As for those who enjoyed NS and loved it...
OK I love a good discussion with people who do not necessarily agree with me but are happy to engage me in a good discussion. I received this comment from Alphamalesyndrome yesterday and I rushed through a reply to him last night which I am not happy with - sorry about that. I felt I didn't quite give him the reply he deserved as he did raise a few points which are very interesting and worthy of a good discussion - so I shall take the time now to give him a more detailed reply. Firstly, here is his comment on the Alvinology episode piece:
I am sure some of you did have a jolly time in the army during NS...
alphamalesyndrome7 October 2013 15:00
Hello my friend again.
To be very frank, guys like that Alvinology fella totally disgust me. Come on lah, every Singaporean male has NS liability, generations before him have served and many are still serving reservist, we KPKB, but end of the day, we do what's necessary and go home to our loved ones. And to be very honest, now that I have MR'd I wish I hadn't. I mean, it's quite therapeutic to get to be away from work, a nagging wife and bothersome in-laws and bond with your fellow soldiers from your mono-intake whom you literally grew up with because of NS.
I don't care if some nincompoop decided to link NS to slavery and exploitation; end of the day, I stand by my views that NS has made me and my peers better sons, fathers, brothers and husbands; and yes, we have made sacrifices because of IPPT, RT, yearly ICTs etc, we've bled and sweated and teared...but when I look back, some of the best years of my life were spent out there in misery with my brothers-in-arms from Tekong to Lim Chu Kang, Biang, ROC, and back again.
Such memories, I'd gladly trade anything else I own today, if only to re-live those moments again.
Okay, firstly, I must begin by thanking this reader for his comment. I always welcome all comments and I must remind myself to always be civil and polite even when I don't agree with their points of views - the last thing I want is for people to be put off commenting on my blog posts because I turn into this nasty bitch and rip into them with insults if I don't like what they say. I promise I shall try my best to behave in a far more dignified manner than that! Let's deal with some of the points that Alphamalesyndrome has raised because I have heard hem before.
Firstly, I think Alvin does make a valid point about NS desperately needing to be revamped and I have a few ideas of my own to make it a better experience for the young men involved. I have listed five important issues that need to be addressed urgently (which I discussed in my last post, but here they are again):
1. The length of NS is too long and needs to be shortened.
2. The NSF pay is way too low and desperately needs to be increased.
3. Very few NSF actually take any useful skills away from their NS days - the SAF needs to give them real skills and training that can be used in the working world. I would propose that soldiers be given the chance to complete their tertiary education first, gain a professional qualification before enlisting - so they can offer the SAF a tangible skill.
4. The reservist liabilities are highly disruptive to working Singaporean males and puts them at a disadvantage, employers will prefer to employ females or foreigners.
5. New citizens are often exempt from any kind of NS and the consequent reservist liabilities even if they are still fit and in their 20s or 30s when they obtain their Singaporean nationality.
So, let me put it simply:
1. Even if you did enjoy NS, that was precious time you could have spent either furthering your career or studying. Unless you're prepared to sign on and become a regular in the SAF and have a military career, this is still a substantial disruption to your life. Even if you did enjoy NS, you will still enter university two to three years behind your female peers and the FTs in Singapore - so even if you did enjoy NS, you are still placed at a disadvantage by the system.
2. Even if you do enjoy NS, you're still being paid a pittance for your time there. Well, too bad the bank can't take your happy memories as deposits nor can you pay your bills with them.
3. Even if you do enjoy NS, you are still probably doing something there totally unrelated to your professional career. Just imagine how much more relevant NS would be to your civilian life if you did have a vocation which was far more closely related to your professional abilities.
Can we try to relate this to their civilian lives?
4. Even if you do enjoy going for your reservist activities, your boss may not share in your joy when there's no one to do your work in your absence and he may just decide you replace you with a Pinoy who has no reservist obligations. It's not about you and how you feel about your reservist obligations in this case, it's about how your boss is going to cope in your absence when you're away for your reservist activities.
5. Even if you do enjoy your NS and subsequent reservist activities, it still doesn't change the fact that you're bearing the burden of national defence whilst new citizens are exempt from it - why not make them serve in some kind of capacity, even if it is in civil defence or letting them enlist in a modified form of NS, allowing them to partake in the experience? What better way to indoctrinate them into the ways of Singapore by making them serve NS?
