PASSING IPPT Part 2

It's the time of the year where most of your male friends/colleague/hubby/bf/brother put on their green armour and headed back into camp to protect the country.

To say that we are there to make sure you can have a good night sleep is a little bit of a stretch as we all know these jobs belongs to the main body of the army.

Reservist or better known as In Camp Training (ICT) is there to waste our time. give us a break from work make sure we are ready when button pressed (figuratively. I doubt there's a real physical button, or do they really have one?) to defend our country.

One of the highlight of every ICT has to be IPPT. Thanks to the new system last year, I finally managed to pass my IPPT after 9 freaking years!

I was a little worried this year because I just came back from a rather long trip and before that I've been running (figurative as well) around, eating and eating thanks to Makan Bus, and I've totally messed up my regular gym sessions. I feel like I'm at my most unfit stage of 2016 and I've to face IPPT. >:-(

I was so worried that my heart was pumping so fast and my palm was actually sweating. You will have no pressure if you have no chance of passing but I actually think that I can pass but maybe bother line. So my friend actually found this calculator where you can set some goals for yourself so you can know where you stand.

Not sure which was the link he used but I found a similar site - http://myippt.com/run.php

So I set some targets and the timing I need to meet was as such.

15.40 seems attainable to be honest. The thing about doing IPPT during your ICT is that you have friends as support. As much as we don't really hangout during non-ict period but meeting these brothers in arms is always easy. We are always so comfortable and supportive and it feels like where we left off every time although we only meet once a year.

They were volunteering to pace me, cheering for me and counting out loud for me to let me know if I'm close to my target and make sure I get this right.

So I actually completed both my static stations with better results than my goal. My running time to meet was 15.50. If it was 10years ago I would tell you I can do it within 13mins easily but erm... It's Smith version 32 not 22 anymore.

So the guys were telling me that the tactic is to run fast for the 1st two rounds and rest next two and give it all I have for the last two.

I was standing at the starting point feeling all cold and worried. I saw this small guy, who erm.. happens to be my PC and he was aiming for a silver so I thought since I'm gonna go fast I might as well run after him with all I have.

3...2...1... BOOM! And here we go. I give it all I have. Chasing him like a cat chasing after a rat, a police after a thief and a housefly after a piece of shit.

Before I know it, I only took 1 min and 40 secs for my 1st lap. If you can do simple math, you will know how good my result would be after 6 rounds. But happy endings only happen in fairy tales (and some very happy KTV lounge). I soon felt this tightness on my calf and i was like "NOOOOOO.. Whatever is going to happen now, it ain't going to be me falling out and get a DNF!!"

I quickly slow (does this even make sense) myself down and look for another person to run after but with the very tight calf and the possibility of falling out, my chest starts to feel tight and I was panicing AF. No no no.. this is not happening.

I tried to distract myself a little. I start to think about the nice pizza from New York, DAMN! That's not working. Okay... I start to think about Anne Hathaway's naked scene in Love and other drugs where she flashes her tits (caught a rerun the other day) but that was probably the greatest mistake of my life since it's taking away all my blood. I started feeling breathless, but the good news was with all these random thoughts I'm already at my 5th lap.

The lap that I was given tip to give it all I have... I crossed the line and I saw my timing at around 9min something (or was it 10. Shag cannot think). I told myself "let's go big guy! you can do it!!" I open up my steps, pushed myself forward... Giving it all I have....

...for 5 steps and I was like "fuck fuck fuck... no no no.." I didn't really move any faster and instead I feel like I was going to roll on the ground.. LOL.

I struggled my 5th lap at almost walking pace and the thought of walking was so strong. "Take a walk Smith. You still have almost 6 mins. Even my grand mother can complete 2 laps in 6mins. Chill lah.. sure pass one." - That was Devil Smith talking to me in my head. I really wanted to start walking now but NO! I told myself I'm not going to give in.

At the final 300ms of my last lap, I seriously felt like I was going to faint... My vision was starting to blur up, I thought I saw my brother calling out to me. I thought I saw Jesus standing beside him. (Not sure if it was really him.) And soon I was snapped back into reality when I heard my friend calling out my name "Smith... REACHING ALREADY COMON!!!"

