Have you ever wondered if your buddy or another recruit in your
platoon was a "white horse"?
To many people it seemed strange that the armed forces would single
out a small group of soldiers to make sure that they are treated
like everyone else.
And there were widespread suspicion the "white horse" scheme was
being abused and these enlistees were actually being given special
treatment.
Mr Cedric Foo, Minister of State for Defence, said: "Anywhere in
society, there will be people who are more prone to boot-licking,
but let me say it is not a quality in the SAF. And no commanders
who may misinterprete this system although it doesnt exist now and
we don't look too highly upon."
But the Defence Ministry has again defended the "white horse"
label.
Especially since in the early days there were more combat-fit
soldiers than the army needed.
Mr Foo added: "Some of these combat-fit soldiers would be deployed
into non-combat positions. So in order there isn't this perception
that sons of influential Singaporeans are posted to these softer
options, the SAF went through a long-thought process to define who
may influence such NS vocation assignments."
So since the late 1970s, the armed forces had a system to identify
and monitor "white horses" based on who their parents were, what
jobs they held, and how much they earned.
But just who are these "white horses" and how are they identified?
According to a MINDEF directive, there are four categories of
"white horses".
Mr Foo said: "They include sons of ministers, members of
parliament, ex-ministers, ex-MPs, nominated MPs, ex-NMPs, doctors,
senior civil servants like senior SAF officers above the rank of
LTC. Or senior police or SCDF officers above the rank of Deputy
Assistant Commissioner and also a big group of people who earn
$9,500 a month."
But instead of perks and easier training, the Defence Ministry said
there was even greater scrutiny when these "white horses" had to be
downgraded for medical reasons.
And there was a rule that "white horses" could not be posted to
desk jobs at MINDEF.
Yet the system was scrapped in 2000.
The Defence Ministry said it was just not cost-effective to have a
system to track such a small group. - CNA
[/quote]
so desnu! veri ez to be a WH it seems!
