The Ridiculousnes of Army Bureacracy
I just received an email from my parents that has really upset me. Apparently my Unit in the army has sent me a bill for items that I was responsible for misplacing in April 2003 when I was still an NSF and they are requesting that I pay up $160 immediately. Needless to say, I am very angry at this and find this utterly totally ridiculous to say the least. It seems that the army just cannot let go, you are liable to stand accused of anything any number of years after you have left. It's like a ghost perpetually haunting you.
In the first place, it has been two and a half years since I have left the army, which is a very long time. The letter stated that I have to pay up the sum within 14 days of receipt of the notice, which is ludicrous considering that I am officially deferred from the army due to me studying overseas. How can I meet the deadline when I am not even in Singapore? Even with my parents forwarding the letter to me, it will be at least a week before I even receive the letter here in the UK.
More ridiculous still is the very fact that they only stated a date and claimed that I am responsible for the lost items. They never explained how they were lost, why I was responsible, whether there was an officer in charge, whether there was an investigation launched into how the items went missing and so on. It may seem quite ridiculous but these are procedures that you must follow within the army. They can't seriously expect me to receive a letter in that manner and meekly lie down and accept culpability? In fact, that probably is what they are expecting, and one of the big problems within the army. It is like an oblique abuse of power. You must do X or else...... and that is good enough for most people. They cave in like a house of cards. Sadly, I won't give them that satisfaction.
Then, there is the small matter of me ORDing and severing ties with my Unit. Prior to doing so, the Quartermaster has to sign my release paper, as well as the stores Sergaent in my Company, signifying that I do not owe anything to the Unit and that everything is accounted for. I also handed over all the stores I was in charge of to the person taking over from me. All these papers were signed. So I find it utterly and totally ridiculous that they are trying to get me to take responsiblity now, 2 years later, for stores that have gone missing. Once I have signed over everything, shouldn't the liability for it be borne by the Unit or whomever is taking over? In real life this clearly would be the case.
But then again the army never is real life. They set their own rules, and do as they wish. My mom used to work as a customer service operator in Citibank taking the helpline calls and she said that the hardest people to deal with were often the middle ranking army officers - because they had developed a minor God complex and were not used to being told no or being contradicted in any way. Singaporeans tell me I am crazy when I say that reservists is a big factor in me not returning home, but given the bollocks and bullshit that I have gone through as a NSF, I do not have high hopes that things will change when I am due for reservist. The same bureacracy, the bullying, the power politics will always exist, and it is the nicer people, the responsible ones and the people who really care who will be left facing the shit when it hits the fan.
Besides, I think that what it constitues is a very real sacrifice of my time and my life - one that I really am not willing to make. The fact that I could have a wife and family and be dragged away from all of that for up to a month a year, doing something that I effectively loathe is not something I wish to consider. Further to all of this is the fact that the army's rules and regulations present a fundamental infringement of my own personal choices and my civil liberties - according to army regulations I cannot keep my hair long whilst returning for service. This might seem a trivial thing, but to me it is a very serious matter indeed. The length I choose to keep my hair is a personal choice, and has nothing to do with the army. Until the army can prove to me that people with long hair are more at risk from being shot by snipers, say, will I accept the ruling. As it stands, there is no practical benefit in cutting my hair, except for the fact that they demand it of me.
I think that living in the UK for the past two years has really made me value the importance of fundamental freedoms and rights. I have always never been one to accept orders blindly and without question and I never did completely toe the line, even when I was in the army. However, I did my rebelling in such a way that I did not get myself into trouble. Now I fear however, that if I were to return and face all of this again, I will refuse to toe the line, come what may whatever consequences there may be. And that, needless to say is not a good thing.
In the first place, it has been two and a half years since I have left the army, which is a very long time. The letter stated that I have to pay up the sum within 14 days of receipt of the notice, which is ludicrous considering that I am officially deferred from the army due to me studying overseas. How can I meet the deadline when I am not even in Singapore? Even with my parents forwarding the letter to me, it will be at least a week before I even receive the letter here in the UK.
More ridiculous still is the very fact that they only stated a date and claimed that I am responsible for the lost items. They never explained how they were lost, why I was responsible, whether there was an officer in charge, whether there was an investigation launched into how the items went missing and so on. It may seem quite ridiculous but these are procedures that you must follow within the army. They can't seriously expect me to receive a letter in that manner and meekly lie down and accept culpability? In fact, that probably is what they are expecting, and one of the big problems within the army. It is like an oblique abuse of power. You must do X or else...... and that is good enough for most people. They cave in like a house of cards. Sadly, I won't give them that satisfaction.
Then, there is the small matter of me ORDing and severing ties with my Unit. Prior to doing so, the Quartermaster has to sign my release paper, as well as the stores Sergaent in my Company, signifying that I do not owe anything to the Unit and that everything is accounted for. I also handed over all the stores I was in charge of to the person taking over from me. All these papers were signed. So I find it utterly and totally ridiculous that they are trying to get me to take responsiblity now, 2 years later, for stores that have gone missing. Once I have signed over everything, shouldn't the liability for it be borne by the Unit or whomever is taking over? In real life this clearly would be the case.
But then again the army never is real life. They set their own rules, and do as they wish. My mom used to work as a customer service operator in Citibank taking the helpline calls and she said that the hardest people to deal with were often the middle ranking army officers - because they had developed a minor God complex and were not used to being told no or being contradicted in any way. Singaporeans tell me I am crazy when I say that reservists is a big factor in me not returning home, but given the bollocks and bullshit that I have gone through as a NSF, I do not have high hopes that things will change when I am due for reservist. The same bureacracy, the bullying, the power politics will always exist, and it is the nicer people, the responsible ones and the people who really care who will be left facing the shit when it hits the fan.
Besides, I think that what it constitues is a very real sacrifice of my time and my life - one that I really am not willing to make. The fact that I could have a wife and family and be dragged away from all of that for up to a month a year, doing something that I effectively loathe is not something I wish to consider. Further to all of this is the fact that the army's rules and regulations present a fundamental infringement of my own personal choices and my civil liberties - according to army regulations I cannot keep my hair long whilst returning for service. This might seem a trivial thing, but to me it is a very serious matter indeed. The length I choose to keep my hair is a personal choice, and has nothing to do with the army. Until the army can prove to me that people with long hair are more at risk from being shot by snipers, say, will I accept the ruling. As it stands, there is no practical benefit in cutting my hair, except for the fact that they demand it of me.
I think that living in the UK for the past two years has really made me value the importance of fundamental freedoms and rights. I have always never been one to accept orders blindly and without question and I never did completely toe the line, even when I was in the army. However, I did my rebelling in such a way that I did not get myself into trouble. Now I fear however, that if I were to return and face all of this again, I will refuse to toe the line, come what may whatever consequences there may be. And that, needless to say is not a good thing.
posted by Caleb Liu | 10:36 PM
1 Comments:
Bloody ridiculous indeed. I don't think you should pay up at all. I think you should fight them on it. The more people meekly take it, the more they'll give it.
Then again, I've never been in the army, and I might not know first hand how obstinate the army can be.
Let's elope!
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