The Parallels

I 'graduated' from National Service last week. More like a few days ago but everything just seems so far away. Like one of those dreams where you can't decide whether or not its a nightmare or a sweet dream. I'm still pretty much undecided about my feelings about National Service. I may have A LOT to complain about NS, but generally, I think NS was just okay. Like, hmmm.. It's fine. Nothing to shout about. Besides, I think the camp I went to was pretty cool. I mean the Camp Commandant is rather lenient (compared to what I heard from other people about their camps)and what nots. However, my post is not about how "my camp is better than your camp" but to point out the parallels between KPP (Kem Puncak Permai. That's where I was) and HP (if you didn't get that, it stands for Harry Potter).

1. We have four companies.
Like in HP, we have four companies. Except theirs is called house and our companies are named after military style alphabets, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. Whatever they're called, they function the same way. Take care of your company/house, be the best, beat the rest, yada yada. Dormitories are also separated according to companies. And so there you have it. Similarity number one.

2. We have a Great Hall.
Similar to HP, we have a Great Hall where we assemble every day, usually during meal times. The only difference is that Dumbledore does not wave is hands and food does not magically appear on our table. We have to line up, cafeteria style. Sitting position is also determined by your respective company. No one from another company is allowed to sit with someone else from a different company. In simple terms, sit with your company.

3. Similarities in terms of behaviour.
Before I proceed, I have to point out that each company is represented by a certain colour. Alpha- red, Bravo- blue, Charlie- yellow and Delta- green. I know what you're thinking. Alpha is Gryffindor and so one and so forth.

3 (a) But no, especially to Alpha. They wish they're as cool as Gryffindor. But seriously, no. They're the reincarnation of Salazar himself. *insert evil laugh here* They are hands down Slytherin. Why? Well, they are major drama kings and queens. Queens especially. They're head teacher is exactly like Snape. They don't take losses well and most of all, they're hated by every other company in camp. That point should have been my first point. Oh, and they value ambition, cunning and leadership. Sounds very much like Slytherin, no?

3 (b) Bravo, on the other hand, is the only right one- Ravenclaw. I'm not saying we're (yea, I'm in Bravo) smart/ genius. But we had our fair share of wins. I wish we could call ourselves Gryffindor cos well, we're the only ones that Alpha hates A LOT. But well, we have more similarities to Ravenclaw than to Gryffindor. Our flag is blue and we have an eagle on our flag. Ravenclaw much, no? Oh, and we tend to win competitions that doesn't require much strength, example ping pong, netball, etc.. We're not the brawns and NS doesn't put much emphasis on brains. So Ravenclaw we are.

3 (c) I have to award the most coveted house, Gryffindor, to Charlie. We're (Bravo) are very close to Charlie. Although their colour is yellow, they're so not the Hufflepuffs in KPP. Technically speaking, they're not much of Gryffindors because well, they're not hated by Alphas, they're not much of a competition against Alpha and other usual 'Gryffindor vs Slytherin' rivalry but they are very similar to Gryffindor house values- courage, bravery, loyalty, nerve and chivalry.

3 (d) Delta is pretty much the typical Hufflepuff. They almost never win and I'm not saying that their weak, but well, other companies seem to overshadow them. They're rather soft-spoken and they keep to themselves most of the times. Delta shows much hard work, tolerance, loyalty and fair play which makes them very much similar to Hufflepuff.

4. A Forbidden Forest.
Yea, we have a forest nearby. We had the Wirajaya there. Wirajaya is more or less like survival camp except our camp didn't have much time to have proper survival training and other nonsense, we had sorta like a party is the middle of nowhere, eating Maggi and leftover Gawai tidbits. It's forbidden alright, but there are instances where we use it, just like in HP. However, in HP there is a colony of Acromantulas, in KPP we have an abundance of mosquitoes in the forest. They're both technically insects =D

5. The presence of a "Hogwarts Express"
It's not a train, that's for sure. But we have buses. Awesome travel mode, I must say (note: sarcasm). Buses are used to transport trainees (us) to places eg: church, mosque, etc..

6. House Elves
They're definitely not servants or slaves. They just do things when no one's around. They clean the bathrooms and dormitories when we're not around. So we never see them work. Except that time when I was sick and I rested in the dorm, they came in to clean the room. The other difference is that they just sweep and mop the floors. The rest is our responsibility.

I think that's about it. I guess I should say that this is for Maxine who is an avid HP fan and she didn't get selected for NS. In her words "NS is like Hogwarts but with less cool aura". I have to agree with her. And yet, after writing all this, I still don't have an epiphany about NS, especially on the subject of liking it.

Signing out,
wants-more-$$

Ps: I have loads of stories about NS but none suitable to be posted online. Know what I mean?