Relief of Duty

4 years of BB, and multiple blogs here and there talk about it.

4 years of SJAB, and I guess I'll be the only one talking about it. It's ironic that my words won't be reached to almost any member of SJAB save the few seniors and fellow members who read this, considering that they are the people that this would be the most relevant to. In a certain way I'm envious of John B, whose long but well written out reflections get to be on the front page of the ACSISJAB domain. As for me, perhaps I will have two more years to go; or perhaps by then the person writing it will be John Ang or Swaminathan.

At times it is indeed rather depressing that for all the efforts made by the FAC to bring the corps to greater heights, sometimes they forget that they have an entire corps to bring along with them. And when the final ROD speech comes, special thanks go to the FAC people. Perhaps this only happened in 2007 and not 2006 nor 2005 nor 2004 (I apologize but my memory didn't extend so far for things I considered trivial then) but irregardless it isn't too pleasant a feeling.

There are two simple (though I must say very vague) ways of categorizing the good things a person does. It's the tangible benefits, and obviously the opposite, intangible benefits. It's hard to discern between the two at times, but usually the grey area is less important compared to the obvious.

No doubt, obviously, trophies are the hallmark of the former, for they are the pinnacle of competition, the proof of prevailing over the rest. I thank the FAC for doing us so proud by winning all that they have won in the FAC competition, and all the scholars who hard-earned their $100+ donations each from Clementi, Dover and Holland Village, whom without them the top collections for flag day could never be (And probably will not be for a very very long time).

But how far does the balance between the tangible and the intangible go? Most say it would be equal, but how do people go around searching for this balance when only one can be so easily identified? At times this is a hard balance to make, but it is the role of us to make this distinction, and for us to make sure that both are met. I felt it my role to tell Nick that exact point about leading a committee; one cannot go too far in striving purely for one aspect of goodness because everyone aiming for the other will just be left behind. But in the end, I didn't get the chance, did I.

I remember commenting once upon hearing that Ben Lee was to be promoted to Staff Sergeant that I should be a CL if that happens (Perhaps now I feel even more so given how completely undeserving people get double promotions). Swami just told me that the promotion was for everyone, and that the CL rank was to be given to those who really stood out. "Whatever you have done, Herrick, I've probably done alot more."

He was right, he probably did do a lot more. But in my heart I questioned whether he even knew what I had done for the corps in the first place. After National Day Marching, Ezra told me some Sec 1 shouted EZRA at him and he didn't know who the hell did that. I looked up and I saw Joshua, a Sec 1 cadet in Track and Field (Kev says he was in shotput). I knew I was right.

Writing thank you cards to Sec 1 cadets was something I just thought of one day, after the newsletter idea failed (That being my fault too, sadly) And when I did it I suppose it succeeded, because Kevin was asked by Joshua if he was taking MRT back that day.

For all that one does to aim for greater heights for the corps, just as much must be done to understand the corps to the very bottom root - the individual. I knew that when I first picked up the Public Relations post, and I admit I was quite crazy to try and do that singlehandedly. Who knew getting an SJAB T-Shirt printed out for everyone, getting a newsletter to be printed out for everyone, or even remembering everyone's names would have been such a phenomenal task? But Kevin and I think that we've done a good job with the Sec 1s, we're proud of them, we like them, the teachers said that we did a good job leading them, and last of all some of them wanted to know if we would come back next year. It was a heartwarming moment, really.

In my opinion, being a senior wasn't about shouting at cadets and screwing around with them (I have to apologize to Mr. Alvin Tan for my drastically different outlook =) ) It was about linking with cadets, being able to care about the discipline of the cohort as a whole but still capable of caring about the welfare of each and every cadet. I admit I still don't know every single cadet by name (Fourty never was an easy number to deal with, and that excludes the scholars whom I took care of at times too), but still Kevin and I have probably done the best we could have. And this is what we need in the next committee, people who can focus on the corps while the FAC team is busy working hard to bring back pride and glory for the corps. Lionel, Ernest, Andrew Lim, Sayampanathan, Daniel, Chris, Teck Jun, Gary, I hope you guys can do it, because for the most of the first semester I was the only one handling everything while the FAC team was gone.

And maybe then will you guys understand that having a junior leaning on your shoulder and having a junior talk to you about everyday life along the bus ride was as nice a feeling as hearing perfect stamps and precise marching.