Is it great to serve your country unwillingly and go through punishment,endurance,embarassment,stress with little pay?? It isn’t great at all but we will be rich with first hand experience,memories and stories. Later on in life,we will share our stories with friends and families. The truth is,we feel like men during these occasions.

I always thought CDA will be more haunted than Jalan Bahar. 3 months there,nothing. Didn’t hear,see,feel or sense anything at all. I guess without the harsh training and tight discipline,that place would be like a resort for me. Before moving to CDA,our last few weeks at Jalan Bahar,me and my bunkmates shared our experienced. As it turns out,we had a couple of stories to be told. We just acted dumb all these while so as not to frightened anyone.

My experienced happened in the early hours in the morning as we were all fast asleep. 2 of my bunkmates had already moved to CDA for their ERS course. So we had 2 empty beds and lockers in our bunk. I’ve changed my bed to the one that is nearest to the window,the last bed of that bunk. Facing my bed is the kitchen wall. It is a double deck bed and i slept on top. It was joined by another bed on the left. The bed beside and below me is empty. The bed diagonally below me is occupied by my other bunkmate. The guy beside him preferred to sleep in another bunk. 2 beds below and on top is occupied by 1 person.It felt as though we had lost 3 instead of 2 bunkmates in the end.

I was sleeping facing the window when i woke up abruptly. Not sure why. But maybe to hear my bunkmate that was sleeping below me on the other bed woke up too. The low noise that i heard him making was enough to make me figure out that he was putting on his slippers,got up and make his way to the entrance of the kitchen. I thought he must be going to the bathroom to ease himself. A normal thing for us as almost everybody did the same thing in the middle of the night or early hours in the morning. We had gone through the water parade before lights off.

Just as the walking slippers had make it’s way to the entrance of the kitchen,it stopped there. I was waiting for him to switch on the bathroom and kitchen lights. It was impossible for anyone to walk through the kitchen and to the bathroom and ease oneself without any lights on. It’s too dark for anyone to do so. But as i waited for a few seconds more,the sound just stop there and then. Thinking maybe he needed some help,i turned around and first look down to see wether it was him or my other bunkmate that was sleeping nearest to him that had just woke and got up to ease himself.

My my what a surprised. More like a shocked. Everybody including my bunkmate that was sleeping below me was all in bed sleeping. Did i dreamt it or he walk back to his bed instead and continued sleeping? But i didn’t heard anymore foosteps. Feeling uneasy,i just turned around and tried to go back to sleep.Just as i closed my eyes,i felt someone climbed to the empty bed beside me. As a brave and fearless man that i am not,i covered myself with my blanket untill i fall back to sleep.

While we were sharing our stories,my bunkmates and i agreed that we all need the lights to go through the kitchen and bathroom during that period of times. And yes,we had experienced strange encounters before lights off and while the building was still alive with recruits passing by to passed the time while waiting for water parade. If you had served your national service at Jalan Bahar you know what i meant. I’ll submit that story soon.