CupNoodle said:
its like we have been trying to put across to the government that 2 years is actually sufficient to be operational ready. its after so many years they finally realised that. sheesh!
Why did the government take such a long time to implement this change?
A bit of the Singapore History. Singapore is a small, open-economy. From a small fishing village to a developed nation, it has sailed through many challenges in the past especially in the 50's and 60's.
Given the trend of Globalisation and Industrialisation, Singapore is bound to face much more challenges ahead, magitiude might vary.
The government is facing with some sort of trade-off, i.e. national defense vs economic growth. Thus, after so many years of analysis etc, they have decided to shorten the NS service term. Everyone knows that the government is very prudent and cautious when they make policy changes.
Actually, shortening NS service term will bring many benefits (both tangibles and intangibles) to the nation. It would be good to reduce the term to 1-1.5 years similar to Taiwan, and reservist term to age 35. The emphasis should be on the quality of training and not quantity, i.e. no. of years. What's the point of having so long training if you were to pamper the soldiers, such as air-con bunks, etc. Remember those days that you needed to force-march to Camp I and III in Tekong from the jetty, now, there is transport to bring you into the camp. Too much of a welfare??? That's not talk about physcially fit or not, how about your mental cultivation? This is the most important element in a soldier. "It's all in your mind", a term used in the army. Once your mental is weak , no matter how fit you are, you will not be able go through any obstacles, may it in the army or in life.
To summarise, these are the potential benefits of shortening NS service term :
1) Early entry for Poly and University under-graduates
2) Early contribution to the work force. Thus stimulate economic growth :thumbsup:
3) Narrow the gap between our female/foreign counterparts in terms of working experience, salary scale, etc (Note that in the private sector, working experience is what the employers are looking for, and not the no. of years you have charged up the hills)
4) Due to earlier participation in the workforce, more savings can accumulated
5) With more savings, you can start dating, getting married earlier :embrass:
6) More time for social life, family
7) More time available to make babies if you settle down earlier
8) More time to go for skills upgrading/studies in order to stay competitive (Upgrade!!!, sound familiar?) :sweat:
9) Less migration by young talented/professional people (These poeple think for their next generations)
Many years ago, I was in a meeting where there were few foreigners. Most of them are professionals, some even have PhD titles, etc. Guess how old are they? They are in the mid 20's. Oh my god, a PhD guy in the mid 20's compared to my friend who is a Singaporean still struggling his PhD at age of 30. Sigh, right? All because these people don't need to serve any NS. They have saved 3 years to pursue their studies or whatever they are pursing. Foreign talents finished their basic degree at the age of 21-22 on average while we are still charging up the hills. They gave me a smile "Heng" man, that we didn't need to serve NS.
Ironically, we are being some sort of mind-washing that skills upgrading/further studies is the key to your long-term employability and survivability. The question is "Do you really have the time"? to do some many things given you are limited to 24 hours a day. :think: