The Image of Officer Cadets: What Went Wrong?
Every year, two batches of Officer Cadets are handpicked and plucked out from the foliages of Tekong. They are transferred back into the blue concrete jungles of Singapore to train to be National Service Police Inspectors. They are the future senior officers, tasked with leading National Service Police Officers and even the full-time Police Officers. This in itself is a considerable responsibility and the question, which undoubtedly preoccupies everyone, except the cadets of course is who in the right sense of mind, would entrust national servicemen with such a huge responsibility.
Well, we can try to convince ourselves that out of four thousand army recruits, we were the ‘chosen’ forty-two. Surely that counts for something. Having made it to Command School is an achievement in itself. It assures us that we possess leadership qualities, aptitude and composure under pressure. Having gone through the rigorous training in Tekong, we are expected to be fitter, stronger and more disciplined then the trainees. There may be truth in these statements, but more often then not, behind the amulets or the stripes that we wear, we are no different from the average police trainee. We have been constantly bombarded with praise and exaltations that inevitably, we begin to believe what others say. There is no wrong in believing to be the best, but herein lies the root of our image problem.
The fact of the matter is that we are generally not well liked. Generally because there are of course instructors and fellow trainees who make the effort to get to know us better. But a large number of instructors or trainees have made shown their indisposition to us from time to time. Is it because unlike them, some of us are more fluent in English, hence it seems as if we look down upon those who speak in mother tongue? Or is it because we are empowered to enforce discipline yet somehow, it always seem that we ourselves do not meet the high standards that we set for others. The average trainee looks at us and says to himself, what makes him better than me? I can be just as fit, just as disciplined. The only difference is that they have been to Tekong and that they have either graduated from junior colleges or polytechnics.
A famous writer once said, “You can’t be envious and happy at the same time.” What is there to be jealous about? For starters, we get an allowance that is almost twice as much as a trainee. Perhaps, this allowance is justified, seeing that we shoulder greater responsibility. However responsibility is abstract and unquantifiable. With the amount of allowance we are getting, trainees expect us to run faster and run longer. Instead, they see that at six o’clock, we are free to do whatever we want, just like them. Naturally, the trainees will come to the conclusion that we are doing just the same amount of work as they are. On top of this, we have spacious rooms, an air-conditioned mess and apparently our rooms are also ‘air-conditioned’. Envy breeds resentment and resentment begets unhappiness and these trainees are not averse to showing their displeasure.
A prominent drill instructor in Home Team Academy has more often than not impressed upon all trainees that rank has its privileges. In every uniformed organization, this mantra has been repeated over and over again, much to the exacerbation of subordinates. Perhaps as we advance into the future, we need to reexamine the effectiveness of clutching on to old values and initiate a paradigm shift. Regular police officers that have served many years in the force would naturally feel a slight twinge of resentment towards us. They have had to slog it out in the force for almost a decade or so when out of the green, we come in. Officer Cadet Trainees, passing out as senior officers, holding a higher rank.
What went wrong? Singapore’s meritorious system no doubt. The government appoints those who excel in studies as leaders. It is automatically assumed that the book smart possess leadership skills and high emotional quotient on top of the high intelligence quotient. As much as we try to sugar coat reality, we were chosen not because we are fitter or stronger or possibly even better leaders. In fact, police trainees can make just as good Cadets as army boys; as seen in the up graders we take in every batch. But the grim truth is we did better in school. These privileges have been bestowed upon us by virtue of our academic results and it just does not seem fair.
Hermann Goering, a German military leader once cautioned, “Education is dangerous, every educated person is a future enemy.” Unfortunately, that is precisely what we have become, the enemy. However, to simply go on and complain about the situation, the injustice and the unfairness, would be fruitless. Instead, we should rise to the occasion and prove to ourselves that we are true leaders. True leaders captivate their followers and build trust. They gain respect, instead of assuming that our rank will immediately ameliorate respect. We must stop believing in the mantra, “rank has its privileges” and instead, be prepared to relinquish these privileges and show our fellow trainees that we work hard and ultimately, justify the privileges conferred upon us.
We cannot change the mindset of others overnight, but we can be the squad that starts the change.
