Late Calvers

May 11, 2007, 4.14 pm (Singapore time) 2 S'poreans killed in fighter jet crash in Taiwan The two injured Singaporeans, said to be in critical condition, have been sent to the Taipei's Tri-Service General Hospital. -- TVBS TAIPEI - A MILITARY exercise in northern Taiwan turned tragic when two Singaporean soldiers were killed and nine others were left injured. The accident, which happened on Friday morning also left two Taiwanese fighter pilots dead. According to Taiwan's defence ministry, an F-5F jet crashed into a military compound in Hsinchun county during its annual 'Han Kuang' military exercise. The two SAF servicemen who died in the crash are 19-year-old Corporal Isz Sazli Sapari and 22-year-old Private Fan Yao Jin. The two-seat warplane crashed at 9.38am, 30 minutes after take-off from an air base in Taitong, south-east of the island during a simulation of a ground attack, according to the defence ministry. The cause of the crash at the Hu-kou military base was not immediately known, the island’s defence ministry said in a statement. But Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence spokesman, Rear-Admiral Wu Chi Fang said the pair killed were not taking part in Friday’s drill, adding that the cause of the crash was under investigation. In a statement, Singapore's defence ministry, MINDEF, said that the Taiwan Air Force F-5F aircraft crashed into a storeroom which was gutted by a fire. The servicemen, including Full-Time National Servicemen (NSF), were present at the storeroom at that time. The bodies of the Corporal Isz Sazli and Private Fan were flown to a mortuary in Taoyuan, north of Taiwan, while the two injured Singaporeans, said to be in critical condition,have been sent to the Taipei's Tri-Service General Hospital. Reports say the two suffered 60 to 70 per cent burns on their bodies. A team of five SAF doctors are now in Taiwan to help stabalise the conditions the two servicemen. Meanwhile, the SAF and Mindef extended their condolences to the families of the pair who died and will fly them to Taiwan. Singapore's Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean has expressed his deep concern for affected servicemen and their families. [b]He said that Mindef and the SAF will 'do all they can to look after their well-being' but the victims' families need to be 'realistic' on amount of compensation they can get. Mr Teo, who is in touch with Taiwanese authorities, said Mindef and the SAF will be investigating the incident. The two pilots who died in the crash were an instructor and intelligence officer. All remaining F-5F fighters participating in the drill — 60 or so — were immediately grounded for safety inspections, together with all F-5Es in the fleet. The Air Force has also grounded F-Es for safety inspections. Mr Lee however said the live-fire “Han Kuang (Han Glory) 23” manoeuvres would go on as scheduled next week. Taiwan prepares to showcase its military strength, beginning next Monday, in five days of exercises designed to test its defence capabilities. -- Additional sources from AFP, AP[/b]

This is the only copy of this article i found on the net, post on SgForums.com. But i'm sure many of you do remember reading the original article on the net.

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Now kids, let uncle teach you all a few things. Firstly, let uncle introduce himself. Uncle here is a farmer, the real kind of farmer you know? The kind that milk the cow kind of farmer, not the SAF farmer captain kind of farmer. Don't be mistaken hor. What us farmers do is feed the cows, breed the cows so that they give birth and can produce milk and then we milk them and sell the milk. We try to let the mother cows give birth in spring so that they produce milk for the next 10 months and feed on the high quality grass that grows in spring. Since cows need to eat more to produce milk, if the cow give birth too late into spring, they will not be able to utilise the nice good grass early in spring and when summer comes, the grass will dry off and so the cow will produce less milk for that year. This is called late calving. On top of producing less milk this year, the cow will tend to calve late the next year and will produce less milk again. This one ah.....like the vicious cycle ah. So what uncle usually do with cows like this is to sell them to the slaughter house. Uncle very pragmatic one. The cow don't produce enough milk for me, then i sent the cow to the slaughter house. You think us farmers treat cows like pets ah?

So when uncle see you kids serve National Service, uncle cannot help but think that you kids are like uncle's cows!! Why? Because when u all serve for the 2 years, it's like producing less milk already (earning peanuts as some might as). Then when you all finishing serving, you all 2 year behind all the foreign talents already. And that's not all, you all still must do reservist. If i am your boss, i will also send you to the slaughter house, nono opps so sorry i mean i will sack you and hire the foreign talent. As uncle's veterinarian says : late calvers tend to be late calvers for life and will produce less milk. Off to the abattoir these cows go and dun cow pay cow bull.

The next lesson uncle wanna teach you kids is some "Asian value" called fillial piety. Your parents feed and care for you for 18 years before you go serve National Service not cheap ok! You go add up the Obstetrician fees, the hospital fees, the milk powder money, the diapers money, your pocket money all throughout your schooling years, your school fees, the room which you lived in which could have been rented out for more money, not cheap ok? And don't forget to compound that sum of money over the years ok? Now that you are 18 and go serve NS, better not be too garang. Later you die already then how? Die still not so bad. Paralysed already then you know. Then you will be compensated a grand total of $500 a month. Which is not even enough to hire a maid to care for you which is besides the point anyway. The point is you garang, training time chiong like mad man then got accidental just because you want to be patriotic and serve national service, your parents will suffer as you will not be there to care for them when they are old. Then they will be unable to make ends meet. Then they will try to ask the Government for welfare. Then people will label your parent as "overassuming leeches" who need to "get out of their uncaring elite face". Not very filial right kids? After all your Defence Minister said your parents "need to be 'realistic' on amount of compensation they can get" ok? So please jolly well learn to be realistic.