So you see, just because you may have had a good time in NS doesn't mean that you're not disadvantaged by being part of the system - so even those who have enjoyed NS should still ask for the system to be improved so that they won't be disadvantaged by it. Improving the quality of the NS experience is not about having more 'fun' activities, making more friends or treating it like it is some kind of holiday camp - it is about making it more relevant to our civilian lives so that less people will walk away from it saying, "it's a waste of time" and more people will walk away saying, "I learnt some very useful things that I can apply in the working world." That's my very pragmatic approach.
I would very much like to see a more sensible, engaging debate about NS in Singapore - but I feel that Alvin made a fundamental flaw in focusing on the IPPT issue and hair length checks when there are far more serious problems to be dealt with. Even if you are happy with your NS experience and were willing to have served NS, surely you have nothing to lose by being a part of this discussion of trying to make the system better for everyone who has to be a part of it by virtue of the fact that they're male and Singaporean? Yes there are people who are unwilling to even talk about improving the system, they are showing classic signs of the card tower mentality - which I have talked about recently.
Many Singaporeans have the card tower mentality...
I don't think that asking questions and trying to improve the system is wrong. I do however, disapprove of the way some Singaporeans simply expect everyone to serve without questioning the system - even in the corporate world, companies which are highly successful and making a lot of profit are constantly trying to find ways to stay ahead of the game and improve their performance. How many people would allow themselves to get so complacent and declare, "Our system is perfect, we don't need to waste time trying to improve it and anyone who dares to suggest that we should think about improving it is a bloody traitor. How dare you question the system?!"
I know some people are saying things like "NS is a waste of time and should be abolished" (someone even went as far as to suggest that Singapore should get nuclear weapons to deter our enemies instead of having an army) - but I am not one of those people. I am merely a moderate who is saying that the whole NS system can be improved so that those who do serve NS get the most out of their experience and if we can do that, then there will be far less resentment about the need to serve NS in the first place.
Can we get Singaporeans to feel more positive about the issue of NS?
Oh and I hope your wife and her family doesn't read the part where you wrote, "it's quite therapeutic to get to be away from work, a nagging wife and bothersome in-laws and bond with your fellow soldiers". NS should never serve as an escape to get away from one's family, if you do have issues with your wife or your family, you owe it to her and yourself to try to sort it out. Nagging is unpleasant but do you know why people nag? If your wife feels the need to nag at you, ie. she keeps repeating herself, saying the same thing over and over again, eg. "how many times have I told you not to leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight?!" This is indicative of the fact that you are not a good listener, it suggests that you brush her off with a nonchalant, "yeah yeah whatever..." Do you ignore your wife? Do you actually listen to her and respond accordingly or respectfully? Do you know how to communicate with her? If you do listen to her and engage her respectfully the first time she brings up an issue, then she would not feel the need to repeat herself and she would not have to nag at you at all - it takes two hands to clap and you're equally culpable in creating this problem.
I feel saddened by your piece because you seem to use NS to fix your broken life. There is a proverb, "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". For you, NS is your hammer - I'm shocked, because I wouldn't rely on the SAF to fix the problems in my life (hell no, I'll find my own solutions.). Let's look at this guy's approach:
If all you have is a hammer...
He has issues with his wife who nags at him and he calls his in-laws "bothersome" - so what does he do? Does he try to sort things out with his wife? Does he try to reconcile himself with the in-laws? Does he try to fix the problems with his family? Hell no, he uses his reservist obligations as an excuse to hide from his problems instead of trying to resolve them. Thus he somehow manages to turn NS (his hammer) into the solution for his problem - when really, it is hardly the right solution for him and his family.
He thinks that NS has made him a better son, father, brother, husband - really? I feel sorry for him because I have picked some pretty rigorous challenges for myself in my life to make me a better person: from being on the national team for gymnastics in Singapore to working in foreign countries to some independent business projects I have been involved in - I have picked my own challenges, picked my own goals, pushed myself, motivated myself and made myself a better person. I didn't rely on the SAF to put me in a vocation, to be ordered around by some officer to tell me what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Being in the army teaches you one thing: it is important to obey orders and the only response acceptable is "yes sir!" I did write on this issue last year about how army infantilizes the mindset of the soldier: you don't think for yourself, you don't need to take initiative, you are like a 5 year old who does as he is told.
