Semper Fidelis

which is latin for "Always Faithful". it also happens to be the motto of the US Marine Corp. just watched a show about USMC Bootcamp. it's not like Full Metal Jacket at all. it's deliberately made as one of those feel-good-suceed-after-overcoming-obstacles kind of show.

much as i hate the military and all that it stands for, i think that there is value in putting a group of people together and artificially creating situations where this group of people suffer together. i remember amidst all the "kanninah" and "die you cheebye fuckhead!!!" that we keep spouting in OCS, the mental and physical pain does indeed build a certain resilience, a certain strength of character.

and if the show was anything to go by, when a group of people suffer together, they tend to be closer. one of the reasons why semper fidelis is the motto is becuase the marines are supposed to be there for one another, always. there was a part where the gunnery sergeant (i.e. instructor) asked his recruits to imagine taking a bullet for his platoon mate, or jumping on a grenade to save fellow marines and telling them that one day, it may come to that. i wonder whether any Singaporeans will give up our own lives for our fellow Singaporeans. will we give up our present for the future? will we accept the supremacy of the state over society and of society over the individual? or will we rather forget the past, ignore the futre and focus on maximising the immediate gains of the individual?

towards the end of the show, the gunnery sergeant asked his recruits (who by that time have received their Eagle, Globe and Anchor, i.e. the USMC badge) what the United States is? whether it is a nation that gives them things? to which the men reply, "No! It is a nation that we serve!" the gunnery sergeant then asks, "what is the Marine Corp?" to which the men reply "We are the Marine Corp!"

the same questions could be asked of Singaporeans. What is Singapore? it is a nation that we all serve. but who is it that we serve? us, all of us, as a collective. We are Singapore.

Semper Fidelis. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. Sweet and fitting it is to die for the greater good.