I enlisted on July 4, 2023. America’s birthday.
It sounded funny when I first said it out loud. There was something almost absurd about beginning National Service on a date that most people associate with fireworks, barbecues, and a completely different country’s history. But the joke ended there. What followed was one of the hardest, most formative chapters of my life.
|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|| Singapore || Armed Forces ||______________| \ O O / \ -- / \____/When I look back on my time in the Singapore Armed Forces, I do not remember it as one clean leadership story. I remember it in stages. First came enlistment and the shock of stepping into a completely different life. Then came BMT, which felt harder than I expected in both body and mind. After that came OCS, where the pressure became less about enduring personally and more about growing into responsibility. Finally came the part that changed me the most: leading men and realizing that leadership only becomes real when other people begin to depend on you.
I originally wrote this as one long reflection, but the experience itself did not happen as one flat block of meaning. It unfolded in distinct chapters, each one teaching me something different. So I wanted this post to follow that shape too.
The four stages of the journey
1. Enlisting on July 4, 2023
The beginning was surreal before it became difficult. The date made for an easy joke, but the actual feeling of enlistment was much heavier: leaving comfort behind, stepping into uncertainty, and realizing that the next two years would ask something serious from me.
2. What BMT felt like
BMT was where the reality of SAF hit hardest. It was physically exhausting, mentally draining, and uncomfortable in a way that is difficult to explain unless you have lived through the adjustment yourself. It taught me less about looking strong and more about not giving up when I felt weak.
3. OCS and a higher standard
OCS did not make things easier. It raised the standard. The challenge became less about surviving the day and more about whether I could carry responsibility, think clearly under pressure, and grow into the kind of person others could rely on.
4. When leadership became real
The deepest part of the journey came when the focus shifted from my own hardship to the people I was responsible for. Leading men taught me that leadership is not about rank or image. It is about steadiness, care, trust, and responsibility.
Why I wanted to write it this way
The SAF chapter changed me, but not in one dramatic instant. It did it gradually, by breaking the experience into stages that each forced something different out of me. Enlistment taught me that a major life transition can feel strange and heavy at the same time. BMT taught me how uncomfortable growth can be. OCS taught me that responsibility sharpens a person. Leading men taught me that leadership becomes real only when it is no longer about you.
If you want the full story, the four stage posts below are the real reflection.