Vindication

So I made the long trip to Pasir Laba camp this morning to retake my CCT test this morning. On hindsight, I should have left earlier because by the time I arrived we were already 20 minutes late. As if that wasn't bad enough, HB, one of my signallers who was my habitual sparring partner, waited till I drove right up to the Pasir Laba camp gate to realize he had left his 11B back in Amoy Quee, which he needed to exchange for a camp pass. *DOH!* By then I was pretty much convinced I would not be taking the test today. Fortunately, we managed to avert the crisis by negotiating with the RSM.

When I entered the hall, all the equipment had been laid out neatly and the mats and table where the grader sat set up. I realized I was to be the only one taking the test. Sort of made me feel like a VIP. Great, I thought, noone to see me make a fool of myself. But after a quick revision and when the test was about to start, my feelings of exclusivity quickly evaporated, only to replaced by horror and dread as a host of SPT trainees and instructors filed in, apparently for a lesson that was to start in 15 min! It immediately brought to mind images from the movie Gladiator of wild-eyed spectators baying for blood. In any case, I kept my cool and passed the test without any problem at all. Though my sparring partner informed me I chipped off a bit of his tooth with one of my blows to his head. Thankfully he wasn't bleeding.

I don't feel I did anything that different from last week. I guess my moves packed a bit more venom in them, having harboured as much anger as I did for the past few days. Maybe my shouting was louder, or the fact that I was the only one shouting in an otherwise silent hall made it seem so. In any case, the important thing is IT'S ALL OVER.