kem on Sundays 3-5 pm. You have only a Catholic or a Mandarin speaking Chinese Methodist Church to choose from. They don't believe that "bananas" can be Christians :-). My son related on Jan 1, new year's day, some youth requested the authorities to send the youths out for church service. After arriving there in the church premises and finding it closed, the driver proceeded to give the youths a lecture and tongue lashing. The quick thinking youth resorted to telling him that "Gereja besar besar di Selangor semua ada mesyuarat dan servis!" :-) While I do not condone the half truths, I must admit there is always ingenuinity in trying to get the authorities to let them out.

We miss him very much!

National Service teaches to trust God both parents and trainee. Trust Him to be in control for things outside your control. They say you will have a "man back from national service." I would like to add that you have a "person who trusts God" back from National Service.

It is hard to be in national service, that is why I sms all YA youths assigned to NS every weekend as a way of encouraging them and spurring them on in the Lord!

Emmanuel!