I do agree with some forumers here that we are living in a multi
racial country and by using Gurkhas because they are a neutral
force and hence more suitable for handling situations such as
racial riots.
Is that the only Gurkha duties?Well guys, things are not as simple
as that.
If we really need to have them in Singapore, i think we should have
a neutral department to command the Gurkha.
What if the person in power misuse his power to command the Gurkhas
to do something nasty against our own people?
View your comments please!!!
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Posted by Gopalan Nair at 3:02 PM
The Gurkhas, men from Nepal have been an integral part of the
British Army since the early 18th Century, forming The Brigade of
Gurkhas. They have served with distinction in various theaters of
war, firstly against the Afghans in the North West Frontier, then
the First World War in Gallipoli, Palestine and France and in
Burma, Malaya, North Africa, Italy and France in the 2nd War. The
Gurkhas unlike regular British troops in battle, charge at the
enemy at close quarters, with drawn kukris (Gurkha swords) instead
of fixed bayonets and with their customary shrill piercing cry
"Aayaaoo Gurkhali" translated as "The Gurkhas are coming" in Hindi
and Gurkhali, a cry so piercing and terrifying that hearing the cry
alone can cause the enemy to flee in terror. 
They have a unique way of carrying their weapon the 0.762mm, SLR
rifle, based on the FN Belgium design, which they carry
horizontally while marching, carried by the handle grip, whereas
all other soldiers carry it by the pistol grip, which makes the
rifle vertical during marching. 
It has been said that during the Falklands War, 400 miles east of
Terra Del Fuego, or Cape Horn, South America in the Atlantic, after
the Gurkhas landed, it was sufficient for the RAF to drop
leaflets over enemy Argentine positions, merely saying that the
Gurkhas have landed and are sharpening their Kukris, for the
conscript Argentine army to flee for their lives.
True or fiction, I cannot tell.
Anyhow, let me come to the point. The British fought almost a 30
year war against the separatist Irish Republican Army in Northern
Ireland. Various British Army units were dispatched to Northern
Ireland for this war. But not once, did the British Army
deploy the Gurkhas. The reason was that the British felt that
although it was a war, the enemy was also British, since Northern
Ireland was part of Great Britain and therefore it was morally
wrong, repugnant, to deploy Gurkhas who were in essence foreign
mercenaries against their own people, the Irish. This was a moral
decision from which they did not waiver as it was unacceptable in
the minds of the British for foreigners to fight against their
own. 
Whatever
one could say about British injustices, one cannot possibly
begrudge them of having honor integrity and moral principle in
this, their stand.
But Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, does not appear to have the
same moral compunction that the British have on this point. Just
the opposite. 
On the contrary, the Singapore Army does not have any
Gurkha units. Strange, since one would have thought that if you are
going to have Gurkhas, where else to employ them other than the
Army to fight foreign enemies in the event of external aggression.
Lee Kuan Yew does not appear to worry too much about foreign
enemies, and he is quite satisfied that Singapore's conscript army
can very well deal with external aggression.
In Singapore, on the other hand, the Singapore Police Force has a
Gurkha Contigent, which appears to have grown in strength from
numbering about 200 in it's first days to over 2000 strong today.
The police force's duty being the enforcement of law and order
within Singapore, it would appear that Lee Kuan Yew, in
deploying Gurkhas in the Police Force appears more afraid of what
Singaporeans would do to him, rather than what foreign enemies
would do to Singapore! From this, one could guess perhaps,
that Lee Kuan Yew knows that large numbers of Singaporeans
hate him and hate his family so much, that they may, at the
slightest provocation rise up in arms and revolt, which would mean
the end of the Lee family's iron rule over Singapore, and if this
happens, he will be able to rely on the power of the Gurkhas to
quell such a rebellion. Otherwise why the need for Gurkhas
in the Singapore Police Force? Why does he not trust his own
Singaporean police to do the job? And why are there not Gurkhas in
the Singapore Army where they belong?
This is a case of fear. Fear both ways. Lee fears his
people, so he deploys the Gurkhas. The people fear him and what the
Gurkhas might do to them if they rebel. A country that carries on
in a state of fear. One can only be sorry both for Lee Kuan Yew and
the people of Singapore. 
Surely there can be a better way to live.
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Singapore Dissident
http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/02/singapore-gurkha-brigade-british-army.html
