Farmers
vs. Scholars
As with many militaries, there exists numerous rivalries such as
officer/non-officer, combat/logistics divides, Army/Navy/Air Force.
Fortunately, because the members of the SAF are thoroughly
integrated into society at large, there are no major
military/civilian issues.
Apart from such minor divisions, a more important dichotomy is
observed between officers who are polytechnic or local university
graduates (Farmers), and former scholarship
holders who studied overseas (Scholars). This
phenomenon exists because of fast-tracked careers, quick
promotions, a dual-track career in the Civil Service after
mandatory retirement offered as enticement for young men to take up
SAF scholarships. While this state of affairs has existed since the
Singapore government started giving out scholarships, the issue was
mentioned in Parliament for
the first time in a speech decrying the class-consciousness and
social stratification resulting from the existing policies.
Source: www.wikipedia.org