Mr Gorbs I presume?

We started off ok I suppose, but in the back of my mind, I had no idea how I was going to get along in a group with a bunch of guys that I hardly spoke to with the exception of Aziz, Fauzi and Boon. And yes, I was none too fond of any of the others too.

I suppose I wasn't overly surprised by the conduct of a few members of the group as Indian chief syndrome set in, but Gorby's performance took the cake for unexpected behaviour!

We always thought of him as the 42nd cadet who showed up on the second day of training after escaping the evil clutches of SISPEC. He was always quite a low-key character around the barracks. He never really took part in the banter around the lower barrack and was always polishing his boots. He smiled and laughed occasionally and was quite a pleasant chap. He didn't do particularly well in training either, (I was no hotshot either but I sure could hold my own in PT, swimming, academic stuff and the police training, though the less said about TKD the better!) I still remember Nunis and someone else having to literally drag his backside over the finish line in some 2 x 2.4 challenge.

Then again, being stuck in some corner of Pulau Ubin tends to bring the worst out in people or perhaps to expose their real selves. Of course we should have smelt a rat on the first day when we chose our bunks, Aziz, Boon, Fauzi and I dived into a smaller room in our barrack as opposed to hanging out with the others but oddly enough he didn't join us. Next thing you know he's joined the creeps and started telling us all what to do and that really started to piss me off considering his previous status during junior term. By the second week he was openly critical of Aziz and I and was generally insufferable. He was always questioning the rationale of our actions when we were in charge I thought this was quite rich coming from him. By then I was not going to have anything to do with him as far as possible. I don't recall speaking to him again for the rest of our training stint when we got back, not that he ever hung around the lower barracks too again much after OBS except to sleep.

What makes someone change so much? Was it the environment that brought out the inner demon or was it just the real him? I really don't know, though I do know he ended up being called the Malay equivalent for backside for the rest of senior term!