SDP proposes alternative NS policy
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http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4470-sdp-proposes-alternative-ns-policy- SDP proposes alternative NS policy Wednesday, 05 January 2011 Singapore Democrats National Service (NS), or army conscription in Singapore, was first introduced in 1967 due to pressing issues such as national security after Singapore's "forced" independence in 1965. In 1971, the British completely pulled out of Singapore. It has been 41 years since the introduction of NS. Since then the world and Asia has changed significantly in terms of security and economic arrangements. But has Singapore's conscription policy kept up with these changes to reflect and cope with the new geopolitical landscape? First let us review the service that all able-bodied 18-year-old male Singaporeans have to undergo. Basic Military Training, or BMT, is the "boot camp" for all new recruits. This lasts for three months whereupon the soldier then gets posted out to other units for further specialised training. The conscripts then serve the remainder of their two-year stint polishing up their combat skills. Following the two years of full-time service, NSmen are required (for up to 40 days a year) to serve in a part-tme capacity until they are 50 years old for commissioned officers and 40 for others. SDP's solutions: The PAP's NS policy is outmoded and does not serve the interests of Singapore and the people. The Singapore Democrats propose reforming the system in the following ways: Reduce the two-year full-time service In an age where warfare has turned to "smart" technology, is it still logical and necessary for Singapore to insist that its National Servicemen undergo 24 months months of active, full-time service? Such a policy is rare among countries that maintain a conscription policy. On the right is a list of countries with periods of full-time conscript service. The overwhelming majority of the conscription systems limit their length of services to no more than 12 months. The more advance countries like Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland all have full-time services that are less than one year. Given the situation in Singapore there is no reason why we cannot employ more efficient training methods and reduce full-time NS from the present two years to twelve months or less. At the moment, NSmen are exploited for their services to glorify the PAP during National Day parades. The energy and time of these men can be put to more productive use in the real economy than as entertainment for the PAP regime. In addition they are exploited as cheap labour filling posts such as police officers, fire-firefighters and extra-hands during big events. In must be remembered that the Enlistment Act was enacted for a specific purpose and any detraction from that purpose must be rejected. Expand professional army To compensate for the decrease in the number of active and reservist NSmen, the Singapore Armed Forces should expand a professional army recruitment to complement the reduction in the number of conscripts. Reduce reservist training The current period of reserve training is a burden on the servicemen and, by extension, the economy. In addition, reservists have to contend with migrant workers in terms of remuneration and promotion when employers compare local men who have to be away for weeks in anyone year to foreign workers who have no such obligation. This unfair competition takes place at a time when men settle down and start families in their 30s. Job stability and career prospects are essential during this period. To minimise this problem the span of a serviceman's reservist training should not go beyond the age of 30. In addition, the human body goes into decline after the age of 30. To maintain the military in top condition, it makes little sense to keep men over the age of 30 in the frontline. The period of Operationally-Ready NS training cycles should be cut to five instead of the current ten. Allow for conscientious objectors What about people who do not believe that it is right for them to do military service due to moral, religious or ethical grounds? At the moment such conscientious objectors are charged and imprisoned for the length of their service. In some of the countries that have compulsory military service, there is also a provision for conscientious objectors to serve in non-combat roles. There is an argument that this would open the flood gates for men to opt for non-combat positions. Such a loophole can be plugged by increasing the length of active service by, say, six months. The experiences of other countries like Germany and Sweden have not been negative in this aspect where males try to avoid combat service by claiming to be conscientious objectors. Be transparent Obligation in Singapore seems to be a one-way street. While the Government holds the people accountable for their NS liabilities, the Ministry of Defence remains non-transparent and non-accountable in their dealings with the public. Training fatalities and injuries of NSmen are not made known to the public as a matter-of-course. The Government which compels the people to give their lives for the country are obliged to be absolutely transparent with information pertaining to safety issues. Compensation for deaths and injuries must also be reviewed and revised upwards. Improve diplomacy and foreign relations In order for Singapore to reduce the chances of armed conflict with other countries, we need to improve our foreign relations and diplomatic skills. The recent revelations by