National serviceman needs maid to carry his backpack

[DTJ]

janet_lee88:

Some women get their maids to wash their undies...to them, it's as normal as washing a shirt but I can't do that. :!:

So true. I'm with you, Janet!

If you ask around, you should not be surprised to learn that nowadays many parents (i hope not all) are so caught up with grades that they don't \"teach\" their teenage daughters to wash their own undies! I know of someone who is always busy sending your daughters to classes after classes that her teenage daughter has never washed her own school shoes nor undies ..nor take public bus on her own!!! If she cannot fetch the daughter for some reason, she will trouble people to fetch (hey i m not talking about preschooler; i m talking abt 16-18 yr old girl!). Disgusting ? Maybe not!

When i heard that, i kept quiet. Maybe the mother herself also don't wash her own undies! So why should it matter to her that her teenage daughter is not doing it?!

I don't have daughter, only a preschooler who helps my domestic helper wipe table ; mop floor & to keep his toys... I love him this way so i train him to be this way (not easy; got to use cane.. some of my friends commented it is a little \"regimental\" ... but i cannot tahan the sight of a spoilt brat so no choice). and i hope he remains this \"helpful & useful\" forever ... To me, my maid is to relieve me of chores which i would otherwise not have time to do, eg doing main laundry , cooking. She is not here to serve my son like a king !

[DesertWind]

When I saw this picture, my first thought was : Don't they give proper briefing to the new army recruits on the army code of conduct - what to do and what not to do?


For eg. like you are suppose to treat your weapon like your \"wife\", must polish your boots until it shine, make sure you carry your own back-pack, don't loose your belongings on the field else you will get into trouble - kinda thing? (Sorry perhaps I watched too much army shows but you get what I mean?).

At one stage I was staying just next to the army camp and it is not uncommon to see cars & taxis coming up with the army guys booking in.

But this picture really takes the cake although somehow I found it strangely familiar.....

Oh yes, now I remember why I found this picture of the maid familiar. Couple of years back I was at Paragon shopping center. I saw 3 young ladies carrying their babies in those sling sarongs strolling around. Behind them was a small, petite maid carrying their backpacks (those for baby stuff) looking kinda over-loaded. Until now I can still remember the image.....

:celebrate:

[Strparent]

DesertWind:

But this picture really takes the cake although somehow I found it strangely familiar.....
:celebrate:

Hi DesertWind,

I totally concur with most of the comments here. The issue here is not that the maid is carrying the fullpack for him...it is that a strong young man not feeling embarrassed that a smaller female person is carrying it for him.

My opinion is that the fault lies with the overly protective, overly sheltered lifestyle given by the self-first parents. Like one forumer said, he saw a granny carry a school bag for a Primary student - that itself is all wrong in the filial context. Imagine a P5 or P6 boy expecting, thinking that it is norm, for his elder ( senior - higher rank ? ) grandmother to carry his bag for him from school. Isn't it suppose to be a 12yr old boy carrying the market groceries for HIS grandmother instead ??

Be careful, what the children deem as normal, they will do back to you in future.

I wonder what the young will become 10 to 20 years down the road. It is indeed a sad reflection of what society has become.

[Jennifer]

Strparent:

I wonder what the young will become 10 to 20 years down the road. It is indeed a sad reflection of what society has become.

I take the public bus to send my P4 boy to sch every morning. The buses we can take go to a few schs along Dunearn Rd. These sec sch students do not move to the rear of the bus, just stand around the exit when their final stop is at least 10 bus stops away.

Is it a case of taking sch bus to pri sch/walking to pri sch/driven to pri sch by parents, hence do not know how to behave on public buses?

[raysusan]

this goes to taiwan news too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cwHCv_1ceN4 :?

[Nebbermind]

some funnies gathered by mrbrown

http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2011/03/maid-for-the-army-2.html

[Joule]

Hello all;


I am new here and this is my no:2 post = )

I know the picture of the NSF and his maid carrying his fullpack for him has raised many eyebrows.

Here’s a short encounter of a similar situation!

Approximately 11 years ago, I was a sergeant in NS in charge of training recruits during the Jan intake.

There was this one recruit who seemed rather sickly and accident prone. He was assigned to my section.

