The trucks haven’t changed

I GREW up in military camps. And like many children of armed forces personnel, I often rode in the back of a three-tonne army truck. Not just to school, but to competitions too – like the choral speaking competition in Kuala Lumpur. Other teams arrived in neat school vans and chartered buses. Then came us. Climbing out of a three-tonne army truck like we’d taken a wrong turn from a military drill. People stared. Some looked puzzled. Others looked concerned.

We didn’t win the competition, but we definitely won for the most dramatic entrance. But for us, it was normal. That’s just how army kids showed up.