Idea for National Service

storywolf SG

That already been done long ago, usually the sports folks will get be exempted from the normal duty, have seen a couple of them, who usually not even in the camp, just come back a few day every few months to update their admin, they totally disappear, althought they are in the platoon list.

Moxie SG

my point is using NS time to groom our sports talent

It's outside of any of the uniformed services' business, to be honest, with regards to training & deploying conscripts.

If you think about it, who's to say the athletes would greatly benefit from such a programme anyway? Esp. if they require specialized sporting instructions which the uniformed forces can't plausibly provide (but which a foreign university can).

One solution, I suggest, would be the idea of extending draftable age to the late 20something's, partly to allow civilian youths to exploit their potential (whatever field) to the max. Both Taiwan & South Korea don't restrict their NS call-ups to the 18-20 year old batches, though they have their own motivations. But, applied to Singapore, that'll likely impact the composition of our reservist corps to some degree.

Joshua1975 SG

Maybe National Service should change to for all going in to the Force if that what you think NS is.

Moustache SG

Exactly, national service should not be restricted to only defence and security..it should emcompass, sports excellence, civil defence, baby making (that's a separate topic altogether). Anything that will do good for the benefit of our Nation...hence NATIONAL SERVICE, providing service to our nation..

Moxie SG

I dunno, how do you reconcile the concept of the draft – & regimentation/conscription in general – with sports excellence & baby-making in this day & age?

Moustache SG

A mindset change would help.

Why should National service be limited only to national defence, civil defence ?

The fact is that we have a small population. Every available resource should be put to good use and not wasted.

We may want to broaden our scope of NS.

1. Does making babies to replenish ourselves count as NS ? To me, yes. Why ? because it ensure our survivability in future.

2. Does putting effort and resources to groom a few more Fandi Ahmad count as NS ? Yes. Why ? It gives our country an identity that we can relate to. Sad to say, but do we have an identity ?

These are just some example on what NS should be (my opinion). Others may have other idea..

Moxie SG

Way too right-wing to institutionalize such things - I believe that's the word here.

Baby-making - I think it would have the opposite effect & radicalize the female population instead.

Soccer players - why only zero in on them? Shouldn't other sports "benefit" from your NS idea too &, if so, how do you go about excluding the non-qualifiables? Neither was Fandi a product of such a State programme; he had genius for ability, but can you "bottle" that?

I think a couple of swimmers' recent dilemmas highlight the problem; Fergus Keuk (I think) & another guy said they would give up the sport if they were posted to OCS. Even if they didn't, the SAF certainly doesn't have the resources - or funding, or even the inclination - to help them improve their swimming timings as the environs of a foreign university can. If anything, I expect them to stagnate under the guidance of local coaches.

IMHO Sng Ju Wei's example is the best of making the best of both worlds. I hear he's now serving NS as an overaged conscript (24 years old or thereabouts), this after 7-8 years of Australian tertiary education after leaving ACS midway. That way he can get to maximize his potential in the right setting, & then come back & serve the country. To expand on this approach, I suggest the uniformed services allow such sporting deferments to until the late 20something in age (assuming they've maintained their standards).

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