Third season of documentary Every Singaporean Son to feature basic military training during Covid-19
A popular documentary series featuring Singapore's national servicemen will return for a third season, showing how basic military training has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The eight-part Every Singaporean Son 3 will feature recruits and commanders from the Basic Military Training Centre's Dragon Company. The recruits were on a nine-week Basic Military Training (BMT) course on Pulau Tekong.
Each episode focuses on one key event, such as the recruits receiving their SAR 21 rifles for the first time, taking part in a live grenade throw and field camp.
The first episode will be released on Pioneer's Facebook page on Monday (April 4).
It will also be broadcast on Mediacorp's Channel 5 on Wednesday (April 6) at 8.30pm, said a statement from So Drama! Entertainment on Saturday. Subsequent episodes will air every Wednesday.
So Drama! Entertainment collaborated with production company Beach House Pictures to produce the series.
Ms Susanna Kulatissa, So Drama! Entertainment's creative director, said the story of BMT is something that resonates with every generation of national servicemen.
"Fifty-five years on, it has become part and parcel of the Singaporean way of life. Every Singaporean Son also reminds us that when a young man enlists, he is never alone. He enlists with the support of his family, friends and all of us," she said.
The latest season - filmed from March to May last year - comes nearly 12 years after the first season of Every Singaporean Son was released in 2010 as a Web series on the Ministry of Defence's YouTube channel.
The 18 episodes were a hit with Singaporeans, who felt the intimate look into the lives of a group of young recruits brought back memories of their own national service days.
The first season was followed by a six-part epilogue in 2011 showing where the recruits were deployed after graduating from BMT. A second season featuring officer cadets was released in 2012, and an animated series in 2019.
A one-minute trailer for the third season released on Pioneer's Facebook page on Friday showed recruits doing outfield training and taking part in an Individual Physical Proficiency Test.
The show will focus on six recruits aged between 19 and 21, including Recruit Jasnam Singh, who is described in a So Drama! Entertainment fact sheet as being "soft spoken and a thinker".
To him, national service is mandatory and something he has to do to contribute to nation building, said the fact sheet. "While he is not negative about national service, he would prefer doing something else."
Another recruit featured is Dinie Zikry Rudi, who is worried about how fasting during the Ramadan period will affect his training, said the fact sheet.
The recruits were trained by commanders such as a platoon commander, Second Warrant Officer Arun Kumar, and a section commander, Third Sergeant Galileo Pang, who is himself a full-time national serviceman.
Sixteen bonus episodes will be released by Pioneer for online viewing, featuring additional scenes from the series and interviews.
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