5th Day of ICT

Today is my fifth day of ICT. Something unpleasant happened today. I shall not mention it. Anyway, I managed to complete my first round of my study for my professional knowledge examination. I need to answer over a hundred questions in that examination. I drank coffee to keep myself awake while fighting the Z-monster(if you know what it is). I lost a few battles though. :P

Yesterday, I got back my result for my blood test. I am a little high in cholesterol and in the bad cholesterol. There are basically two types of cholesterol - one good and the other bad. The doctor advised me to cut down on my consumption of fried and oily food. Also, I would need to exercise regularly.

Second Day of ICT

Today is my second day of my ICT (In-Camp-Training).

Yesterday, I was at the cookhouse having my lunch when my junior waved at me. She literally waved her hand in front of me! I was surprised to see her looking so much different from the last time I met her. Someone told me that it was because she had given birth to two kids.

Today, I only studied a bit for my Professional Knowledge Examination. Luckily, they put the exam date on next Thursday. I still have some time to study. My IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test) date is next Friday. I have not been running although I have always walked up the stairs to my tuition centre. I hope that helps. :D

There was a blood donation drive in my camp today but I did not go for it. I was still having my phobia since the last needle went through my skin! Tomorrow, I will be reporting to another camp in Lim Chu Kang.

An Adventure to the Medical Centre!

I wanted to blog about my "adventure" to medical centre yesterday, but I was too busy to do it. Let me show you two pictures of my poor arms with plasters. I have not taken any pictures after taking off the plasters. Maybe next time when I blog.

Yesterday morning, I went down to my army camp for my medical appointment. It was my FFI for IPPT. I cannot remember what 'FFI' stands for, but I do remember 'IPPT' stands for Individual Physical Proficiency Test, similar to NAPFA test in schools.

My appointment was supposed to be 8am but I did tell the sergeant who booked the appointment on my behalf that I could only reach there around 9am. He said it was alright. Anyway, I reached the guard room slightly after 8.30am. I exchanged my identity card for a security pass to enter the camp. Also, I requested for a locker to keep my mobile phone which had a camera function. Camera phones are not allowed into all army camps and installations. I got the lucky 13 locker. The locker number was '13'. So lucky! I remembered my security pass number was 260.

So much for the numbers. I drove into the camp and parked near the medical centre. I entered the centre and registered myself at the registration counter. The place was smelt of a scent which you could find in any hospital.

Anyway, after I registered my name with the counter, I was told to wait at the waiting area outside the treatment room and the consultation room. I was given the registration form, but I realised there was no queue number written on it. There was no one else there, so I expected to have my turn very soon. A minute later, a high-ranking officer (LTC) came and sat at the waiting area too. He was quickly shown into the treatment room. Very efficient of them. After he left, I was still waiting for my turn and watching the news on the television. Then, I saw a number flashing outside the treatment room. The number was '505'. It looked so familiar. I looked around me. There was no one around except me. I was wondering if the number was for me. The same number flashed. Was it for me? Just as I was still wondering, a medic in uniform walked towards me and asked for my name. It was my turn! I was told that the last three digits of identity card number would be flashed as the queue number.

After I entered the treatment room, I sat down and the medic proceeded to draw blood from my right master arm. He followed some procedure to locate the blood veins in my right arm. Finally, he got ready the syringe, which was quite big, to draw blood. I was a little scared of the needle as it was quite long. He poked the needle through my arm and tried to draw the blood, but no blood went into the syringe. He tried to move the needle around (Mind you, the needle was still under the skin of my arm). After a few attempts of trying to "poke" the vein, he gave up and a medic sergeant took over from him. He tried, with no avail, on my left arm and later my right arm to draw the blood. The medic sergeant asked me whether I was afraid of needles. I was thinking who weren't be afraid after three needles went through the skin! I put up a brave front and replied that I was a little 'scared'. After that last attempt, my two arms were already punctured with three 'holes'. Blood was oozing from the 'wounds' on my arms. The two medics then decided to call the doctor for assistance. The doctor was attending to a patient in the consultation room next door. We waited for about ten minutes before the doctor came.

Dr Chia, I remembered, was 'more professional', obviously. Initially, the medic wanted to use 'vacutainer' to draw the blood. The 'vacutainer' seemed to be a better and sure way of drawing blood. It makes use of 'vacuum' in the container to draw the blood. The doctor chose the syringe instead. He was quick to find the blood veins and drew the required amount of blood in no time.

Foreign Workers

Yesterday, I had three new "students" from Myanmar and Indian. Actually, the two Myanmar students I had came last week. I understood from them that they actually paid their agent(who brought them to Singapore) a sum of $4000. I think that includes their air tickets to Singapore. The other Indian man, in his twenties, came only two days ago.I found out from him that he paid $6500 to his agent for the trip to Singapore. That was a lot more than that of Myanmar's. Two years ago, another Indian man said he paid $4000 to his agent for the trip to Singapore. I guess the price has gone up.

Through the conversations, I learned more about them and their countries. Anyway, Kyaw Moe and Aung, who were from Myanmar, were working as shoemaker and dentist respectively. Kyaw Moe was 33 year-old while Aung was only 24 year-old. Kyaw Moe had just married for only 4 days before he left his country for Singapore. Aung, on the other hand, was married with a year-old daughter. They were not earning much in their country. Aung was previously working as a dentist in a government hospital and earning about S$100 a month. Leaving their country and families, they came to seek better job with better pay. I heard from them that they will get about $34 a day if they work for at least 4 hours in a day. If not, they will be paid $4 an hour. They will not be paid if they do not work.

The new Indian man, Rajeshkannan, intended to work for two years before going back to his country to get married. Two others, Bala and Muthu, who has worked between 2 to 7 years, are getting married next year. Bala and another Indian worker, Raja, have just gotten their Permanent Resident(PR) status. That means they do not need to apply for work permit to work in Singapore.

I guess life in Singapore is not as easy as they think. Though they are earning more money than what they would get in their own countries, they are 'separated' from their families and children. Some are seeking a better place to settle down after they get their PR. I understand from them that one has to work for at least 2 years to apply.