Are we there yet?

As part of each staff officer's learning journey, and my DD's advocation that we can't do NE without knowing NE ourselves, it is always encouraged to go on visits and talks to see more, learn more so that we can, in some sense, do more.

Today, I went on a visit to Changi Naval Base, accompanying my immed boss JT, since it's so rare that she goes on such visits. Now, mr Fox has always told me about how ulu Changi Naval Base is, and I could never picture exactly how ulu this place is. Today, I found out for myself.

After taking a right turn in at the junction where a sign says "Changi Naval Base", I drove on this long straight road for what seemed like FOREVER. It almost feels like we are at the outskirts of M'sia, where there're just trees and big trucks, if not for the Changi Air Base and SAF Yacht Club that we passed along the way and reminded us that we were on the right track. (Later on during a chat with LTC Ngui, we found out that it's actually 5 click from that right turn all the way to the visitor's carpark. We share the pain for those who work there, but do not drive.)

We switched to a bus to bring us into the base when a little hiccup occurred and caused a slight dampening effect before our visit even began. One of our colleagues, MF, after finding out that I was driving, decided to go for the visit this morning, and since it was last minute, there wasn't any security clearance arrangements made for her. However, before she left the office with us, she actually called Serene, who's in charge of organising this visit, and was told that she could still join the visit, but she'd have to change for a pass at the guard's house (Serene checked with CNB before assuring her that she can join the visit).

Now, when MF tried to change for a visitor's pass at the guardhouse, problems began. Due to some miscomm, the personnel at the guardhouse insisted that MF could not change for a visitor's pass, reason being that security clearance was not sought beforehand. We were confused as that wasn't the answer given earlier. In the end, MF, not wanting to create more trouble, decided to skip the visit and go back to office instead (from ulu changi).

However, it just didn't feel right to see MF head back after the long journey here (btw, MF was really excited that she could join the visit). By then, the bus had already started moving into the base, but JT was not very happy with how things turned out, and asked if anything could be done, and if necessary, to 'pull rank' and talk to someone in charge. But the answer was "there's nothing that can be done".

It was until we reached the base, and JT bumped into a warrant officer she knew way back then, who somehow got to know about this little hiccup. I do not know the details of what happened after that (the talk has started by then) but later, JT told me that the warrant was super nice and actually drove her out to look for MF (who did not carry a hp). Turns out that it was just a matter of seeking clearance for MF (which will take at the most 10mins) but for whatever reason, this was overlooked.

The warrant insisted on finding out what happened exactly, not to point fingers, but as he was in charge of protocol and VIP visits, this little miscomm has to be ironed out to ensure that everyone in the chain understands the procedure. This is pretty admirable, as the warrant's actions in trying his best to salvage the situation actually saved the day (a bit) and left us with a very good impression of CNB.

In fact, the rest of the visit went on without the hitch and we enjoyed ourselves, learning alot from the guided tour and seeing for ourselves what kind of naval ships and facilities we have. Would love to take pics, but too bad, no cameras allowed.

While touring on RSS Persistence, I felt a sudden deja vu. The surroundings looked familiar to me. My first step up the ladder to board the ship brought back memories of the sailing trips that I went on for my previous job. Since there's no pic to share for this visit, here're some pics from my sailing days:

The first ship I sailed on, Alam Sentosa, a bulk carrier.

The captain in command at the bridge (they were just posing for us).

Awi, the guy who got me into this. Looks familiar?
He's in the band called SOUL. Support them in SUPERBAND!

Jianhua, the cameraperson for this filming trip.

And finally, ME!!