TWIN THERE, DONE THAT

When more than half your family is in the SAF, it's undeniable that military blood runs in the household.

At 50, Staff Sergeant (SSG) (Ret) Ravi Indron has given more than half his life to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). The former military transport sergeant from 3rd SAF Transport Battalion (3 TPT BN) is now passing the baton of protecting the country to his 21-year-old twins.

His daughter Military Expert (ME) 1 R. Shailaja is training to be an Air Operations and Systems Expert in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), while younger brother (by 12 minutes!) Private (PTE) R. Surendren is undergoing his National Service (NS) as a Commando trainee.

As fate would have it, the twins' brother-in-law is a Signals specialist with 48th Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment. Talk about having a passion for the military indeed!

Shailaja, why did you want to sign on?

ME1 Shailaja: I grew up seeing my dad in uniform, and he encouraged me to join the RSAF as it would allow me to utilise my diploma in electrical and electronic engineering in a meaningful way.

I've also liked being in a uniform group since young - I was in the National Cadet Corps in secondary school.

SSG (Ret) Ravi: I was very proud of my daughter when she decided to sign on. The majority of my family is from the Army. My uncle is an ex-Commando and a Red Lion. My two sisters are also ex-Regulars.

Did Dad give you any advice?

ME1 Shailaja: He accompanied me to Central Manpower Base for my interview! And during Basic Military Training (BMT) when I called home, he would always say: "Take care of your rifle." Because once you lose your rifle, your weekends are gone!

What was it like growing up with a dad in the military?

PTE Surendren: There was quite a lot of regimentation: He was always telling us not to do this or that and giving commands in a fierce manner. Even my mum had to step in at times to remind him that he was no longer in camp!

ME1 Shailaja: Till now, I still have a 10pm curfew. My friends were like, "Eh you're a Regular already! Still got curfew?" Of course, I've broken the curfew several times...and my dad will call me every minute until I come back.

Now that Surendren's in NS, has it brought all of you closer?

ME1 Shailaja: Before he went to BMT, I told him about things like area cleaning and stand by bed, such as how you have to put your things and what the commanders usually check for.

The military has also made us treasure each other more as we're always staying in camp. So now, we try to spend more time with each other during weekends.

PTE Surendren: The SAF lingo comes up in conversations all the time. My sister understands what I mean when I use certain terms, and my brother-in-law gives me tips when I share my experiences with him. It gets to the point that, whenever we gather, my eldest sister bans us from Army talk as she feels left out!

I also think I've changed and become more mature since enlisting. I used to be very playful back in my Polytechnic days and did not take things seriously. But since joining the Commandos, I've picked up their values. Now when I do something, I take pride in it, and I make sure that I do it the right way and check everything carefully.

Do you train together?

ME1 Shailaja: For the past few months before I enlisted into BMT, we would run 5km a day together. I actually started running because of Surendren. He lost 18kg within 10 months! When I saw the weight he lost, I was very motivated to start running too.

We would use the Nike app to track our distance and compare our timings or the number of calories we burned.

PTE Surendren: But when we tell our dad our results, he always says that he did better when he was our age. So when we say that we ran 9mins, he would say that he ran 8m:30s! This makes us want to beat him to prove that we're better! Although of course, we don't know if his timings are genuine. (laughs)

Surendren, any intentions to sign on?

SSG (Ret) Ravi: I advised him to sign on because it's pride, honour and glory for our family! But ultimately, I'm going to leave the decision to him.

PTE Surendren: I'm still thinking about it. Not everyone can be selected as a Commando. Things will get tougher and my instructors have been telling us to expect the worst and not to take things easy. If I do sign on, I know that I'll be happy and secure in the SAF. And I can proudly say that I took over my granduncle as the next Commando in the family!