Use a laptop to learn how to throw a grenade

In the latest use of technology for its “3G Army“, the Singapore Armed Forces is giving each new recruit a laptop – no, not to surf porn, or update Facebook on, but to learn how to strip a rifle and throw grenades. Yes, throw grenades.

I’m sure Singapore readers of The Straits Times would have read the story that first came out last Saturday, but it is still something of a shock to many of us guys who’ve already done two or two-and-a-half years of national service plus a decade of reservist call-ups the old way.

Because there was a time when you would have to actually get drilled countless times on what to do before throwing a live grenade. You work with a dummy grenade, learn that you have to pull out the pin carefully, keep your palm clasped and NEVER drop the thing.

If you screw up during training, you got a smack in the head or a yelling you will never forget – even if you are throwing a grenade 10 years down the road (Singaporeans are liable for call-ups up to 40 years old for enlisted men, and 50 for officers). …