I REFER to last Friday's letter by Mr Michael Ang, 'Make English and modified NS a must'.
National service (NS) is not merely a rite of passage for young male Singaporeans. It was conceived with a specific objective to build up a citizens' army to defend Singapore militarily. This objective remains true today.
It is tempting to argue that foreigners should do NS as a price to pay for Singapore citizenship because many view NS as a liability borne by Singaporeans. However, NS functions as part of a wider framework of the war-fighting doctrine of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), as well as Singapore's national development. Manpower requirements, including those for conscription, must be meticulously identified and implemented.
Many foreigners coming to Singapore are in their late 20s or older. They are already economically productive and can immediately contribute to Singapore's economy. It makes little sense to disrupt their activities for two years. Whatever social networks they have developed would also need to be rebuilt.
Having modified NS is feasible only if it fits in with the overall requirements of the SAF and complements its capability. It is a waste of resources if it exists only to make some people 'serve their duty'.
Furthermore, the largest army corps is the infantry and this is where the SAF needs the most people. However, studies in other countries have shown that the specific kind of fitness needed for infantry soldiers, involving a combination of agility, stamina and tolerance of sleep deprivation, starts to degrade from the late 20s onwards. This is why armies across the world have a lower maximum age to join the infantry.
Xiao Fuchun
MY VIEWS
The Singapore Government has not resolved. I brought this issue up 25 years ago to point out the serious disadvantage faced by our male Singaporeans in having serving National Service, and having to compete for jobs with girls and foreigners. Over the years, this problem has became more serious.
20 comments:
The argument above, that, >>>"Many foreigners coming to Singapore are in their late 20s or older. They are already economically productive and can immediately contribute to Singapore's economy." is NOT Fair.<<< Anyone in their late 20's Singpaorean or non singaporean should already be economically productive!! It is a silly argument to put forth.
The reason why foreigners cannot be expected to serve NS is simple, they will not come if there is NS imposed. Can you imagine, going to a foreign country with the intention of making a new career path for yourself and then you get bogged down to 2 years of hardship doing something you didn't set out to do? So it is impossible to impose NS on foreigner.
Becasue of the above, there is no need for any foreigner to justify himself why they should not serve NS in Singapore. It may seem unfair to singaporean who consume 2 years of his life doing NS whilst foreigner don;t need. But it is like that, if we accept taking in foreigner than Singaproean has to live with it, otherwise singapore should reject foreigners in the first place.
By making a justification such as the statement which Xiao Fuchun said, it will only make Singaporeans angry.
Moreover defending Singapore is a job for Singaporeans to do. It is not whether we like or don't like, it is as natural as the sun rising every morning.
REX
There are 2 sides of coins. One is to see NS as a liability in which a NS man is disadvantaged competition with girls and foreigners. But there is the other side of the coin in which it is an asset. The asset provides stability to the country (thus attracting investments and promote commence), make boys become mature adults and definitely improve the overall fitness of these men. Not to forget the compulsory IPPT forces man to stay fit. Isn't this good?
I have written a letter to the St Times Forum page. I will publish that latter in my blog in a few days time.
Hi,
NS really makes me a grown man but when come to remedial training and reservist, I have been put down by my PR colleagues and superiors. They commented I "geng"(try all means)to go back army training, thus my end of the year ranking always below average. Why? No performance during my absence! Whose fault?
It is about time that Mindef seriously considers a different approach to the composition of a professional military vis-a-vis NSmen. It is difficult to reconcile the need for lowly-paid NSFs against an annual defence budget in excess of $10 billion. The same applies to the NSFs in the SPF and the SCDF. The NSFs are effectively taxed to the tune of their opportunity costs in the 2 or 2.5 years. This is the source of much discontent which the authorities have chosen to overlook.
There should be a gradual transition to ween off the dependence on NSFs, making military service voluntary and professional as it should be (times and circumstances have changed in the last 44 years). Meanwhile, NSFs must be paid at market rates.