Wikileaks where our senior diplomatic officials made disparaging remarks against our closest neighbours are not the way forward. We must embark on an enlightened foreign policy approach where we work with our ASEAN neighbours instead of treating them with disdain. Instead of practising one-upmanship, a new approach must be adopted. This should include signing treatises and conducting military exercises with the ultimate aim of forming a regional defence force. Such a move will also address the problem of discrimination against Singaporeans who are Muslims. Building up trust and confidence with our Malay-Muslim neighbours in areas of military defence will eliminate this problem as we work towards a peaceful and friendly co-existence instead of the suspicious and hostile atmosphere that currently exists. Such an approach will also help us reduce our defence budget which is more than $11 billion, or 25 percent of our national budget. A reduction in military spending will allow us to divert more resources to other areas such as healthcare and other aid for the elderly and poor. Conclusion The SDP's alternative NS policy will go a long way to address the many problems that currently burden Singaporean males and their families. It is forward looking and sensible. Most important it will afford our country continued security as well as sustainable progress that this country needs. Be our supporters: http://www.facebook.com/yoursdp
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still who's going to defend e country?
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lan jiao....... i already MR, not my problem liao.......
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25 % of our national budget or 11 billion usd is spent every year on the millitary,singapore's gdp only 182 billion how the hell they get $44 billion in taxes?maybe singapore should invade hong kong to recover the $11 billion spent every year on the military or just ask america to help us invade malaysia for weapons of mass destruction.
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NS is redundant now because we are too dependent on neighboring countries. And Singapore will just collapse if the foreigner decide to leave.
The age for NS should be lowered as there is lot of medical problem when people gets old. So it is inefficiency and unnecessary to go for medical reviews and write service injury report for NS men.
Somehow I think that SDP is using their brain now to propose alternative policy to make Singapore better. This is the way to go. Instead of putting down on what PAP has done wrong, they should propose new ideas.
We should seek for solutions and not faults. As faults is not productive, solution is.
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Originally posted by sbst275:
still who's going to defend e country?
Perhaps you are still sleeping?
People are more interested in defending their rice bowl rarer than Singapore now. And we will leave this place without doubt when we can survive.
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Originally posted by sbst275:
still who's going to defend e country?
What's there to defend? The platinium mine under bukit timah hill? The trees that sprout gold leaves at dempsey hill?
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Originally posted by ditzy:
What's there to defend? The platinium mine under bukit timah hill? The trees that sprout gold leaves at dempsey hill?
defend our rich foreign investors and mighty corporations of course,the only thing singaporeans own are overinflated pieces of property
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protecting one's country is glorious and should be uncalled for....it is a discipline and honour for one self and his family........the issue here is how to compensate soldiers who had completed their dues with all unlimited liabilities risked…
how do we ensure they are not affected by economic changes given the time spent on national service…
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SDP proposes alternative NS policy - have too many faults !!!
1) reduce it to NS to 1 year ? too short.
normal soldiers - 3mths bmt , + converison course - already 1/2 year gone !! go operational just to ROD ?
NCO + officers - 3mth bmt + nco or officer course + conversion course - already ROD haha !!!
Moron idea of SDP !!! Smart technology also need operators to be train to operate them. Dumb !!!
2) Allow for conscientious objectors
SDP = super dumb party ? Hello next thing you know everyone in singapore also declare conscientious objectors = everyone no need to do NS !!!
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Maybe the govt should buy group insurance for our soliders which is very cheap?
Like normal soliders cover 50k insurance, officers $100k insurance, others like guards, commandos etc gets 300k insurance coverage?
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Lower voting age to 19.5. That is the average age of most NSFs.
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Originally posted by ditzy:
What's there to defend? The platinium mine under bukit timah hill? The trees that sprout gold leaves at dempsey hill?
no pt mention anything to ditzy
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Originally posted by ditzy:
What's there to defend? The platinium mine under bukit timah hill? The trees that sprout gold leaves at dempsey hill?
u are defending spore so u can take yer exclusive ippt membership and gold guilded remedial trainings. -
Originally posted by storywolf:
SDP proposes alternative NS policy - have too many faults !!!