It was the guy who did nothing more than 5 push ups and he was ahead of me. And I was like "since when did he overtake me." Truth was, I've no idea who ran passed me at all through out the whole time. Everything was a blur to me. He started sprinting and ask me to catch up and I did a chase. Almost like the ones that happens almost every other day on LA's highway just without the helicopter. I open up my steps, close my eyes and gave a loud scream (which probably didn't help and only got me more tired) and dash my way pass the finishing line...

I saw my timing and the next thing I know I was actually on my fours trying to catch my breath...

THIS AIN'T FUN AT ALL!!!


And ladies and gentlemen, the result.

OMG! Instead of just passing, I actually got a pass with incentive!!! For the 1st freaking time in my life I'm getting some $$$!!!!

In case you are too lazy to click the previous link, this was my result from last year.

Not exactly a superb result or something to show off but I actually improved quite a bit for all 3 stations. 6 sit ups, 7 push ups and almost a min off my running and a total improvement of 11 pts! I think my yoga lessons at Hom Yoga  did work my core a lil to get that improvement.

I've no idea how but I've seen result slip showing like 60 standard push ups within 60 secs on Facebook which seems almost impossible to me.

Some of the guys were asking me if I've any tips for push ups which I did write about it last year as well but I guess nobody reads.. :( but benefit of those who asked, I will share again. (To give you a feel of this, the guys in my unit have result as poor as 4 pushups which ain't even standard to as many as 40ish as well.) I'm no expert but here's how I got my 48 reps.

I started doing it around 3yrs ago and I was at 5 reps as well but I started doing this daily.

2 x 5 in the morning before you head into the shower and head for work.
2 x 5 in the evening after work, before you head into the shower and have your dinner.

Remember, number ain't important for a start. What is important is doing it right, make sure you bend you arms and go down.

My aim was 100 a day which sounded a lot but I actually managed to get there rather quickly. Okay fine, it took me a few months.

2 x 25 morning and 2 x 25 at night. It's actually possible.

These days I will do (but not as consistent as daily, I slack off I know)

25, 35, 30, 10 (diamond)  in the morning and 25, 35, 30, 10 (Diamond) to clock 200 push ups a day.

The key to doing push ups is to keep doing push ups.

 Good luck to you guys and now I'm gonna work on my core more and aim for sliver!!!

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Open letter to #SibeiSianRecruit

Poor dude, overnight internet sensation. 

Dear #SibeiSianRecruit,

I am very sorry you feel so sian about entering National Service and I also do not know why our NS social media admin(Ya lah, always the admin's fault) decided to sabo you and post a picture of you looking like this. I am sure  (and hope) you have better pictures.

Maybe because you miss you long hair, your freedom, your girlfriend or maybe just DOTA, but let uncle Smith tell you something. Being in the army could probably be the best time of your life. And this is only possible if you choose to create a positive army experience like I did. Of course, there are things in the system that I do not agree with (and was really pissed) but trust me, the system in army might cause some pain here and there but it's not going to be any easier in life anyway. (Sorry I have to break this to you like this.)

It is not the easiest thing to adapt to considering how much freedom parents are giving kids these days but the fact is that life goes on and the choice is yours to make the best out of it. I mean I can't judge that you are really hating army just from 1 picture. For all we know you just really don't like broccoli or maybe your parents. (ok lah, maybe just the broccoli.)

I am not the brightest person in my camp and definitely not the fittest but I am proud to say I am probably one of the most positive guy in there. I was the "yes-guy" during my BMT and people call me the motivator. I always see the best in the worst situations. Yes, signing 1 extra duty is better than 2. Signing 2 duties is better than going DB. You get my idea.

Besides trying very hard to look for something positive during this 2years, I am going to share with you some real deal benefits of army and why I loved my army days!

1. The Camaraderie

The show that really represent Singapore's army life. Not the other one that got milked jialat jialat.

