Some stories during my NS time.

1. I enlisted in 1991 March intake. Posted to ITD on Tekong, Camp 3, Mamba company. Some rules back then:

– Strictly cannot bring pork into the bunk, although cookhouse serves pork (a bit contradictory here).
– No training on Thursday nights (reason is that accidents always happen on Thursdays)

2. Camp 3 is a 6-storey building and my bunk is on the 4th storey, next to corner toilet.

3. We slept on double decker beds with mosquito nets due to malaria threat. I took the upper deck and my buddy, Poh took the lower deck. One night, I woke up around 3am to go to toilet alone. I did not see anything.

Next morning, my buddy reported that his mosquito net was taken down and rolled up nicely, and placed next to his pillow, sometime in the middle of the night.

He reported to the sergeant and the whole platoon was immediately called to gather. We were given strict orders to go to toilet in pairs during the night from now onwards, and he will check what happen to the previous occupant of the bed (did not hear any feedback on what happened).

4. I got OOC in the 2nd week and was posted out to School of Naval Training in Sembawang Camp as a clerk in the Naval Museum. The museum is housed in the ground floor of Endurance block, a old colonial building. The navy recruits sleep in the bunks upstairs. I heard stories of beds shaking in the bunks, and mannequins coming to life in the museum, but I did not witness them.

5. I have a personal encounter here:

One afternoon, I was working alone on the computer in the small air-con office. The glass door of one of the large wooden cupboard was left open. Suddenly I heard a very loud bang behind me, and I realized the door had slammed shut on its own. There was no wind and the air was still in the air-con office.

Initially I continued working and then it dawned on me that this does not feel right. I was creeped out and ran out of the office. I thought of reporting to the superior but later felt silly.

So I gathered up my courage and went back to the office, shouting at whatever is disturbing me, to get the hell out of my building. I marched into the museum adjoining the office and shouted the same. After this incident, it was peaceful all the way.

Now I know why my superior, SWO Wee(last time the most senior NCO in the Navy) dare not sit in the museum air-con office, and instead chose to sit in the main admin building on the hill.