Being a soldier is lot like being like a young child...
NS can turn you into a better robot who is good at following orders - that kind of mindset can be useful in some corporate settings where the company really just wants employees to fall in line and do as they're told without asking too many stupid questions. But is this kind of 'robot' who doesn't know how to think for himself the kind of "better son, father, brother and husband" we want? It certainly was not the kind of person I want to be - but I was already busy challenging myself physically and intellectually before I enlisted in the army so I wasn't waiting for someone to come along and make me a better person, I was already busy doing that for myself. Some people do get exciting vocations and they do get interesting experiences in NS which they may enjoy, but when it comes to becoming a better person, please. That's a job you should really do for yourself rather than expecting someone else (your parents, your teachers, your officers in NS, your boss at work etc) to do for you.
If the best years of your life was NS, then aiyoh, I feel so sorry for you. I've gone on to leave Singapore, travel the world and have done some pretty amazing things in some of the world's most beautiful places with the most inspiring people you could ever meet. It's time you opened your eyes and seen some of the more amazing and wonderful things this planet has to offer. Listen man, like you, I have served NS and even the good times I've had in NS pales in comparison to some of the more amazing adventures I have had over the years. Now you're stuck in Singapore, in an unhappy marriage, trying to convince me (or yourself) that you enjoyed NS and that it was good for you? I am not sure if you've succeeded convinced yourself but you certainly have not convinced me. It sounds like you have many issues in life you need to sort out - I suggest you start facing your problems and think about how you may try to solve them.
Limpeh in Gulfoss, Iceland.
So there you go, that's it from me on this topic. As usual, I would love to hear what you think - especially if you did have a good time in NS (or had least had some good times), do the good times and happy memories adequately compensate for the problems that comes with NS? Leave a comment below please, thanks!
Limpeh at Jabal Shams, Oman
OK I love a good discussion with people who do not necessarily agree with me but are happy to engage me in a good discussion. I received this comment from Alphamalesyndrome yesterday and I rushed through a reply to him last night which I am not happy with - sorry about that. I felt I didn't quite give him the reply he deserved as he did raise a few points which are very interesting and worthy of a good discussion - so I shall take the time now to give him a more detailed reply. Firstly, here is his comment on the Alvinology episode piece:
I am sure some of you did have a jolly time in the army during NS...
alphamalesyndrome7 October 2013 15:00
Hello my friend again.
To be very frank, guys like that Alvinology fella totally disgust me. Come on lah, every Singaporean male has NS liability, generations before him have served and many are still serving reservist, we KPKB, but end of the day, we do what's necessary and go home to our loved ones. And to be very honest, now that I have MR'd I wish I hadn't. I mean, it's quite therapeutic to get to be away from work, a nagging wife and bothersome in-laws and bond with your fellow soldiers from your mono-intake whom you literally grew up with because of NS.
I don't care if some nincompoop decided to link NS to slavery and exploitation; end of the day, I stand by my views that NS has made me and my peers better sons, fathers, brothers and husbands; and yes, we have made sacrifices because of IPPT, RT, yearly ICTs etc, we've bled and sweated and teared...but when I look back, some of the best years of my life were spent out there in misery with my brothers-in-arms from Tekong to Lim Chu Kang, Biang, ROC, and back again.
Such memories, I'd gladly trade anything else I own today, if only to re-live those moments again.
Okay, firstly, I must begin by thanking this reader for his comment. I always welcome all comments and I must remind myself to always be civil and polite even when I don't agree with their points of views - the last thing I want is for people to be put off commenting on my blog posts because I turn into this nasty bitch and rip into them with insults if I don't like what they say. I promise I shall try my best to behave in a far more dignified manner than that! Let's deal with some of the points that Alphamalesyndrome has raised because I have heard hem before.