When was the last time and next time that you can spend so much time with a group of guys? (I know I prefer ladies but..) Looking out of each other, watching each other's back, doing things together, having fun, and getting into trouble as a team? These guys will be your family. You practically eat, sleep, shit with them and spend more time with them than your parents and even girlfriend. There might be some people you hate or you do not agree but end of the day they make very good stories. 

"Remember the sabo king?" "Remember the guy who never ever showers?" 

I remember how much time we spent pranking each other. From faking ghost, wrestling, birthday bashes, and my favorite has to be the condom prank we pulled on one of the guys. Erm, no we didn't poke holes in his condoms but that's another story for another time. And yes, these stories are stories you bring with you for the rest of your life when you meet you people. 

2. It is Your Last Chance to Screw-up 

It is literally your last chance to screw up anything and it will not haunt you for the rest of your life. You can get fired at work if you screw it up, you can fail your degree if you screw up but being in army is the best time to learn by screwing things up. What's the worst that can happen to you? Sign extra? Okay, I mean unless you decides to misfire a weapon into your bunkmate or steal a rifle out of camp. Then, that is on your own. Other than that the army is actually very forgiving, all you have to do it learn how to manage people by eating the humble pie. 2yrs to screw things up? WHY NOT?

"Sorry sir, it is my fault. I drop 20." - ok, forgiven. If only your wife/gf forgives you that easy! #PayWithPushup 

3. Change of Lifestyle

Enough of overnight gaming, getting wasted by drinks, and not able to complete any exercises. Army enforces teaches you what is discipline especially for teenagers like you or me(back then lah). Before army, I never slept until it was 4am and I couldn't even finish jogging 2.4km. I ate what I could find, I ate dirty food like it was ok, I drank till my liver wanted to divorce me(some people pick up drinking in the army but...), and I never stick to any of plans. Army set things straight for you. I had such good skin from the proper hours of bed time, the mandatory amount of water we are made to drink and of course, not only did I completed my 2.4km but I even went on to complete 21km half marathons. 

We all know this might go downhill there after when you step right back into the society and start to work but at least you had a foundation from there on and it is not that hard to get back if you decide to one day as compared to starting from nothing. 

4. Know the Country Better 

Freaking old picture of myself. LOL

I am not the most well-read person, I can't name every ministers of our cabinet, I am not the most patriotic person (although I do love national day parades) but at the end of the day, no matter what happened the country belongs to us. Our country doesn't belongs to the first order gahment but it belongs to the people, us. You might not know politics politics when in the army but you will know our defense better and even somethings that people doesn't? (but don't go around telling people things if you are from classified unit lah!) 

You know how shameful it can be when you travel and meet people around the world and when asked about the country and you know almost nothing about it? It is funny how I feel like I've met people from around the world and they pay a lot more attention to their own country's happening as compared to us? But not bad hor, MOE doing something about it. You know, I didn't have proper social studies lessons when I was back in Secondary school! booooo (And also tell you how old I actually am)

5. From ah boys to men - Responsibility 

I hate the title I used here but it is true. The responsibility place on our hands are more than what you think. You might complain that you are just a cheap labour but you have no idea how much money gahment has spent on you. (Actually you can find out easily on how much SAF spends on training) You are given weapons that can kill your bunkmates or CSM (whom you really hate) and this is the kind of responsibility and trust placed on you that you might not see. We all learn to be a bit more responsible as we grow older, some learnt it earlier while others later but I must say many boys mature during their army days. Yes, boys will always be boys, we still play games, have fun and monkey around at every age but having fun doesn't make you immature, the lack of sense of responsibility does. 

Above all, you are given the duty to protect the country. Many was not ashamed to say that if there's a war they will run away when I was in the army. I always tell them that the worst feeling is being helpless when you can't help or take care of someone when you want to. So why give away this privilege to kill the enemies defend the country when the time comes. Can you imagine leaving the responsibility onto other's hand and they fail? The pain, the regret, and the agony when you know the enemies will takeaway our lives, our people, our land, and the real freedom that you wanted so much? Freedom is not about able to play DOTA till 4am, freedom is when you know at 1am, your mother, your sister, your wife, and daughter can come home safely. Freedom is when you can sleep at night. 

