Power98 went out looking for the best of buddies in the SAF!  Buddies reunited and reminisced about the good times in the army, navy and air force!  Hilarious and heartwarming experiences were shared and the top pair of buddies walked away with $2000!

It was what being friends is all about on the Best Buddy Awards on The Chill Out Hour, weeknights 8pm to 9pm, with the DJ-in-Command, Sebastian!

THE BEST BUDDY AWARDS 2004

brought to you by

THE FINAL SHOWDOWN...

The top 2 pairs of buddies in terms of votes came back for one final showdown...a test of how well they work together!  The game of Taboo with $2000 cash at stake!

DJ-in-Command calming the buddy finalists...	Buddy finalists calmed down (L-R) Wenyao & Kelvin and Clifford & Chris

Playng Taboo..."I think we're gonna lose..."	"I don't believe you didn't know that word!"

"Come on man!  Guess the word!"	"I catch no ball!  What are you describing?!"

DJ-in-Command with the champions Kelvin & Wenyao	2nd place ain't bad...

CONGRATULATIONS TO KELVIN & WENYAO!

Looking Back...

 Every Friday, a new pair of buddies shared their heartwarming and hilarious stories!  Listeners decided who goes into the finals by voting for their favorite pair of buddies!

Here're the buddies and their stories...

Buddy Pair #7 Wai Kwong & Alastair

Almost every guy dreaded the journey to NS when the time draws near; and I wasn't any exception. The first day into BMT was so hectic that I didn't have the time to actually start interacting with the rest of my bunkmates. There was this idiot who even mistook my bed for his...but this 'idiot' soon left a wonderful memory in my head.  Days passed by, everyone was yearning to book out.  The chance came when my buddy was awarded an ATT C status right after the first week of BMT, left me alone for 3 good days! Some buddy he was...before I knew it, it was my turn.  I had a really high fever of 39.6°!  It was very bad!  I needed to be evacuated off Tekong and my buddy really show some great care and concern when I was half-dead on my bed.  He helped me pack and carried all my stuff while helping me to the jetty to be evacuated.  I got the chance to go home but some part of me was reluctant to leave cause it occurred to me that I was going to leave my buddy whom, through this incident I realized, I could count on to take care of me.  I had to go nonetheless, because it was an order from my instructor but I knew at that point that me and my buddy shall stick with each other till the very end!

Buddy Pair #6 Jonathan & Jordan

Our paths first crossed in BMT.  We didn't have the best first impressions of each other but that all changed within the first 2 weeks.  One morning for 5BX, one of our platoon mates came down almost 10 minutes after everybody had fallen in.  He was subsequently ordered by the sergeant to trek over to a distant tree and look for a message on the tree as a punishment.  When he swaggered back, he told the Sergeant that the tree wanted to talk to the Sergeant!  I couldn't help it but burst out laughing.  Jonathan was infected with my laughing fit and we were punished with confinement on the weekend.  That weekend, Jonathan had a hot date and had to miss it.  He was definitely upset with me!  That weekend in confinement, we got to know each other alot better but Jonathan still bore a grudge.  The following weekend, I brought back to camp a special cleaner that managed to get our bunk to win the cleanest bunk contest.  We were all given a long weekend as a reward.  That was just one of the many ups and downs, thick and thin we went through together, which has made us very good buddies!

Buddy Pair #5 Chris & Clifford

We were posted to OCS together and that's where we first met.  We weren't assigned buddies and it was actually religion that brought us together.  We are both Christians and we shared alot wth each other to keep us going through with the training.  I remember during Exercise Spade when I was the exercise platoon sergeant.  It was to be my assessment and there was alot of running around to make sure everything ran smoothly.  I was very stressed out and sometimes close to giving up.  Clifford's trench was near the command trench and I had to pass by his trench in all my running around.  I will always remember how he will always offer me words of encouragement whenever I passed by him.  that meant alot and I have to say it played a very big part in helping me go through my assessment!  It was a pity that Clifford got out of course and I will always remember how we helped push each other on through OCS when he was there.