Firstly, I think Alvin does make a valid point about NS desperately needing to be revamped and I have a few ideas of my own to make it a better experience for the young men involved. I have listed five important issues that need to be addressed urgently (which I discussed in my last post, but here they are again):
1. The length of NS is too long and needs to be shortened.
2. The NSF pay is way too low and desperately needs to be increased.
3. Very few NSF actually take any useful skills away from their NS days - the SAF needs to give them real skills and training that can be used in the working world. I would propose that soldiers be given the chance to complete their tertiary education first, gain a professional qualification before enlisting - so they can offer the SAF a tangible skill.
4. The reservist liabilities are highly disruptive to working Singaporean males and puts them at a disadvantage, employers will prefer to employ females or foreigners.
5. New citizens are often exempt from any kind of NS and the consequent reservist liabilities even if they are still fit and in their 20s or 30s when they obtain their Singaporean nationality.
So, let me put it simply:
1. Even if you did enjoy NS, that was precious time you could have spent either furthering your career or studying. Unless you're prepared to sign on and become a regular in the SAF and have a military career, this is still a substantial disruption to your life. Even if you did enjoy NS, you will still enter university two to three years behind your female peers and the FTs in Singapore - so even if you did enjoy NS, you are still placed at a disadvantage by the system.
2. Even if you do enjoy NS, you're still being paid a pittance for your time there. Well, too bad the bank can't take your happy memories as deposits nor can you pay your bills with them.
3. Even if you do enjoy NS, you are still probably doing something there totally unrelated to your professional career. Just imagine how much more relevant NS would be to your civilian life if you did have a vocation which was far more closely related to your professional abilities.
Can we try to relate this to their civilian lives?
4. Even if you do enjoy going for your reservist activities, your boss may not share in your joy when there's no one to do your work in your absence and he may just decide you replace you with a Pinoy who has no reservist obligations. It's not about you and how you feel about your reservist obligations in this case, it's about how your boss is going to cope in your absence when you're away for your reservist activities.
5. Even if you do enjoy your NS and subsequent reservist activities, it still doesn't change the fact that you're bearing the burden of national defence whilst new citizens are exempt from it - why not make them serve in some kind of capacity, even if it is in civil defence or letting them enlist in a modified form of NS, allowing them to partake in the experience? What better way to indoctrinate them into the ways of Singapore by making them serve NS?
So you see, just because you may have had a good time in NS doesn't mean that you're not disadvantaged by being part of the system - so even those who have enjoyed NS should still ask for the system to be improved so that they won't be disadvantaged by it. Improving the quality of the NS experience is not about having more 'fun' activities, making more friends or treating it like it is some kind of holiday camp - it is about making it more relevant to our civilian lives so that less people will walk away from it saying, "it's a waste of time" and more people will walk away saying, "I learnt some very useful things that I can apply in the working world." That's my very pragmatic approach.
I would very much like to see a more sensible, engaging debate about NS in Singapore - but I feel that Alvin made a fundamental flaw in focusing on the IPPT issue and hair length checks when there are far more serious problems to be dealt with. Even if you are happy with your NS experience and were willing to have served NS, surely you have nothing to lose by being a part of this discussion of trying to make the system better for everyone who has to be a part of it by virtue of the fact that they're male and Singaporean? Yes there are people who are unwilling to even talk about improving the system, they are showing classic signs of the card tower mentality - which I have talked about recently.
Many Singaporeans have the card tower mentality...
I don't think that asking questions and trying to improve the system is wrong. I do however, disapprove of the way some Singaporeans simply expect everyone to serve without questioning the system - even in the corporate world, companies which are highly successful and making a lot of profit are constantly trying to find ways to stay ahead of the game and improve their performance. How many people would allow themselves to get so complacent and declare, "Our system is perfect, we don't need to waste time trying to improve it and anyone who dares to suggest that we should think about improving it is a bloody traitor. How dare you question the system?!"
I know some people are saying things like "NS is a waste of time and should be abolished" (someone even went as far as to suggest that Singapore should get nuclear weapons to deter our enemies instead of having an army) - but I am not one of those people. I am merely a moderate who is saying that the whole NS system can be improved so that those who do serve NS get the most out of their experience and if we can do that, then there will be far less resentment about the need to serve NS in the first place.
