The worst part of their NS is the fact it is not universal.
Those that served their NS will come to resent those that did not.
Given the incidence of corruption in Malaysia (not a bash on the
country, just an observation), they will need to worry even more
about “white horses” and “draft dodgers”. The resentment caused in
the US over the selective draft during the Vietnam war, especially
when influential or rich families could get their kids out of the
draft, is a warning. Our own controversy over WHs is another. A
national obligation like NS must be universal and fair in its
application. Otherwise it will create even more division, and no
one will take it seriously, defeating its entire purpose. It may
help that their NS is relatively short and undemanding, with little
risk of injury or death (unlike the Vietnam war, and to an extent
our own NS), but even that small price to pay will burn if others
don’t need to pay it.
