ANyone read this letter published in the straits times by
someone who was called for his first ICT at 36 yrs old, just 4 yrs
shy of ROD
NSman called up for first ICT at age 36
The Straits Times
Sep 6, 2006
I WAS surprised to receive notice recently of my first In-Camp
Training (ICT) at the age of 36.
How could Mindef expect NSmen to complete the full cycle of their
ICT if they start only at 36? Does it mean that NSmen have to go
for longer and more frequent ICTs each year in order to do
so?
As most NSmen of this age are at the peak of their careers and many
are in senior-management positions, going for ICT would definitely
affect business operations.
More importantly, most of these NSmen would have families with
young children. They have to manage both busy work schedules and
taking care of the family.
I have appealed for deferment after the first request was rejected.
Until today, I have not heard from Mindef despite numerous calls to
the National Servicemen Services Centre (NSSC). I was told by the
NSSC staff that they could not transfer my call to the person
in-charge, nor could the person in-charge call me or my
employer.
I didn't even know which was my unit until I called the NSSC to
find out, and even then the staff do not have the contact number of
the unit.
Tan Thiam Huat
Okay the point is not that he should not complain at all, after all
without any special reasons all have to serve reservist.
I am just curious how come Mindef waited so long and decided to
call him up for reservist. I am sure he has not been called to do
any ippt at all which means that he is most likely not very fit at
all since he is not pressured to go for IPPT like active NSmen. The
thing that i can sympathize with him is he is not mentally prepared
at all, therefore you can see what his grievances are.
Can anyone explain why some people are not even called up for
reservist at all? Was this some cockup by some personnel or maybe
the computer? I am very curious epscially when it comes to
reservist some ppl kenna alot of shit but some of them just get
away with it. Of course the fault also lies with mr Tan who instead
of being mentally prepared or taking some initiative to find if he
has reservist liablities or find some official way to siam he just
played russian rolette and assumed mindef forgot about him, well he
lost and mindef calls him back at a time when he is at his career
peak, mentally unprepared and most likely physically unfit.
ANyone in here knows why mindef sometimes leave out some ppl? How
are the people selected to go for ICT and which units are they
selected to be posted to?