6. Experience Money Can't Buy 

You know how people always talked about experience > material? Why they rather spend money traveling, looking for new experiences, and do things they have never done? Guess what? The army experience is one thing money can't buy. Route march, field camp, eating combat ration, cooking maggie me in heavy rain in your smelly mess tin, taking a dump in open air, shooting a M16, falling asleep in your number 4 almost everywhere, exercise in Thailand, Taiwan, Brunei, and the list goes on. This might be 2yrs of your life that you seem wasted because the girls will have it earlier than you in terms of school or career but trust me, this is the 2yrs that you find it well spent on hindsight if you spend it well, of course. 

This 2yrs is as good as $500 that hypothetically I am going to give you. You can spend it on a good experience or you can choose to buy 200 plates of chicken rice just because you can. My point is that there's only so much people can give you but it is your choice to make the decision and make the best out of it.   

Question: Why you didn't sign-on and be army regular if you like army so much? 

While I really loved the 2yrs of my time in the army but I believe that given my attitude the army ain't the best place for me to do what I do best. I am not saying that army is for everyone and everyone should be in the army forever but my point is that since everyone has to be part of the army. for at least 2yrs, let us make the best out of it. 

Just like how everyone has been trolling this picture and I might as well make the best out of it since it is already uploaded. 

shoot me lor. I don't care.

All the best #SibeiSianRecruit, 

Your Truly,

#SibeiPreachyNSMan 

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Passing IPPT!

All hail the new IPPT SYSTEM! It has been 9 years since I last passed my IPPT!

Basically if you are reading from overseas, IPPT is this physical fitness test that has been a pain in the ass for many healthy male adults in Singapore.

Some choose to escape it by faking injuries etc and from that you can sense how painful it is.

As for me, I have been a regular to this thing known as the IPT and RT training where, you know, failures like just attend to get ourselves into shape for a few months in our life at camp after working hours. It is a very painful process.

The system was flawed in a way where the organization expects every solider of different functionality to be physically as fit as everyone else. Thus, they had a system where everyone need to pass every station (out of 6). In another words, failing in any single station and excel in another doesn't take the cut for IPPT.

BOOOOOOO!! (Image from mothership.sg)

Thanks to some genius, (unsung hero) the IPPT system was revamped earlier this year where there are 2 static stations and 1 running station. The scoring system is flexible meaning to say you are allowed to excel in one, and almost be bad and one and all you had to do is to pass the overall bottomline score.

And guess what?

I FUCKING PASS IT! Just because I pass it doesn't means I'm some fitness instructor and will give you a post on "5 ways to aces IPPT as an NS Men" but I do wanna share a simple tip with everyone and that is to abuse the system for it is. Like what I did was simply to practice a lot of push ups, get a good score for that and as you can see, my other two station was really borderline passes and nothing to be proud of.

I like to train push ups because you can do it anywhere and anytime and it's a very short exercise as compared to 2.4km run which makes you sweaty and all. As for sit up you need someone to hold you down or a proper whatever you call it to hold you.

I started training Push ups under the influence of my business partner/boss where he told me to just do it on a daily basis and if you can't do it, do the supported/"girl" push up. I started doing this almost 1 yr ago and I started with 1 set of 5. That was how bad I was 1 yr ago but I did it (almost) everyday and night. Sometimes even at work where I will do it before lunch. The trick is to do proper pushups where you do all the way down and come up slowly. During training, number is not the factor here. What matters is doing it right. Very quickly I am doing more than 100 each day accumulated. You can do 2 x 25 sets in the morning before you shower for work and 2 x 25 sets before shower after a day of work and that is already 100. Yes, showers are very important so you do not stink up the train.

Anyway now I have to keep it up and this ain't gonna be easy but I will try!

Here's a "world record of push ups". Guess how many did he do?



Answer: 0

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4 Reasons Why I love my No.4

"Training to be soldier

Fight for our land

Once in our lives

2 years of our time

Have you ever wondered?