Hence we see that the root of the problem lies not in the dichotomy whether new citizens should serve NS; it is the prioritization towards the development of a more professional military force, focusing on the "software" rather than mostly on the hardware.
NS duration in Taiwan is now only 1 year. They plan to do away with conscription in a few years' time and depend entirely on a professional (ie. all regulars) army.
Now the foreigners, thinking that they are talents and true blue Singaporeans are morons, have taken a step further by giving silly excuses why they should not serve NS. By this Fool's reasoning, all National Service should cease when we are in our late twenties but we actually served until we are at least 40, sacrificing our time and energy and families serving ICTs and IPPTs. These foreigners just want the cake and eat it too. They come, take our jobs, take our housing, take our MRT seats and now they do not want to serve NS! What nonsense!!!
one year ns is enough
Since we have foreign talents in all walks of our lives from cleaners to doctors and the latest additions are lawyers, why are we not bringing in Foreign Talents Soldiers?
Xiao Fuchun is probably from CHINA. That's why he will react in this manner.
St Times told me that they will publish my letter next week. I think that they need the time to get reaction from Mindef to my proposals. So, we have to wait.
Well said Mr Tan. Please champion this cause that no opposition dare to take up at the next election. Guarantee all the Singaporean males will vote for you! Respect.
With more FTs and PRs flooding the little red dot, it is timely to revisit this issue.
May be SAF should make up of all regulars since our defence spending is among the highest in the region.
If not enough $, can get from GIC and Temasek, better than let them throw our taxpayers $ into longkangs.
If not enough manpower, Mindef with the help of MOM can always import them from China and India to be our regulars. These imported FTs will be very willing to work longer hrs with less pay.
100 years ago, hundreds of Sikhs and gurkhas were brought from India to Singapore to serve as military personnel. The Brits realized that the best way to defend the territory was by getting the professionals to do it, while the rest were busy shaping modern Singapore. Perhaps it's time to learn from the past!
haha, i wonder where the hearts of the foreign talent lie when war breaks out.
the same applies every where, their heart will never really be with Singapore.
If really there is a war in S'pore even if we don't have any "FTs" in SAF, we will not survive bcos of our size in terms of land and armed forces!
S'pore is just like Kuwait, it will take just days to run our "3G" SAF down and flat.
Therefore we need big brother like the US and an armed forces which makes up of all FTs to protect us while we work hard to pay off our HDB loans and to contribute to the economy by paying taxes to the Govt so that our FTs in SAF can be paid well in order for everyone to achieve "total defence".
Generally Singaporean male are penalised at birth to do National Service. Sacrifice 2 years of their life and suffering disruption to their career by National Service. Will you employ a Foreign Talent or a Singaporean if operation continuity is vital to your company?
To be a Singapore Citizen holding pink IC-Do NS.
To be a Singapore Citizen holding blue IC-Don't Do NS simple as that. They should not get all the benefits as a Singapore Citizens
We can blame the government all we want but I also find singaporean employers are generally not patriotic enough towards their fellow citizens.
I have friends and relatives working in Australia/Canada and i have heard how hard it was for them to get their 1st jobs. The employers there don't "screw" their fellow citizens just to save a few bucks.
Unfortunately here in singapore, its a rat race. Its like the mel gibson movie "Mad-max". Survival of the fittest. Do anything to survive.
Thus, its quite rare for a CEO, Chairman or ex-CEO like Tan Kin Lian to emphatise with a normal singaporean men who has to sacrifice quite a lot for the sake of his country.
These "Senior management" people tends only to think of the bottom-line and usually don't really give a hoot about the average people.
So thanks to Mr Tan for sticking up for the men. I am not taking your stand for us for granted.
One more comment, perhaps Mr Tan can do a survey "where if a war does break out will we singaporeans really want to fight for the country ?".
I know what my answer will be.
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