The News
Platoon mate Eric burst into my bunk. �Have you heard the bad news?�
�What news?� I asked, expecting news such as an upcoming training to burn our precious weekend.
�Lieutenant Soo is dead."
"WHAT?" I asked, expecting him to say he was only kidding.
But he wasn't. "He was driving the 3-tonner during training . . . an accident . . . . Lieutenant Ong sitting next to him . . . injured.�
I was shocked. We often heard news of injuries, but death was a different matter. True, we had also heard of deaths of fellow commandos. That wasn�t unexpected because of our hazardous training, but this was the first time we faced a death of someone intimately involved with us. He was, after all, our Lieutenant, not that of another company three blocks away.
Who was Lieutenant Soo?
Actually, Lieutenant Soo wasn�t a commando, nor was he even in our commando unit. He was a signals officer from the School of Signals. A few months ago, he had been in charge of a batch of trainees that included a group from our commando unit.
We commandos were cross-trained. All were trained in signaling, medic, demolition, weapons etc. But each had his own specialty. Mine was signaling. So a group of us trainee commando signalers were attached to the School of Signals for a nine-week course.
We were delighted and relieved to be out of our parent (commando) unit for a while. No commando training during this period. What more could we ask? We looked forward to the attachment as a semi-holiday, but the school of signals had other ideas.
Rightly or wrongly, we commandos had a reputation (or stereotype) for being pugnacious and unruly. To keep us under control or some semblance of control, they chose their sternest officer to be in charge of us. Entered the uncompromising Lieutenant Soo. Trainees, commandos as well as the others, resented him.
But I had great respect for him. One of his deeds made me appreciate him although that very same deed made others resent him even more.
Interview with Lieutenant Soo
Each of us had a routine interview with him. My turn came. Sitting across his office table, I noticed that he towered over me. He was a big man with broad shoulders. His size was intimidating, especially when he was cross. He once berated a trainee, lifting the trainee by the collars which left the unfortunate soul in tears. (This trainee was not a commando trainee. He was from another unit.)
But here with me, he was now the gentle officer. He greeted me warmly. There was no hint at all that this same officer had left a trainee in tears. I told him about the relative lack of physical exercise in the signals course. Though we enjoyed such luxury, we would suffer upon return to our commando unit. He assured me he understood.
I also talked about my lower back problem and my anxiety caused by having to carry the heavy signal set. My injury was hard to prove. For example, X-rays failed to reveal my slipped disks. Slipped disks aren't bones that can be photographed by X-rays but are made of a soft jelly-like substance. Instead of accusing me of being a faker as some of my commando instructors had done, he said he understood. He told me that one of his friends was also genuinely injured, but medical tests couldn't prove it. The injury was real nonetheless. Though strict, he was an understanding officer with a listening ear. He�d earned my respect.
The Punishment
The following incident made me appreciate him even more. It happened a few days after the interview. He announced a barracks inspection. Untill then, we never had barracks inspection, so this news was a surprise. Nobody liked barracks inspection. Everyone grumbled.
During the inspection, he found faults (of course). Our toothpastes were not placed in a standardized manner, or the floor had a few atoms of dirt. He punished us with exercises from sit-ups to push-ups again and again. There were two bunkrooms. He punished each room alternately. Once, he left for the other room. We were left exhausted in the push-ups position. I heard murmurs, curses and swearing. We didn't expect such hard physical training in this school. After all, we commando trainees had expected a holiday.
Resentment was welling up in me too. But then I remembered my interview with him: I felt there was a connection. He was giving us our much-needed physical training as I had requested (apologies to the non-commando trainees). The room inspection was merely a pretext to give us exercise. From then on I endured the punishment ever gladly, knowing it was for our own good.
At the Funeral
At his funeral, one of his corporals, who was one of our signals instructors, told us something I hadn't known before. He said Lieutenant Soo was a trusting person who believed in honor. For example, when a trainee was on medical leave, military orders required that he be home. Once, the corporal suggested that Soo call a trainee�s home to check, but Lieutenant Soo refused. He preferred to let the trainee rest rather than be interrupted by a phone call from his prowling and suspicious officer. Such trusting quality was rare in the army where the norm was a cat-and-mouse game of hide-and-seek.
As I sat at the table at the funeral, I saw Lieutenant Ong sitting at another table. His head was heavily bandaged; he looked dazed. There was none of his usual cheerful and lustrous self. He had lost a close friend in Lieutenant Soo. At the same table was Lieutenant Soo's inconsolable girlfriend crying without ceasing.
We had lost an officer who had been kind to us. The Singapore Army had lost a competent but compassionate officer. It was rare to have these qualities in the same officer. He was truly an officer and a gentleman. I was back at my commando unit when he died, but I would never forget him.
The punishment that Lieutenant Soo meted out reminded me of the ways God dealt with us. What God did to us may seem mean at that time, and our initial reaction was to feel bitter. But He had a perfectly good reason for why He did certain things, which we may be unaware of during times of pain. Instead of being grateful, we were like the trainees who swore and cursed.
One bright note to end this tribute � Lieutenant Soo accepted Jesus Christ before he departed. He is now in Heaven in the company of the compassionate God he modeled after. |