1) reduce it to NS to 1 year ? too short.
normal soldiers - 3mths bmt , + converison course - already 1/2 year gone !! go operational just to ROD ?
NCO + officers - 3mth bmt + nco or officer course + conversion course - already ROD haha !!!
Moron idea of SDP !!! Smart technology also need operators to be train to operate them. Dumb !!!
2) Allow for conscientious objectors
SDP = super dumb party ? Hello next thing you know everyone in singapore also declare conscientious objectors = everyone no need to do NS !!!
NS is basically a form of cheap labour which the government readily utilise.
There is no other purpose of having a conscript army, when close to half of your population is make up of foreigners. (when you exclude the number of local children and elderly, i think the foreign adult population might be equal to our local adult singaporean population.)
we are already an occupied state without anyone making a consious effort to deal with the problem. Even our minster of health is a M'sian...
and what makes you think that the course duration for NS currently is enough?
who defines that you need a minimum of 3 months for BMT, or 6/9 months for command school?
basic military training means you are to be trained in the very basic stuff. e.g. how to operate a rifle. how to march. how to camp outfield. how to dig trench, shellscrape etc.
one have to be mentally challenged to require 3 months to learn that.you can easily pick up the skills to operate a gun in hours, and that is if you are a slow learner. as for hole digging, no need to say. and camping outfield for 5 days isn't something that you practice during bmt.
1 day for gun operation, 1 day for foot drills, 1 week for the marches, 1 week for field camp. you can essentially complete bmt in less than 3 weeks.
and its no secret that soldiers spend most of their time doing nothing. they are simply in the army to make up the numbers, so that we can boast of an active standing force of 50000.
and defend what singapore? if anyone want to attack spore, they just need to attack on a saturday, where almost everyone is resting at home, booking out on weekends, etc. it would be hard to even muster 10% of the so-called standing forces of 50,000.
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and a point to note, if countries like taiwan, germany, switzerland can limit NS to 1 yr, and still remain credible, i don't see why singapore couldn't.
unless you are telling me that there are no NS NCO/officers in those countries.
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Originally posted by iveco:
Lower voting age to 19.5. That is the average age of most NSFs.
18 would be better.
they trust ppl aged 16.5 to enlist early, carry arms and be responsible for the "defence of the nation", and perhaps hold positions of authority, e.g. police. Why not trust these ppl to vote?
Ppl are also forced into NS, forced to receive a miserable ns allowance, and yet they are ignored when it comes to goodies such as gst credits etc, simply because they are under the age of 21.
its ok to be passed over for such goodies if you are a student, which by choice choose to be economically unproductive.
but when you are forced by the govt to be economically unproductive, as a soldier, sacrificing your precious time, it is unfair to pass over nsf when everyone else gets to enjoy goodies.
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I got an idea.
Total disarmament of the SAF. I can guarantee you we'd be singing to a different anthem the very next day. =D
Seems like SDP don't really care that Singapore remains a sovereign state at all.
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Originally posted by deathmaster:
NS is basically a form of cheap labour which the government readily utilise.
There is no other purpose of having a conscript army, when close to half of your population is make up of foreigners. (when you exclude the number of local children and elderly, i think the foreign adult population might be equal to our local adult singaporean population.)
we are already an occupied state without anyone making a consious effort to deal with the problem. Even our minster of health is a M'sian...
and what makes you think that the course duration for NS currently is enough?
who defines that you need a minimum of 3 months for BMT, or 6/9 months for command school?
basic military training means you are to be trained in the very basic stuff. e.g. how to operate a rifle. how to march. how to camp outfield. how to dig trench, shellscrape etc.
one have to be mentally challenged to require 3 months to learn that.you can easily pick up the skills to operate a gun in hours, and that is if you are a slow learner. as for hole digging, no need to say. and camping outfield for 5 days isn't something that you practice during bmt.
