http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/200527/1/.html
SINGAPORE : 50 young women from the National Youth Achievement
Award Council had a taste of army life at the Basic Military
Training Centre on Wednesday.
The tour at Pulau Tekong aims to help them understand the
importance of defence and National Service.
They got a first look, first touch and even first taste of what the
men, who could be their brothers or boyfriends, go through on Pulau
Tekong.
They visited the bunks, were shown the hardware and were treated to
combat rations.
The girls are part of a youth leadership programme ([email protected]) led
by the council's advisor Irene Ng, who is also the Government
Parliamentary Committee Chairman for Defence.
"From my dialogues with young women, I find that they have interest
in security issues but lack awareness of the threats that are
apparent in everyday life. For instance, the terrorist threats that
we face or the occasional threats we hear from the region about our
security. That's what makes us want to build up a strong SAF. They
lack this sense of deep knowledge and conviction, which I think can
only come through if you go through two years of NS," said Irene
Ng, chairman of GPC Defence & Foreign Affairs.
"It opens my eyes to what the guys go through in Singapore. They
are ever ready to defend the country, sometimes you ask yourself as
a female, are you ready to go through what they go through," said
Meishan Krishnan, who participated in the [email protected]
programme.
"At least you get a clearer idea of what they go through. Prior to
that, you only have this fuzzy idea that they go in and come out
but you don't know what they actually go through. Now, we can fully
appreciate what they go through," said Denise He, a participant of
[email protected] programme.
Following this experience, the girls can put forward their views on
National Defence when they meet Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean next
month.
- CNA /ls
