Thursday, July 19, 2018

Review our National Service strategy

The difficulty faced by Mindef in dealing with the request by Ben Davis to defer the NS call-up reflects a policy that is clearly out of date.

We are not in the same situation as 1965. More than 50 years have passed.

a) We now have a military capability that is much stronger than our neighbors.

b) We do not need the same degree of sacrifice from our NS men.

c) This sacrifice has a serious impact on our male citizens in competing for jobs against foreign workers and females. It also delay their entry into the job market by two years.

d) It also caused a delay of at least two years for them to start a family. It must be an important factor in our low birth rate.

There is no need for us to continue the old concept of giving extensive training for two years to the conscripts and having regular reservist training to mold them into a combat ready unit.

This approach was needed in the initial years, but is no longer necessary now. It was never called into practice for five decades.

I suggest the following approach:

a) Training our recruits for one year to get the basic military skills.

b) Stop the reservist training.

c) Have a bigger professional army.

d) In the event of hostility, call up the reserves for refresher training. Hopefully, this is not necessary.

e) Pay an adequate allowance to the NS men for the one year of conscripted service. This should be similar to what they can get in the job market. This will reduce the sacrifice that they have to make. The nation can afford to pay them adequately.

f) Be ready to grant deferment to young people with special talent in sports and music. We do not need them to be soldiers. We have enough of them.

It is time for us to find a new approach that fits the circumstances of today.

Tan Kin Lian

http://tklcloud.com/Conv/feedback2.aspx?id=139

3 comments:

Yujuan said...

All these years had met a lot of Singaporeans migrating to protect their sons against the dreaded NS+ Reservist obligations, and these are highly trained local talents plus with money will run.
There you are, chasing away our own talents, and the Govt forced to import foreign talents to replace them. To rub salt into the wound, these new migrants imported dun need to serve NS, and even given Ministerial posts in the Cabinet some more.
People say if you chase after paper qualifications, your brain becomes inflexible, can't think out of the box, just followers according to the SOP type.
Stupidity really has no cure, as still resistant to change, stuck at last century thinking mode.

Anonymous said...

Since when has Mindef become a psychic too?
Defamation?


Ben Davis has no intention to fulfil NS duties; actions meant to further his professional career: MINDEF

Anonymous said...

Don't think Davis would even dare to ask for deferment, if no others were deferred before. Who dare to go against them?

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