Why must we serve?

Because we love our land  " 

I can't call myself the most patriotic person but if you are looking for a guy that have something good to say about his life in the army, I will tell you I am your man. I did try my best to get into command school which I didn't manage to because of my not-so-strong physique. I got myself posted to school of Signal and became a signaler and later spent my active days in the army as a signaler. I must say that those days are one of the most interesting and fun days of my life. You can't find another chance to stay in a room with 9 other men doing silly things together the country proud.  

Although there's a lot of things in the Army that I believe we can see significant improvement but there's one thing I have to give it to SAF and that is our beloved SAF No.4. 

CPL Leong in his SAF No.4

And here's 4 reasons why I love my no.4!! 


1. It is WRINKLE FREE 

Image: http://shirtoid.com/13171/ironing-man/

For friends who knows me well enough knows that I do a lot of house hold chore from cleaning to mopping to cooking (i try) but ironing is really one of those things that I really really really hate. Like I always tell people "If I iron a shirt to meet you, you must be someone important to me." So yeah, no.4 need no ironing to make you look smart at all. Unless we are talking about parade standard. 

2. It is the most comfortable (Pyjamas) 

Not as sexy but okay. 

If you have served the army before, you will know how magical no.4 is when it comes to making you sleep. It makes one able to sleep anytime, anywhere and in any weather condition. It will make cold days feel warm and hot day feel cooling. This is really a state of the art technology. I have friends who bring them overseas as pyjamas when he was studying aboard. #TrueStory

3. POCKETS POCKETS POCKETS!! 

Do you know how many pockets are there on our no.4? Not 1, not 2, not 3,4,5,6 but 10 in total. 4 on our top and 6 on our pants. You have no clue how convenient that is and it's not even ugly or make you look stupid. Can you imagine your how ugly will your shirt or pants be if there's 10 pockets?

So how do we usually use these pockets?

1. Left Side Pants Pocket - Jockey Cap 
2. Right Side Pants Pocket - Power Bank 
3. Right Ass Pants Pocket - Wallet 
4. Left Ass Pants Pocket - Empty 
5. Right Pants Pocket - Handphone
6. Left Pants Pocket - Bunk Keys
7. Left Chest Pocket - Black Note Book + Pen
8. Right Chest Pocket - Empty 
9. Bottom Left Shirt Pocket - 11B (For easy scanning at Cook House) 
10. Bottom Right Shirt Pocket - Car Keys 

See! We practically kept more things on our body over a woman's clutch.

Image: http://handbagdujour.com/

I suspect all they keep is their handphone and condoms. Not even trojan magnum. Only okamoto i think. (If you get what I mean)

4. You don't have to wash it daily 

Okay, to be honest, some people smells really bad in their sweaty no.4 but generally you do not need to have 5 sets of no.4 just for 1 week of activity in camp. The golden rule is 1 set for office and admin work and 1 set for anything dirty. So basically we rotate two sets of no.4 uniforms. We just air it or febreze it. It's that simple. Try that with your usual work clothes and you might just get fired for that.

There you have it, that's the 4 reasons why I love my no.4. For those who are unfamiliar, basically why it is known as the number 4 is simply because it is a numbering system of uniform. Instead of calling it the "green one" or the "office shirt", we do it with a numbering system. I was trying to find the different uniform but i guess it's not properly uploaded thus I didn't managed to find it off google but I remember reading it off pioneer magazine before.

Anyway, since I am away for reservist you probably gonna see less of me online. Not sure if that's good news for you but here's a music to keep you entertained while I'm away. (Also, totally doing it under the influence of my #BBFF behindtheback BehindTheBasics - Jac.)

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National Geographic Channel Singapore Publicity Stunt Fail.

Image from NGCSingapore Facebook Page

Saw this picture on my Facebook and this picture immediately caught my attention but probably for the wrong reason.

I believe this is part of the publicity stunt to show case their upcoming show Every Singaporean Son.

