well then ... you smoked me with your profile then ... but
nevermind, say you did then ... 
the reason I asked that question, is because I want to make sure
that you understand that kind of sacrifice that NSmen make ...
surely you remember the burnt weekends prowling around a camp
somewhere, or doing life firing exercises .....
now I don't want to go on ranting here, it's not about wanting
other people to suffer and step through the same turd that we did,
and perhaps for me personally, it's not just about equality alone
...
every society, every nation, requires and extracts some price for
citizenship, and taking up arms to defend his or her nation, is a
very elemental and fundamental expression of that, the fact that
certain other societies does not extract such a price at this
particular moment in time, does not mean that such a requirement
doesn't exist, the exigencies of the geo-political realities of our
region is such that this price is a neccessary burden for our
society, nobody likes to run around in the jungle carrying a rifle,
and no goverment likes to spend money on something so intangible in
peace ... defence exerts such a heavy price on any society,
economically and socially, no ? ... but of course, as you've
pointed out, it's not about absconding from NS, but about deferment
, right ? ...
as Mushroom has pointed out, the system would fail if it the policy
is not applied equally to everyone, no ? ... where do we draw the
line then ? ... as the bear has pointed out ? ... you know,
personally, I think the powers-that-be and the bureaucrats have
been quite flexible to many individual cases already, I remember
reading about some chaps being granted a deferrment of several
months to participate in an online gaming competition (personal
view on that case : 
) ...
I think, as I've posted, it's not about us being afraid of loosing
the next beethoven or mozart ... (or even vanessa mae ! ) ... the
society doesn't really care about that, no body in Singapore would
starve if this chap turns out to be the next big thing ... nor is
mindef going to miss one particular rifleman gone off to twang a
few strings ... but simply put, doesn't it make a mockery of the
rest of us who has put in our time, paid our dues (and some of us
with our very lives ? ... remember the drowned sniper, rest his
soul ? ) ... it's not about him or his talents here, but the system
... each of us has our "first loves" too, to quote you, but so many
of us has interrupted our lives and put our goals and aspirations
on hold to fulfil this obligation, should he be an exception
?
and to reply to the qst_08 chap, I shall use a very simple analogy,
something I've put across twice here, sure, we are protecting the
assets of some foreigners and perhaps even some fat cats elites,
but let's say if the groundfloor of your HDB flat catches fire, are
you going to stand idly by and do nothing because you'd be saving
the properties of your hated neighbour too ? ... (can read more of
that here
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=182016)
perhaps I'm something of a blinkered idealist, but I believe in
having a stake in the society that one is living in, it need not be
Singapore, it can be any other country or society that one feel is
better able to fulfil one's aspirations, lifestyles, dreams,
whatever (heck, to be honest, I've been thinking of that myself,
for I'm starting to love the society that I'm currently living in
right now) by all means, go ahead, I'd wish him the very best in
his new life, for we cannot choose the country of our birth, but we
can certainly choose the country that we love, no ? ... but don't
every look back, embrace and entrench yourself in the society that
you want to spend the rest of your life in ... I like to think that
one should always be prepared to pay the price of that society's
citizenship, for otherwise, you'd be nothing but a leach, feeding
off that society, no ? ... it's a hard thing to accept in this day
and age of course, but that's where I stand ...
