It’s been quite a while since I enlisted and I’ve since moved on from being a recruit on the island known to us as Pulau Tekong. I’ve only been here for a week and so far it seems a much nicer place. They give you more freedom. In spite of this however, we are all still essentially trainees and there are many things we’re not allowed to do. Of these restrictions, one of them is not being allowed to eat the cut fruit. Let me explain further.
In our new cookhouse we are no longer given fruits by the aunties or uncles behind the counter. Instead, we collect our fruits from this fridge in the cookhouse. I like this new system because it means we get chilled fruits! It also means we don’t have to collect the fruit and waste food if we run out of time to eat it. Most of the time the fridge is stocked with pears, oranges and plates of cut fruit. It’s too much of a bother to eat oranges without a knife (and enough time). We’re not allowed to touch the plates of cut fruit neatly wrapped in foil wrap either. There’s a label on the fridge stating the “cutted” fruit is only for warrant officers. This usually means I end up eating the pears. Everyday I walk past the fridge and take a pear. 6 days of eating pear however can have adverse effects.
I noticed it most clearly when I booked out this weekend. Being out of camp, I was able to turn up for this lunch buffet with my family. As I walked past the fruit table, I felt this sudden compulsion to eat fruits and ended up collecting a plate of cut papayas and oranges. It was fun, almost exciting, getting to eat what the warrant officers get to eat everyday. Odd, what army does to you.
Cheers everyone. Here’s to hoping all of us get to eat cut fruits next weekend.
