Disclaimer: The following content is a rant that includes derogatory references to people and crude language which may shock and upset certain readers. This post may or may not offend the following: St. John officers(teachers or corps), Students of the BBSS St. John corps(S4s especially), any other person who is involved in St. John and the general public. Any factual inaccuracies are deeply regretted as this recount comes from a one-person view. Suggested edits are greatly encouraged and appreciated. I refuse to accept responsibility for any mishaps or uproars which may result due to this article and refute any counter-allegations due to time constraints. By reading this rant, you are waivering the right to hold me accountable or liable for any of the events mentioned. Reader discretion is advised.
In other words, if you belong to any of the abovementioned groups, I hope you read it, agree that it is accurate and them empathise with me. Any other reader is invited to post comments on the tagboard.
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The basic hiearchy within the St. John's Ambulance Brigade has been progressively degenerating over the years, and the recent camp has completely opened my eyes to this audacity.
I'm not being superficial or anything, but the obvious fact is that the Secondary Four 2009 batch do not command the same level of respect as previous years. Let's examine it on a step-by-step basis. What is written below is a completely unbiased and true account of what happened during the camp.
Alright, imagine this: You are in a CCA where democracy is absolutely not practiced, and where neurotic and psychotic practices dominate. You spend three years of your life attending camps and trainings where you are subject to these blatant outrages and keep looking up, always observing that the Seniors have complete and total immunity.
So, you have finally reached the last year of Secondary school education. Congratulations. But wait! Strangely enough, things seem a little different. What things? Let us see:
1. The Secondary Ones and Twos are seemingly very chummy with us and do not seems to have any respect at all.
Seriously, I am not joking here. It's not that having a friendly relationship between them is bad, but it is verging on the edge of 'call-you-by-your-actual-names' and 'casual-talking'. Normal, you say?
Exhibit A: Samson* actually called some of the Secondary Fours to do push-ups because we 'walked too slowly'.
Seriously, this happened. A Secondary One(now referred to as S1 from now on) recruit calling a Secondary Four(now referred to as S4 from now on) Sergeant to do push-ups. Even though it was probably a joke, this is something we do not joke about.
On the fundamental level, even we don't command that kind of power to carry out corporal punishment. (Something to do with ethics, but that doesn't stop other uniformed groups) Secondly, this is insubordination at the highest level. I could never imagine such a thing would even happen and frankly, I'm very shocked and positively raging about it.
This aside, it is still very strange that we can actually maintain such a relationship. Maybe it is some fault of our own, since some S4s were 'exceedingly' friendly with them(not mentioning names here) , much to my chagrin. Back then, the S4s really struck us as being reclusive and shady characters(in a good way, mind), which was one reason why we held them in the utmost respect. Presently, this belief is nonexistent.
P. S. The same person actually referred to me as 'boy' during the area cleaning exercise. I was seething too much to even say or do anything.
2. We seem to be doing everything and anything together.
Again, this seems relatively normal. Then, you wake up back to reality when you realise this is 'St. John's' you're talking about. In the past, we usually treated the S4s as though they carried plague(over-exxagerated) , never doing anything together, never playing games together and rarely speaking to each other. Usually, the Secondary Twos(S2s) and Secondary Threes(S3s) are there to fill the gap left by the S4s, but in cases like now where the S1 population greatly outnumbers the S2s and S3s, it is no wonder that some of the S4s need to step in.
Now this on its own might have been quite alright for me. Untill a certain NSH* decided to step in and implement the 'bonding rule'. Apparently, the goal of the camp is to now ensure that the S4s are adequately bonded with the S1s. So, we have to create a completely homogenous mixture of S1s and S4s, and practically do everything together. List includes (but is not exahustive of): Eating, Showering, Morning physical training, Sleeping times and Recreation.
This is (forgive my language usage, but it really is) utter bullshit! Firstly, in all my years of camps and stuff, this has never been the goal and secondly, it is our final year and we will only be staying for one more month, tops, so what is the use of bonding? The system has always been in such a way that S4s and S1s do their own things unless neccessary, which has worked for many years straight. Now with such a sudden change in policy, can we say that St. John's is a proper uniformed group any more?
3. The role of S4s has been increased as opposed to the diminishing roles of the S3s.
This is the final straw that broke the camel's back. This is the one which really got my goat.
It is very clear that they are going very easy on the current S3s this year. How?
Exhibit A: Last year, we had to stick to an extremely tight schedule. Everything had to run like clockwork with the precision of nuclear fission. The moment something did not fit into schedule or if we were a few minutes overdue, those lovely officers sitting in the shade start screaming bloody murder at us. This year, they could drag the schedule for a record two hours and nobody even so much as shook their head.
Exhibit B: Last year, it was an unwritten rule that the S4s should not help or intefere in the running of camp or any other affairs that may arise. We were barred from requesting any help form them, and any scolding that they did was entirely of their own volition. This year, we were required(I repeat, required) to help out at recreation, field cooking, messing and the barbeque. And guess what? No one even bat an eyelid to this injustice.
Exhibit C: Last year, during area cleaning, this wonderful responsibility fell onto the S1s, S2s and the S3s. The S4s role? To sit down and ensure that they made the scedule on time. This year? We have to help them to clean up the canteen, bathrooms and basketball court. Essentially, we are slowly degrading to the level of recruits themselves and basically do not receive any respect at all.
In conclusion, it really makes no sense that we are put through this treatment. Sure, it seems rather altruistic but can it be justified as fair? We have had to go through this for three whole years and now we have to again even though none of our predecessors had to? The excuse of limited manpower is not a valid argument, since we had to overcome that as S3s last year. I have spent a full hour trying my best to sugarcoat this rant, but I find that it cannot be achieved without completely rewriting it to become an essay full of oxymorons and euphemisms which clash with the mantra of St. John's itself. For the sake of the future S4s of St. John, I really hope that this appaling treatment can be abolished to give the S4s the rest and respect that they deserve.
(*-names have been changed to protect privacy)