Former junior college student being constantly bullied in National Service |
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 By TheNenemon I'm a first year soldier currently serving in one of the Singapore Infantry Regiments aka SIRs (not named for obvious reasons). I completed my enhanced BMT course (a version that has been reduced to 3 months long) earlier this year and I was posted here afterwards. Life has been very difficult because I am very unfit, as I hadn't had much physical training for a couple of years -trying my best to salvage my A's, which turned out badly anyway- and as a Matador gunner, carrying ~30kg of load is extremely unbearable for me. But even aside from that, the bigger issue I've been facing for the last six months is this: the constant bullying. You see, aside from me, there are only two other JC students (both my bunkmates) in this company. The entire battalion is a mono intake batch, and while we on our part have not distanced ourselves but instead tried to mingle with them, they don't just outright sideline us, but pick on us often as well. When volunteers are needed, it's almost always one of us who is 'offered as tribute'. They also like to get physical with us, by shoving us around, poking or touching us in inappropriate areas. We continually told them to stop, however they refused to, and even when we complained about such instances to the commanders, they would brush it off saying it's merely a joke, and that they were just fooling around with us. And then they resume their bullying ways, exacting greater force this time. Personally, I was assaulted in the toilet because I accidentally stepped on another guy's bag strap. I tried to hit back, but him being way bigger than me was no help. The issue was brought up to our commanders, but they simply brushed it off, and said things like 'learn to adapt to their culture', 'watch yourself more', 'suck it up' etc etc. They also often just take any extra snacks we have (we have since refrained from bringing too much food into camp), claiming that they'll return it, or that we ought to share because 'we should bond more', but when we ask for something, they would simply tell us to 'go buy yourselves la, rich JC kids'. It's gotten to a point where the three of us are constantly in fear of mingling with most of the people, and the thought of shooting myself in the head has crossed my mind on many occasions. I don't know if this will get anywhere, but I really wish I could get some advice on what I or we can do about our dire situation. This post first appeared on Reddit Singapore on 29 August 2017. You may wish to share your thoughts and relay words of encouragement on the page itself. |
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YOU MAY WISH TO READ: Don't kill yourself, for yourself. |
