We may put up a fight in a war, we still have no chance of
winning. The population of Singapore is just not enough to
last.
I understand that having her own army would create a sort-of
psychological defense for Singapore, but crippling or controlling
Singapore is just pointless than if the attacker is sadist, pure
entertainment. And since the world isn't as large as it used to be,
any country waging war would be putting themselves on the pirate
ship's plank.
As with providing citizens with a sense of unity, we do that in
the workplace too. Uniting with a platoon or a division alone,
which throughout the 2 years, a person may only keep in contact
with a few after army. Similar to socialising in somewhere else,
and clearly observable in school.
Why won't the women unite with us?
Though I spoke with flaws, I think being made 19 years through
life, I should have earnt myself a better callsign than
"kid".
Power to belittle; did you pick that up through NS?
At least make NS mandatory for only 1 child in families with
more children.
I can call you 'kid'. Not because of your age, but because
you're acting like one. So suck it up, kiddo.... you'll be given
more colourful callsigns when you're in the army.
You haven't served NS. You have yet to experience it. You said
that yourself. Unite in the workplace? Please. You try uniting with
your bunkmates while listening to a $10 transistor radio. You try
doing push-ups together while silently cursing your unreasonable
platoon sergeant. You try doing area cleaning together only for
your sect comd to waltz in with muddy boots and mess up your beds.
Now THAT'S unity.
As av has pointed out.... have you even bothered trying to find
out more about the SAF? Do you know that we are the biggest and the
most technologically advanced force in South East Asia? Do you know
how many alarm bells we set off around the region when we sent our
ships off the coast of Aceh so soon after the tsunami in 2004?
No one ever said that we can last a battle of attrition. If it
ever came to that, chances are that we'd lose. But if we have to
lose, then let us make the cost of winning so great to the enemy
that they'll have a Pyrrhic victory.
And that's the whole point. We don't just do NS to prepare for
war; we do it to deter others from waging war on us. We may not win
every war, but we can make them bleed so bad that playing punk with
us is not a worthwhile proposition.
We all have a part to play. It is seriously not an exaggeration
when I said that without NS, you WON'T have the freedom to whine
about it on sgforums.
You don't want to do NS for yourself? Fine. But at least do NS
for your family, your friends, your HDB estate, and the sarabat
stall at Simpang Bedok. You don't do your part, and all those
things may well be a distant reality.
As Bear has said.... take the 'me' out of the equation. Start
looking at the big picture, kid!