On one of the final Standard Obstacle Course tests, this guy fell from the Jacobs ladder and hit himself in the delicate regions when his legs slipped through the gaps of the logs.

After that, he was sent to Tekong medical centre which proceeded, upon the doctor’s recommendations, to send him to the mainland hospitals for treatment.

When he came back, after a week of Medical Leave, he was on permanent light duties for the rest of the course due to a testicular torsion (it means his ‘jewels’ got twisted) during that accident from the SOC. He was on permanent light duties for the rest of the course.

Towards the end of the Basic Military Training course, I received a call from his mother in camp.

"Hello Ma’am, this is Sergeant J here"

"Hello J, this is Mdm Y. I’m recruit Z’s mother. I need to know, during the end of the course, would recuit Z be required to carry his equipment out? Is there any help you all can give him?"

"Yes ma’am, the end of course means recruit Z needs to carry his items out, including all his gear, it’s like moving house as he would be posted to the next unit. "

"Hello J, yes, but you know, Recruit Z has this accident and he is our only child. The doctor has recommended that he not carry heavy loads around! It might affect his reproductivity and this would be very important for our family. Can you have any other people help him carry his items out?" (items are fullpack and duffel bag)

"Ma’am I don’t think we can do that, every recruit is supposed to carry his own items, at least to the pier"

The mother was rather insistent though, so my PC, who was nearby indicated that he would like to speak with her.

"Oh wait, my PC would like to speak to you" *note that the PC here eventually was promoted and became RSM of NDP 2010. (OT a bit)

PC and mother discuss.

Eventually:
PC said - "Ma’am, your son is now going to be a man. I’m sure he can carry his own fullpack and other items"

I talked to Z about it. I think Z said like "my mother is like that, don’t worry Sergeant, I will take care of myself and carry my own stuff"

Anyway, the course went on and the recruits all did well in their passing out parade. Recruit Z was excused from the parade (I think he was permanently excused)

I do not know whether he carried his own items from the bunch to the ferry, but I’m sure his mother was there to receive him from the ferry point at Tekong on his final day at Tekong. In such a context, it would not be a stretch for the maid to come along with the mother and help carry Z’s duffel bag and fullpack to the car, and then from the car to their home, right?

So that’s my experience of a maid and mother carrying the recruit’s duffel bag.

Now the equivalent of the duffel bag issued to NSFs is this luggage looking like black bag with rollers. Simply wonderful and a cheap luggage alternative.

[dramamama70]

I'm not sure if anyone saw today's ST but the newspaper was (still) running stories on similar topic and in today's story they quoted a mum (who identified herself as a teacher). I can't remember her exact words but she said something like times have changed and washing and cleaning etc are now the maid's job.


I'm just glad my husband and I make our kids wash their own school shoes when each of them started P1. We told them they are now \"big kids\" and had to start looking after themselves. My 16-yr old has to iron her own school uniform - white shirt and pinafore. If she doesn't do it, she will have to wear crumpled uniform. She also washes her own undergarments and my son will have to start washing his own undies and iron his own school uniform next year.

These are life skills that I believe children need to learn. Why take for granted there will always be someone else cleaning up their mess. Don't want to clean up a mess? Then don't create one

A girlfriend of mine told her kids the maid is there to help her, not the kids. She went to the extent of having her kids ask for her permission before asking the maid to do anything for them.

Different strokes for different folks but I do feel sorry for kids who are not taught basic life skills and will continually be dependent on others to look after them.

[markfch]

dramamama70:

She also washes her own undergarments and my son will have to start washing his own undies and iron his own school uniform next year.

:offtopic:

I totally agree with the majority of posts here; which is we should not pamper our kids too much. It makes them weak. However, I've a query here regarding something that I came across a few times in this thread; something that is quite unrelated to this topic actually.

So just to satisfy my curiosity, what's this thing about making kids wash their undies but not other clothing? This aroused my curiosity because I recalled my grandma used to separate man & woman's undies when she got the helper to wash them.

[wapobs]

nowdays people brain not same liao.

boys who wash dishes, underwear and shoes are better, wah lao eh…
no wonder cannot carry army fullpack, only can carry girlfriend handbag.