1 day for gun operation, 1 day for foot drills, 1 week for the marches, 1 week for field camp. you can essentially complete bmt in less than 3 weeks.
and its no secret that soldiers spend most of their time doing nothing. they are simply in the army to make up the numbers, so that we can boast of an active standing force of 50000.
and defend what singapore? if anyone want to attack spore, they just need to attack on a saturday, where almost everyone is resting at home, booking out on weekends, etc. it would be hard to even muster 10% of the so-called standing forces of 50,000.
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and a point to note, if countries like taiwan, germany, switzerland can limit NS to 1 yr, and still remain credible, i don't see why singapore couldn't.
unless you are telling me that there are no NS NCO/officers in those countries.
ya, in taiwan, my hometown, at high school, we are already taught how to use a rifle, even gals also need to learn and shoot. the concept of taiwanese is simple, when war come, who dunno how to fight?, who dunno how to use a gun? who dunno how to defend when in trouble? this are basic instinct. What we need is only organising, we got those professional taiwan army coming into our town to organise us, everyone knows what to do, even my grandma also know where to hide and how to use a rifle. Singapore NS service should not be so long, unlike taiwan, we are facing a direct China red army across the strait, and yet we still dun demand such long term commitment from our men...the ah ping kor kor.
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And beside, what is there to defend anymore, nearly half of your your country is already occupied by foreigners. What you need is only to defend the other half, so one year of NS should be enuf, unless you also want to defend the foreigners, so be it.
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SDP! if you keep supporting sg guys, you are not going to get vote from we, the sg gal ya...so what you have for us beside those NS stuff which is for guy?
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Originally posted by Shotgun:
I got an idea.
Total disarmament of the SAF. I can guarantee you we'd be singing to a different anthem the very next day. =D
Seems like SDP don't really care that Singapore remains a sovereign state at all.
if you realise, our anthem is actually quite lengthy compared to some countries.
what can a occupier do that the PAP could not?
Reduce no. of ERP and ERP charges?
Give Singaporeans more say in policy making?
lower housing price?
allowing singaporeans to bring home more than 4/5 of their pay.
lower the cost of car ownership?
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Originally posted by angel7030:
SDP! if you keep supporting sg guys, you are not going to get vote from we, the sg gal ya...so what you have for us beside those NS stuff which is for guy?
gals will only have to be apart from their guys for only 1 year, instead of 2 years. :)
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Originally posted by deathmaster:
if you realise, our anthem is actually quite lengthy compared to some countries.
what can a occupier do that the PAP could not?
Reduce no. of ERP and ERP charges?
Give Singaporeans more say in policy making?
lower housing price?
allowing singaporeans to bring home more than 4/5 of their pay.
lower the cost of car ownership?
What is allowing singaporeans to bring home more than 4/5 of their pay?
Also, if lower the cost of car ownership, then Singapore will be flood by cars and not the foreginers. (The number of cars in SG by then will be more than the number of foreginers in SG)
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Originally posted by deathmaster:
if you realise, our anthem is actually quite lengthy compared to some countries.
what can a occupier do that the PAP could not?
Reduce no. of ERP and ERP charges?
Give Singaporeans more say in policy making?
lower housing price?
allowing singaporeans to bring home more than 4/5 of their pay.
lower the cost of car ownership?
oh, yr anthem is in Malay language..hmmm...still a malay state hor?
Car ownership, if lower the cost, may jam up our road, which i hate in jam. I am not saying car price or COE should be so high, but instead, allow only one car per family, rich family can have 4 to 5 cars, just like my neighbour, mother also have, sons also have, daughter also have, park until my front gate,...damn...complained so many time also no use, then one day, i go over and settle it.
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Originally posted by angel7030:
And beside, what is there to defend anymore, nearly half of your your country is already occupied by foreigners. What you need is only to defend the other half, so one year of NS should be enuf, unless you also want to defend the foreigners, so be it.
Maybe you marry me than I protect you?