Buddy Pair #4 Ying Zhou & Terence

My buddy, Terence, and me met at DELTA wing 55/04 OCC.  I remember at the first day of OCS, I disliked Terence but we slowly became very good pals, starting with the fact that we coincidentally always chose the same time to do our laundry.  We were ‘washing buddies’ first!  We have the same kind of personality. We are both outgoing people, always cracking jokes and never serious, which often get ourselves into trouble with our instructors and peers, but we soon became the clowns of the platoon and were the entertainers.  Then came the day when I got the news that I cannot continue OCS.  I was devastated because I'll be leaving all my friends, especially Terence. That night was book out night and Terence came all the way to my house in Bedok from Yishun to 'spend time' with me.  He left at around 2am and my mum and I fetched him out to the main road to hail a cab.  After we dropped Terence, we went to get supper and I was astonished to see Terence still at a bus stop on the way back.  He was staring into space and looked lost.  I called him immediately and he sounded choked. He asked me to stay in course and thought of many ways we could talk to our platoon commander into letting me stay but the efforts were futile.  He said that I was one of the reasons, which kept him going in the course, and now he will do his best and complete the course on my behalf.  My smartest uniform is now still in Terence’s cupboard. He keeps my uniform so that he can 'promote' me by putting the OCS cadet rank (junior bar, senior bar and professional bar) onto my uniform whenever the cadets get into the different terms.(to pretend that I still there with all the guys).  We still meet up often now and whenever I'm free I'll go to Delta to visit my friends, especially Terence.  There are still many things, which truly touched me, and I just want to let Terence know that I really appreciate what he has done and he is really my best buddy.

Buddy Pair #3 Wen Yao & Kelvin

Me and my buddy Kelvin were 47/02 OCC Sierra Pl 2 buddies.  We had this Exercise Spade, where we had to dig shell scrapes and fire-trenches and what-nots for days.  There, Seow did this unforgettable stunt.  We were given the freedom to choose the location of our shell scrapes.  After choosing, we happily dug away and just when we were about to finish our shell scrapes, our PC came over to inspect.  When he saw Seow's work, he was stunned.  Seow had actually dug a shell scrape with a small tree right in front.  His explanation was that the tree will be able to shield his head a bit when proning.  Our PC coolly gave this order, 'Either the tree moves, or you move.'  We spent the rest of the afternoon cutting the tree down.  Even though we've both committed lots of silly mistakes, however, our relationship grew stronger. We meet up often, sometimes with our girlfriends. I believe that our friendship will definitely last, maybe even till the day when either one of us gets married, while the other can be the best man.

Buddy Pair #2 Lucas & Melvin

It was only 3 days into BMT and I was still adjusting to the rigors of army life.  I had just finished bathing and was about to use the payphone to call my mum when the sergeant shouted that it was lights out, which meant no more movement!  My mum was expecting my call since the day before but I couldn’t find the chance to call so I really wanted to call her.  I remembered my buddy had a handphone so I asked to borrow it.  Melvin was hesitant since the sergeants were notorious for spot-checks after lights out, but he agreed anyway.  The lights went off and I laid still in bed, phone pressed between my ear and the pillow as I called my mum.  When I was done, I turned to return my buddy his phone but standing there was my sergeant who confiscated the phone and asked us to see him the next morning.  Then, the only thought running through my mind was that of implicating my buddy for being kind enough to lend me the phone.  The whole night I reproached myself!  The next morning, the sergeant returned the phone to Melvin, and meted out the punishment.  I was confined for one weekend and Melvin was given guard duty.  It so happened that the next guard duty to be scheduled was on Christmas Eve!  Instead of taking it out on me, Melvin was cool about the whole thing.  Come Christmas Eve, I could sense his disappointment as I booked out but he valiantly kept it to himself.  That night, I bought McDonalds back to pass to him at the guardhouse. Coke and fries may be simply simple pleasures or luxuries when you are trapped in a camp. But whether or not that gesture is sufficient to make me less guilty is definitely less important than if he felt slightly comforted. It was a simple event, but is one of many that galvanized our friendship throughout the 2½ yrs of army days, and years after we ‘ORD-ed’.

Buddy Pair #1 Kean Jek & Calvin

We were serving our BMT in 7BTS at Nee Soon Camp.  Kean Jek and I were in adjacent beds but we were not assigned buddies...we were just on the upper deck beside each other.  I was on very good terms with the CQ and he gave me a bottle of cordial.  As such, every morning when we were doing our water parade, while everyone was drinking plain water, I had the ultimate luxury of flavored water!  Unfortunately, I was caught by my platoon sergeant one morning and as punishment, I had to finish an entire jerry can of water (20 litres!!!).  I started drinking and was to the brim already, struggling with each mouthful.  It was then someone walked up to help.  It wasn't my assigned buddy.  It was Kean Jek!  Together we continued drinking, trying to finish the entire jerry can.  Thankfully, my platoon sergeant stopped us and it was then I knew I found a friend I could count on!  We've been friends ever since even though we've left the service!