I think he is a permanent resident or perhaps a foreigner who is on employment pass. Perhaps he is a newly minted citizen who escapes full-time NS and 10 years of annual in-camp training reservist liability.
I cannot understand his argument. So putting Singaporean male citizens through 2 years of full-time national service is all right but not "practical" for foreigners who want citizenship to go through the same 2 years of duty, honour and country?
He says:
It makes little sense to disrupt their activities for two years. Whatever social networks they have developed would also need to be rebuilt.But it makes "perfect" sense to disrupt 18/19 year old Singaporean boys out of their journey towards their degrees whilst most of his brain cells and exam taking skills are current but not for foreigners?
But it makes "perfect" sense to disrupt talented Singaporeans boys who could have gone onto music schools to excel in piano, violin or classical music with 2 years of NS during which their skills would have degraded and their dreams of pursuing musical careers derailed?
What type of logic is this? Was not my own 2.5 years a delay in obtaining my Bachelor of Accountancy? Was not my own 2.5 years a 2.5 years delay in starting my career and earning $$$ in Singapore Inc?
Were not my social networks developed, i.e. JC friends and acquaintenances, disrupted? What does FuChun has to say to all those NSFs whose girlfriends ditched them when they started undergraduate studies?
What planet is Xiao FuChun from?
It certainly is not planet logic as his argument about "specific kind of fitness" is also totally without merit. Reservists serve in combat vocations until age 40 for enlisted men and 50 for officers. They have to take IPPT up to that age. IPPT for those who are not Singaporean male citizens comprises a 2.4km run (to be completed around 12-13+minutes depending on age). There is also the shuttle run, broad jump, sit-ups and chin-ups.
I have seen 39+ year old reservist pioneer third sergeant leopard crawl with me through an assault course during BCTC when I was a "young" 32 years of age. Mind you, the bulk of the Singapore Armed Forces infantry comprises of reservists way older than 19-21 years.
He is talking nonsense. The SAF comprises people (if not medically excused) who up to age 40 or 50 who take annual IPPT and do rather strenuous activities in defence of the nation.
Don't use age as an excuse for not wanting to step up to accept the responsibilities of citizenship even as they eagerly covet the economic benefits of holding on the that little pink NRIC!
So it's really a case of jobs for FT and NS for Singaporeans!!!!
Majullah Singapura.
P.S. Is the Straits Times deliberately trying to provoke reservists when they publishing such crap in the forum?
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NS for New Citizens Not Practical, oh really
Make English and Modified NS a Must
NS for adult citizens not practical
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NS for adult new citizens not practical
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
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11 comments:
Panzer, I love letters like these as it really goes to show that most of the FTs just want to enjoy the economic benefits without have to pay a price for nationhood. Let them continue to shoot themselves in the foot.
I agree the letter writer makes perfect sense. It has been too long that women and FT pretend that NS is a rite of passage and not a painful sacrifice.
In fact, even for nations with military service, I'm not aware of any that combines a long full time service with a long and highly active reservist obligation. Israel has a long full time service, but their reserves are only called upon in times of war. The Swiss has long reserve duty, but only a few months of full time service to kick things off. Our NS regime is Uniquely (screwing) Singapore(an men). What Xiao Fuchun states is true, for FTs, Singaporean men or women.
The elephant in the room is the question why Singaporean women are exempt from NS? Shameless feminist like Dana Lam would say child bearing is NS. The irony is rich for a nation with the lowest birthrate in the world.
I am not advocating women or FT serve NS. I am asking Singapore to be reasonable to Singaporean men and seriously cut back our NS obligations before Singapore citizenship gets more devalued than the Zimbabwe dollar.
Dear Sylvester
I really wonder about the Straits Times agenda.
I don't think they are that naive to think that FuChun's letter is not offensive to all NSFs and NSmen who sacrificed 2-2.5 years plus reservist obligations to the country.
We risk our lives and still get shafted when we compete economically with these foreigners?
That is why I am glad my first child is a girl. No NS for her!
Dear Jimmy
I agree.
NS should be for all.
The debate should be what form of NS and not NS itself.
As it stands, Singaporean men bear the unfair burden of NS obligations without commensurate rights. I.e. I risk my life by doing reservist but yet I risk my job ESPECIALLY if my employer is foreigner and doesn't give a frack about NS!
I can understand why men should be in military vocations. But there are many other non-combat support vocations transportation, logistics, communications etc that can be undertaken by women in peacetime without combat. Even during combat, you need people to support the war-fighting machinery that is waging war in the defence of Singapura.
Change we must believe in. And we need to each of us exercise our ability to change how policies are defined and implemented in Singapore.
Majullah Singapura.
There are 5 families are (3 local, 1 PR and 1 foreigner) living without street lights. While there is no street light, walking on the streets late at night pose lots of risk (e.g. robbery). Law enforcer claimed that local families have the duty to keep the county save hence have to contribute to the installation of the street lamps. The other two families, one of the two families (PR) has an option to contribute and the other (foreigner) is not required to.
The PR may choose not to contribute as they can always give birth to their babies in other country and being them in as foreigners when they are old enough and enjoy good education and security at the expense of the local here as a PR again. The cycle will roll on and on… and then they still can enjoy the free security provided by the local people.
The family who are working here is not required to contribute, perfectly knows that they can enjoy the security (lighting) even if they do not pay for it. When the lighting is up, they are not satisfied. The foreign family wants to have security personal which make up of the locals (after the local is back from work) prowling around their house for free while they are resting at home in peace preparing for tomorrow work.
Conclusion: The IC that a local hold is only worth a peanut. Both PR and foreigner know that. They do not want to hold local IC however if they do the reason could be they only want the strong local dollar or the local status to go to other county. When the local starts to realize this, everyone would start to WISH to leave the country, because no one wants to be taken advantage of.
Dear making noise is a fact of life
You are spot-on.
Many PRs know that the difference between them and holding the pink IC is relatively insignificant when it comes to economic benefits. But holding a pink IC and being male and medically fit for NS has a big disadvantage to your freedom and 2 years + 10 years of annual ICT + risking your life.
Who wants to see their sons being put at risk by Mindef for the defence of the country even during peacetime?
Look at the number of senseless deaths e.g. recent incident where landrover rolled and killed NSF Second Lieutenant (2LT) Chan Wei Kit Nicholas. You will find PRs laughing at us for sacrificing our sons for nothing significantly much for them.
Majullah Singapura.
I think it make more sense for New Citizen to serve reservist. Recall them back for in camp training 2 to 3 weeks per year for 10 years under civil defence or police force.
Getting them to serve 2 yr of NS is a bit hard to implement.
Many good points raised.
Military NS might not be practical as much as NS in other sectors for PRs. Military NS could be too sensitive for non-citizens, all things equal.
I think community service like 300 hours a year would be cool. They can mix with locals and contribute to the community in fuzzy warm feeling ways rather than bear arms and digging shellscrapes.
Thank you for the insightful blogpost. The Singapore Democrats have featured your post in our blogs of the week section – http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/blogs-of-the-week
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