For those who are unfamiliar, this is the 2nd season after the popular 1st season. And before anyone complains that they are nothing but copycat of ABTM, this awesome online show came first.

But anyway, back to the point, so the stunt allows public to command a platoon of "soldiers" at our CBD area. How is it? Publicity check but are we happy? NO.

Within an hours this was posted on Yahoo, hundreds of comments and shares were generated but apparently none positive.

So on top of the fact that the most of our soldiers already don't take pride of army(base on personnel experience in camp.)  did this publicity stunt just made things worst?

Pride and glory aside, are we even allowed to use Property of SAF for such "showmanship"? And I remember my Encik telling me we can't even book out in "Vest Slack" cause it is not a proper Army uniform like our "Long 4" which is the green camo with long sleeves. Are SAF aware of this publicity stunt?

Mr.Smith, I hate doing IPPT but I will always say the same, I love my army days and this shit is just... SHIT.

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Bedok Camp RT Color Tag Review.

Being an "active NSmen", doing my part for Singapore's defence is my 2nd nature. To give other service men better understanding of our army system is out of my call of duty but it is my honour to bring you more information.

It seems to me that the article about Female PTI has answered quite a bit of questions to many member of the public as well as fella soldiers.

In this article, I am sharing more information about RT and specifically the color tags. For many of the noobies, the color tag selection can be quite stressful. You do not wish to get a color tag that kills you during the training and neither do you want to get a tag take ask you to take a walk in the park. (It's a metaphor.)

So technically there are 4 colors to choose from: Red, Blue, Orange and Green. So which to take?

All names and content above are just for laugh. So take it with a pitch of salt ya?

Anyway, jokes aside, the basic logic about RT is to help you to pass your IPPT, frankly speaking, if we could pass the test easily why would we want to come for RT?

Personally I used to be able to pass my IPPT during active days. Not only because I had more time to practice or had a healthier diet but also because of the community. The people in the camp that motivates you and doing it together. All thanks to my injury shortly after my ORD, most of my fitness was lost during that period. I am trying to catch up again now but it's easier said than done after a good 8 years.

Mr.Smith, Happy RT-ing!

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Female PTI (Fitness Trainer - FT) during RT and IPT.

It's TRUE! It has come true, like many people who like to feedback to SAF about having female PTI (Physical Training Instructor) is a type of motivation, it has come true!

But they are now known as FT, not foreign talent but Fitness Trainer.

Photo from Facebook wall.

Nope, they ain't that kinda hot. It would be mean for me to say they are ugly and also it's not true but they ain't exactly hot like those girls you see above or on instagram.

Not too sure how many of you guys find it motivating but I call it a lil depressing seeing a woman doing chin ups and teaching you what to do while you sweat and suffer like a cry baby. The only time I want a woman to teach me what to do is when on bed. Call me a MCP but I just don't like the idea of being commanded by a woman for PT training. Especially when some of them are showing skyhigh ego thinking they are there and they are better than man. (Which in this case, they actually are and that is very god damn sad.) But again, I am not saying all of them are like that. I actually had quite a good experience with a female FT. She is nice, a little too nice, some of the guys were like teasing her throughout the whole training but I guess woman being woman will appreciate such attention. No?

So who are they? According to source, SAF actually sub contracted this part of the business to Cisco. So they are Ciscos fitness trainers. So now we no longer have NSF PTIs and instead we have commercial female fitness instructors from Cisco.

Is that good or bad? You decide for yourself.

Mr.Smith, faster! faster! faster! That's what she said.

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Dear SAF, My IPPT Manifesto.

Dear SAF, 

It is every guy's duty in Singapore to serve the nation and be part of our defense force.(*well, do not correct me just yet, yes we do know there are some do kind of "escape" it in one way or the other but this is not the whole idea about this article. cough*) While many pre-army boys will tell you how much they hate the idea about going into army and waste the 2yrs, we the re-service guys will tell you that the 2 years of army is nothing as compared to the agony you will be going through later part of your life. Some until late 30s and some until 40s. The four scary letters - IPPT. 

