Regimentation and discipline are two key takeaways from BMT.
From your drills to water parades, it’s one command one action for everything in Tekong.
Commands
Commands will be used frequently in your NS life as they are necessary whenever you march off to somewhere, be it to breakfast, lunch, dinner, PT etc.
The good thing is that you will only hear the same few commands everytime and these commands are compiled in the list below.
Malay // English
ke // to
dari // kiri
kanan // right
kiri // left
keblakang // reverse
pusing // turn
sedia // attention
senang diri // at ease
rehaktan diri // stand easy
March off
begerak kekanan bertiga tiga, kekanan pusing // move to your right, three by three, turn right
(substitute where necessary. you always do everything in threes)
diam // stop moving completely
(use before greeting)
dari kiri, cepat jalan // from the left, march quick
(it’s from the left if you are on the left of the contingent. substitute where necessary.)
berhenti // stop
(“ti” is on the left leg beat if you are marching, on the right leg beat if you are hentak kaki-ing)
hentak kaki // march on the spot
(arms stop swinging, straight down, and legs bend ninety degrees when you raise them up)
maju // move forward
(“ju” is on the right leg beat, then you act like a berhenti followed immediately by marching off)
As you will have noticed on diam, you are expected to greet your commanders. Salute only commissioned officers – their ranks are straight bars, while specialists have chevrons, the arrow thing. Shout “XXX diam” where XXX is the relevant unit (“platoon” if you are greeting platoon commander, “company” if you are greeting your officer commanding, etc.).
Songs
Knowing how to sing army songs is a valued skill, especially if you want to stand out and be a “company/platoon best recruit”.
I’ve compiled a list of Army songs here.
Water Parades
Another key part of Army, water is essential for all the sweat from your intense trainings. Water parades are thus implemented to ensure every recruit drinks 500ml straight before every strenuous activity.
Every recruit has to recite the SAF Core Values before each drink-up, in the following format:
“The SAF Eight Core Values are:
Loyalty to Country;
Leadership;
Discipline;
Professionalism;
Fighting Spirit;
Ethics;
Care for Soldiers
Safety!”