Dog Tags - betcha didn't know that

Something which majority of Singaporean males will have. The I.D. Tag. Derogatively also known as the dog tag as it looks exactly like one. Functions differ but not significantly.

US I.D tags have information like surname, given name, social security number, blood type and religion.

UK I.D tags have what is referred to as the Big 6 - surname, initials, service number, date of birth, blood type and religion.

The information on the I.D tag is really important. Especially when you are dead, seriously wounded, in a state of unconsciousness, unable to speak, berserk, you know I could go on, but you should have caught my drift.

The surname/name/initials is really important. So that when they cut a tombstone for you, they know what is to be engraved on it. Otherwise you'd be like a million other ANONs around the world. I've got a colleague who's initials are K I and his surname is NG. Cool huh? K I NG. Then there is the classic S A TAN. The religion information will determine where your body ought to rest, and in which manner your funeral service should be conducted. But frankly, in a war situation, bodies get jumbled up pretty easily. And when everything is reduced to just mush and bones....it doesn't really matter anymore.

So to prevent bodies from mixing up I.D tags are given in pairs. This way, during the exigencies of war, when your body may not be extracted from the war zone, at least one of it will stay with the carcass that was formerly you, while your buddy, who will hopefully stay alive to find his way back to base camp hangs onto the other piece and surrenders the tag to the manpower officer of something.

Other information like blood type, drug allergy and such allow the doctors to provide the correct medical care for you. But information like drug allergy can be dangerous if they fall onto the hands of your enemy. Imagine you have a allergy to grains and nuts. Your enemy can then feed you with an Uncle Toby's muesli bar and watch in glee as you convulse and die a painful death. No bullets wasted. Free show some more. Or if you're like me, allergic to Celine Dion, they can tie me up and play back the video of "My Heart Will Go On" and listen to my plea for a quick and easier death.

Singapore Armed Force I.D tags have three basic information. Identity number, blood type and religion. If you have drug allergy or G6PD deficient, I suppose they will engrave it on the tag. SAF tags are issued in pairs, one a circular piece the other a oval piece. It comes with a black nylon cord. The idea is to tie the circular tag first and have the oval piece looped in a separate knotted section so that in the event that your buddy gotta leave your body behind, he can snap the circular tag from the cord and keep the oval tag with the body.

Identity number is pretty straight forward - SXXXXXXXX or TXXXXXXXX (for those born in the new millennia). As is the blood type. A, B, O and AB. Rhesus (+ or -) is also included. What is interesting is the three letter acronym for religion. Let's go through them. They are pretty interesting.

No Religion - NIL
Ok, this one needs not explanation. Except maybe why "No Religion" is NIL and not NOR. Just being anal.

Islam - MUS
Thanks to the father, the son and the holy Goh, we Singaporeans can recognise that MUS probably mean that the guy/gal is a MUSlim. And not Master of the ,UniverSe. You see, National Education, Social Studies and the Civics and Moral Education crap did pay off!

Buddhism - BUD
Come every lunar first and fifteenth day, Buddhist will offer lotus flowers. Well maybe not. But now that I've said it, it seems believable that they do offer lotus right? Hence the botanically-influenced three letter acronym. It may be mistaken by Navy Seals for Basic Underwater Demolition though....Or mistaken for a tag to exchange for a crate of Budweiser.

Hinduism - HDU
Who would have guessed? Again, thanks to National Education etc etc, we can hazard a guess that HDU means Hindu. And not Hiding Down Under. But what happens if Hindus are not Hindus but Hindoos instead? They would it mean that we should change it to HDO?

Catholicism - CTH
It's just not intuitive. It just isn't.

Seventh-Day Adventist - 7DA
Finally! A digit! Ok, no Kelloggs and Cornflake Girl jokes. They have Sabbath on Saturdays. So special. So their I.D tag also special. Got digit in three letter acronym. Which means it's technically not a three letter acronym cause there are only two letters. And a digit.

Christianity - CHR
It's just not intuitive. It just isn't.

Jehovah Witness - JWH
It's just not intuitive. It just isn't. What's worse is this. Jehovah Witnesses do not believe in bearing arms for any nation. So....why would they need an I.D tag for? Seriously now.....

Taoism - TAO
It's just SO intuitive. It just is.

Baha'i - BAH
Sadly....

Sikhism - SIK
No jokes on this one. However you shorten it, it still sounds right.

Judaism - JUD
How come it's not JEW or something. Oh, yah, not all Judaists are Jews and vice versa. But JEW would have been sweet but hey, JUD (hahaha.....super lousy joke there) works to I guess.

Other Religion - OTH
Ok, so imagine Tom Cruise is a chao recruit and he collects his I.D tag. Instead of seeing a "SCI" for Scientology, he gets a OTH. It doesn't mean "Other Than Hell" or "OnTo Hell" for having a weird religion....It just mean Others. Like in your Identity Card, when you are not Chinese, Malay or Indian, you must be Others. Sounds like an episode of Lost to me.


Which led me to wonder.....there are nine official religions in Singapore:
Hindu, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Bahá'í.

So how come there isn't a unique three letter thingie for Zoroastrian? Like ZOR? Or ZRT?