Incentive

You'd quickly understand why a socialist system wouldn't work as an NSF. Simply because there's no incentive to work in such a system. Whether you chaogeng all the way, or slog till you drop, you get (almost) the same pay, which is determined based on your rank, rather than the amount of work you do.

We are all pragmatic people - most of us are, anyway. So what happens when you see people chaogeng but end up getting the same remuneration as you? Worse still, you sometimes have to cover their s**t for them because they are "unfit" to carry out their duties? You naturally feel that you have been shortchanged, and end up losing the motivation to work, your morale sinks, and sooner or later, you ask yourself whether it's worth working so hard for... nothing.

That's precisely what's happening a lot in this organisation. Simply put, there is no incentive to work here. There are so many people on some kind of long-term status (some genuine, but mostly not, I suspect), or who have downgraded, it's as if the "chaogeng virus" has become an epidemic. And ironically, it's the "healthy" people who suffers.

Take the coy line signallers for example. Excluding S coy, there are 9 of us, and 1 has downgraded, 1 is pending downgrade, 5 are on some sort of status (mostly back and knee problems), which leaves 2 fighting fit. I am one of these 2. But it's not as if I haven't thought about getting a status or downgrading, after seeing the cushy life my counterparts are living. No PT, no SOC, no IPPT, no chionging with the manpack on 4D3N outfields.

It's really difficult to stay positive and overlook the amount of extra work you are doing while getting no additional incentive. But I guess since I have already endured for so long, and there's only 2 months left till end of ATEC, I might as well finish this and leave NS with my head held high, knowing that I did not choose the easy way out.

That's not to say I am a saint. As and when it's possible, I try to evade any arrows sent in my direction, and try to get away with doing the minimum that is expected of me (which is still a lot, btw). At the end of the day, as long as I have fulfilled my own duties and obligations, and not inconvenienced others by shirking my personal responsibilities, I think I can give myself a pat on the shoulder. That's my interpretation of "integrity".