Corporal Teh Eng Hong

"The journey has always been greater than the destination. This held true for me even as I

progressed from the early stages of my life, as a child, into teenage years and up till now as a college student, who has yet to face the full brunt of what the GCE A-Levels have to offer…

Flashback to 6 years ago, as I entered WMSKL as a Form One student, vain and oblivious to the harsh realities of life, very much like a mound of dough to be shaped, refined and given a purpose; a yacht drifting in the waters with no wind to propel it, very vulnerable to the storms of life. Initially, I did not really like it, but again, which sort of 13-year-old would want to spend their Saturday mornings, waking up at 5.00 a.m., donning their BB uniform and going back to school for a whopping total of four hours?

One of the first few memorable lessons I learnt through the hard way was you want something, you work hard to achieve it and not wait for it to fall from the sky! I learnt this lesson, quite indirectly from our company Captain, Mr Nicholas Yeap. During my early days as a BB Boy, I used to try to get as many badges as possible, oblivious to the fact that many required a lot of effort from my part to achieve it and many required me to step out of my comfort zone. In many ways, my resolve to attain those badges was put to the test. Apart from learning how to take feedback and criticism from Captain in good stride, I had to amend my assignments many times and resubmitting it to pass the badge. Back then I complained but looking back on the many hours of effort combined with the sweat, blood and tears put in, I can say I’m proud to wear the 15 badges on my chevron whenever I don my BB uniform.

Life certainly got more interesting when I had the opportunity to serve as a leader and eventually as a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO), starting from my second year of service in 12th Kuala Lumpur. I remember one of my first real lessons learnt the hard way I learnt as a leader from my seniors and officers was what starts with you, ENDS WITH YOU! Back then when things truly started to take a turn for the worst, I was usually one of the first to duck away and attempt to shove the blame onto someone else. Serving the company as an NCO was most certainly quite different than serving as a member. Through service to the Company as an NCO from the middle of the year 2014 onwards, I felt my life being transformed as I slowly took up the many burdens as a leader which also shaped me as a person.

Life in the Brigade is not what one would call smooth sailing, but it is made more memorable by those whom you take the journey with. Most notable of which are my two fellow NCOs who started out with me in the very same squad in the year 2013 as recruits, CPL Hoshea Tiang and SGT Siew Hui Zhuan, who have been with me from thick and thin, rising to become who we are today, still serving the very same company we hold dear. Long story short, my 6 years in 12th KL really made me who I am today, all the memories will remain engraved within my heart, as I move forward in life, facing every single obstacle with determination, resolution and fire in my eyes not present in me, six years ago. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

-Corporal Teh Eng Hong, 2018

Sure and Stedfast

#ourboysstories #12is12