Can we get Singaporeans to feel more positive about the issue of NS?
Oh and I hope your wife and her family doesn't read the part where you wrote, "it's quite therapeutic to get to be away from work, a nagging wife and bothersome in-laws and bond with your fellow soldiers". NS should never serve as an escape to get away from one's family, if you do have issues with your wife or your family, you owe it to her and yourself to try to sort it out. Nagging is unpleasant but do you know why people nag? If your wife feels the need to nag at you, ie. she keeps repeating herself, saying the same thing over and over again, eg. "how many times have I told you not to leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight?!" This is indicative of the fact that you are not a good listener, it suggests that you brush her off with a nonchalant, "yeah yeah whatever..." Do you ignore your wife? Do you actually listen to her and respond accordingly or respectfully? Do you know how to communicate with her? If you do listen to her and engage her respectfully the first time she brings up an issue, then she would not feel the need to repeat herself and she would not have to nag at you at all - it takes two hands to clap and you're equally culpable in creating this problem.
I feel saddened by your piece because you seem to use NS to fix your broken life. There is a proverb, "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". For you, NS is your hammer - I'm shocked, because I wouldn't rely on the SAF to fix the problems in my life (hell no, I'll find my own solutions.). Let's look at this guy's approach:
If all you have is a hammer...
He has issues with his wife who nags at him and he calls his in-laws "bothersome" - so what does he do? Does he try to sort things out with his wife? Does he try to reconcile himself with the in-laws? Does he try to fix the problems with his family? Hell no, he uses his reservist obligations as an excuse to hide from his problems instead of trying to resolve them. Thus he somehow manages to turn NS (his hammer) into the solution for his problem - when really, it is hardly the right solution for him and his family.
He thinks that NS has made him a better son, father, brother, husband - really? I feel sorry for him because I have picked some pretty rigorous challenges for myself in my life to make me a better person: from being on the national team for gymnastics in Singapore to working in foreign countries to some independent business projects I have been involved in - I have picked my own challenges, picked my own goals, pushed myself, motivated myself and made myself a better person. I didn't rely on the SAF to put me in a vocation, to be ordered around by some officer to tell me what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Being in the army teaches you one thing: it is important to obey orders and the only response acceptable is "yes sir!" I did write on this issue last year about how army infantilizes the mindset of the soldier: you don't think for yourself, you don't need to take initiative, you are like a 5 year old who does as he is told.
Being a soldier is lot like being like a young child...
NS can turn you into a better robot who is good at following orders - that kind of mindset can be useful in some corporate settings where the company really just wants employees to fall in line and do as they're told without asking too many stupid questions. But is this kind of 'robot' who doesn't know how to think for himself the kind of "better son, father, brother and husband" we want? It certainly was not the kind of person I want to be - but I was already busy challenging myself physically and intellectually before I enlisted in the army so I wasn't waiting for someone to come along and make me a better person, I was already busy doing that for myself. Some people do get exciting vocations and they do get interesting experiences in NS which they may enjoy, but when it comes to becoming a better person, please. That's a job you should really do for yourself rather than expecting someone else (your parents, your teachers, your officers in NS, your boss at work etc) to do for you.
If the best years of your life was NS, then aiyoh, I feel so sorry for you. I've gone on to leave Singapore, travel the world and have done some pretty amazing things in some of the world's most beautiful places with the most inspiring people you could ever meet. It's time you opened your eyes and seen some of the more amazing and wonderful things this planet has to offer. Listen man, like you, I have served NS and even the good times I've had in NS pales in comparison to some of the more amazing adventures I have had over the years. Now you're stuck in Singapore, in an unhappy marriage, trying to convince me (or yourself) that you enjoyed NS and that it was good for you? I am not sure if you've succeeded convinced yourself but you certainly have not convinced me. It sounds like you have many issues in life you need to sort out - I suggest you start facing your problems and think about how you may try to solve them.
Limpeh in Gulfoss, Iceland.
So there you go, that's it from me on this topic. As usual, I would love to hear what you think - especially if you did have a good time in NS (or had least had some good times), do the good times and happy memories adequately compensate for the problems that comes with NS? Leave a comment below please, thanks!
Limpeh at Jabal Shams, Oman