Every year, two batches of Officer Cadets are handpicked and plucked out from the foliages of Tekong. They are transferred back into the blue concrete jungles of Singapore to train to be National Service Police Inspectors. They are the future senior officers, tasked with leading National Service Police Officers and even the full-time Police Officers. This in itself is a considerable responsibility and the question, which undoubtedly preoccupies everyone, except the cadets of course is who in the right sense of mind, would entrust national servicemen with such a huge responsibility.
Well, we can try to convince ourselves that out of four thousand army recruits, we were the ‘chosen’ forty-two. Surely that counts for something. Having made it to Command School is an achievement in itself. It assures us that we possess leadership qualities, aptitude and composure under pressure. Having gone through the rigorous training in Tekong, we are expected to be fitter, stronger and more disciplined then the trainees. There may be truth in these statements, but more often then not, behind the amulets or the stripes that we wear, we are no different from the average police trainee. We have been constantly bombarded with praise and exaltations that inevitably, we begin to believe what others say. There is no wrong in believing to be the best, but herein lies the root of our image problem.
The fact of the matter is that we are generally not well liked. Generally because there are of course instructors and fellow trainees who make the effort to get to know us better. But a large number of instructors or trainees have made shown their indisposition to us from time to time. Is it because unlike them, some of us are more fluent in English, hence it seems as if we look down upon those who speak in mother tongue? Or is it because we are empowered to enforce discipline yet somehow, it always seem that we ourselves do not meet the high standards that we set for others. The average trainee looks at us and says to himself, what makes him better than me? I can be just as fit, just as disciplined. The only difference is that they have been to Tekong and that they have either graduated from junior colleges or polytechnics.
A famous writer once said, “You can’t be envious and happy at the same time.” What is there to be jealous about? For starters, we get an allowance that is almost twice as much as a trainee. Perhaps, this allowance is justified, seeing that we shoulder greater responsibility. However responsibility is abstract and unquantifiable. With the amount of allowance we are getting, trainees expect us to run faster and run longer. Instead, they see that at six o’clock, we are free to do whatever we want, just like them. Naturally, the trainees will come to the conclusion that we are doing just the same amount of work as they are. On top of this, we have spacious rooms, an air-conditioned mess and apparently our rooms are also ‘air-conditioned’. Envy breeds resentment and resentment begets unhappiness and these trainees are not averse to showing their displeasure.
A prominent drill instructor in Home Team Academy has more often than not impressed upon all trainees that rank has its privileges. In every uniformed organization, this mantra has been repeated over and over again, much to the exacerbation of subordinates. Perhaps as we advance into the future, we need to reexamine the effectiveness of clutching on to old values and initiate a paradigm shift. Regular police officers that have served many years in the force would naturally feel a slight twinge of resentment towards us. They have had to slog it out in the force for almost a decade or so when out of the green, we come in. Officer Cadet Trainees, passing out as senior officers, holding a higher rank.
What went wrong? Singapore’s meritorious system no doubt. The government appoints those who excel in studies as leaders. It is automatically assumed that the book smart possess leadership skills and high emotional quotient on top of the high intelligence quotient. As much as we try to sugar coat reality, we were chosen not because we are fitter or stronger or possibly even better leaders. In fact, police trainees can make just as good Cadets as army boys; as seen in the up graders we take in every batch. But the grim truth is we did better in school. These privileges have been bestowed upon us by virtue of our academic results and it just does not seem fair.
Hermann Goering, a German military leader once cautioned, “Education is dangerous, every educated person is a future enemy.” Unfortunately, that is precisely what we have become, the enemy. However, to simply go on and complain about the situation, the injustice and the unfairness, would be fruitless. Instead, we should rise to the occasion and prove to ourselves that we are true leaders. True leaders captivate their followers and build trust. They gain respect, instead of assuming that our rank will immediately ameliorate respect. We must stop believing in the mantra, “rank has its privileges” and instead, be prepared to relinquish these privileges and show our fellow trainees that we work hard and ultimately, justify the privileges conferred upon us.
We cannot change the mindset of others overnight, but we can be the squad that starts the change.