In fact many agree when it comes to comparing IPPT and ICT(In camp training/Re-service), ICT are awesome as you go back to catch up with our friends as well as update ourselves on our defense system and it somehow gives us some time away from our work and wives and just back in camp to gather with some "brothers" but IPPT on the other hand can be really painful. When you spent 10hours a day in front of the desk working and many other commitment at home, it's really difficult to get time to train yourself to be SAF certified physically fit. 

IS THAT SO? Or is that not so? Frankly speaking, not training is an excuse, being busy is an excuse too so what is the problem? IPPT has never been my best friend and in fact it has always been a pain in my ass but I manage to clear both my window while I was an active soldier, in fact I was so close to getting an IPPT silver for the 1st time in my life. Than what went wrong? Or rather what went right during those days? I ran 5 days a week(at least 5km and average above 10km), I do PT trainings at least 3 days a week, I was 10 yrs younger, I do other physical training and i ate a very healthy meals which was provided by SFI. On top of that, I sleep more than 10hours a day. Seriously, what is the chance of me having such life after that? Will I be anywhere close if I put in half the effort? I guess we pretty much know the answer.

To me, the goal set by SAF to pass my IPPT is, well I wouldn't say impossible but I would say it is not SMART. As many motivation speakers would have taught you by now, by setting a SMART goal it simply means setting a goal which is 

Of course, the goal set by SAF to me is considered as not attainable nor is it realistic to me at this point of my life. Did I try? Hell yeah I did. During my first year of ORD I tried my best to maintain my shape but to no avail I did not manage to pass 1 of the station which was my weakest through out my army life - chin up and Standing Board Jump.In fact I tried so hard I have slight injuries over my shoulder and knees over the years. 

The whole idea about IPPT is in such a format that once we fail 1 subject, we fail the whole test. If given anyone who fail a single station, what are the chances of that person doing their best for all the rest of the stations? The game is simple, putting it in a very singlish way" fail 1 also fail, fail 5 also fail, what is the difference? f*ck it lah." 

Probably they might be saying,"comon Smith, you are not a quitter, you should fight on and be stronger! Be better and improve!"

I am saying"Bitch please, I tried, i fought, i lost and there are some battles we just have to give cause we know we can't win." 

From the point of view of an obese soldier who had never complete a single 2.4km run before army till completing a half marathon of 21km,I dare to say I pretty much know how it feels to be both fit and unfit as well as unmotivated and motivated at the same time. I am saying that it is not impossible to motivate(us) people to get fit again but it is about setting Attainable and Realistic goals. That is the key to sports motivation. It is not always about the incentive about $100 or $200, in fact emotional incentive is way more awesome than monetary incentive. When people feel good about themselves and they feel like they are top of the world and nothing, I say NOTHING beats that feeling. 

No, do not get me wrong. I am not saying that we should lower any standard of IPPT. I am talking about something which I have talked about before on my blog previously. I did some paraphrasing while talking to a friend.

"every soldier has got their different capability and so does our vocation need us in different ways. Not all soldiers are suppose to be the same, not mentaliy, not physically.. why not we implement an ippt system that give u 6 station choose 4. And on top of that make 2.4km as compulsory since all soldiers need to run."

In fact, I did write in this suggestion to the PTI at my camp during my previous session of IPT lessons 2 windows ago but apparently there wasn't any followup on this suggestions. I have talked to many and shared this idea with many and we see more pros than cons in this situation. Solder can choose the station they are better at, they will be more motivated to try and pass the stations they are better at and even for the scholars up there, they can show a better KPI of a higher % of passes in IPPT.

I am not writing this article because I am stuck down in the rabbit hole with eternal years of RT or IPT that I wish to escape. I am writing this article because I hope someone will actually read and look into our system again. Let's not fall into a typical scene of "The Broken Window Theory" and succumb to conformity. I believe that everyone has a part to play in improving a system considering the fact that we ARE all part of the system.  

I sincerely hope someone will pick this up. Maybe not this year, maybe not next but at least sometime down the road. 

Yours Sincerely,

IPPT Woes. 

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