Singapore blogger calls NS ‘slavery’

[kiwibird7]

NS conscription is already an outdated dinosaur concept of the 70s. It is time for Singaporeans to call for the ABOLISHMENT of NS altogether. It is time for a fully professional army complemented by foreign mercenary soldiers, after all a precedence has been set by the foreign Gurkha soldiers!

 

[winnipegjets]

I read a book that speculated that NS was implemented because LKY was afraid that the Malaysian would arrest him. Back then Malaysian forces were station in Spore & they could easily arrest him.

LKY leaves in fear ...that's why at this old age, he still needs two bodyguards and umpteen Gurkhas to jarga his residence.

 

[eatshitndie]

LKY leaves in fear ...that's why at this old age, he still needs two bodyguards and umpteen Gurkhas to jarga his residence.

i think you meant "lky lives in fear." if he "leaves in fear", it explains why he's wearing a diaper. :p

 

[THE_CHANSTER]

But at least we get to use our mobile phones during NS. Be grateful you're not serving in South Korea.

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com...aid=2978492&cloc=joongangdaily|home|newslist1

 

[winnipegjets]

i think you meant "lky lives in fear." if he "leaves in fear", it explains why he's wearing a diaper. :p

Yes, thanks for the correction.

You do have a point as well ...he live is fear now and he will leave in fear soon.

 

[bryanlim1972]

NS conscription is already an outdated dinosaur concept of the 70s. It is time for Singaporeans to call for the ABOLISHMENT of NS altogether. It is time for a fully professional army complemented by foreign mercenary soldiers, after all a precedence has been set by the foreign Gurkha soldiers!

sinkies are balless lah, if the entire reservist unit turn up in cv and say we don't want to cheong, who's going to force them? so many stories of near revolts during reservist that never make it to the news.

one scout platoon du lan with reservist PC acting like god, refused to move out before atec, PC kena charged instead! hor seh!

 

[NewWorldRecord]

But at least we get to use our mobile phones during NS. Be grateful you're not serving in South Korea.

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com...aid=2978492&cloc=joongangdaily|home|newslist1

Don't show websites that have been banned by MDA leh.. Let me help the helpess sinkies here by doing a copy transfer....



What use is a pay phone? You’d be surprised

Not everyone has a mobile device, says KT

Oct 07,2013

Soldiers on leave use pay phones in front of Seoul Station. While most people have their own mobile phones nowadays, conscripted men aren’t allowed to carry cell phones for security reasons. By Byun Sun-goo

Long gone are the days when people waited in line at a phone booth to make a call. In fact, the pay phone has become an endangered species thanks to the ubiquity of cell phones.

But at the Western Annex of Seoul Station, soldiers queue up in front of five pay phones. Conscripted men aren’t allowed to carry cell phones for security reasons.

“I’m returning to the base,” Jang Ik-jin, 20, tells his girlfriend. “I’ll call you when I arrive.”

Jang was going back to 25th Army division after a five-day break. Pay phones may seem like archeological urban artifacts to most people, but for Jang they are a precious lifeline to his girlfriend. Without them, the relationship might have ended, he says. And now, the sky-colored booths immediately remind him of his partner.

Next in line at the booth was Kim Jin-young, whose phone ran out of power on the train. He ran straight to the pay phone as soon as the train arrived.

[TABLE="align: right"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
“In an unexpected situation when I don’t have my cell phone, I need a pay phone,” says Kim as he calls his mother. “It‘s so inconvenient that these phones are disappearing. We arranged to meet at Wangsimni [Station], but I want to tell her exactly where to meet.”
Korean-American Peter Lee, who was in line behind Kim, urgently needed the phone too.

“I flew in from Seattle because my friend had a car accident, and I don’t want to pay the roaming charges on my account,” he said.

At Seoul Station, there were once 30 pay phones. Now, only four remain. The station removed phones that pulled in less than 1,000 won ($0.93) per month.

The phones that are used frequently are largely located next to ATM machines. The majority of their users are soldiers. At Seoul Station’s Western Annex, the phones pull in around 820,000 won per month. But Seoul Station is an exception, and pay phones in less busy locations can get no callers for days at a time.

“Drunken people use phone booths as toilets, which blights the environment,” said Choi Young-cheol, a manager at KT Linkus, which manages the pay phones for KT. “These days, restoring damaged booths is our main job.”

Sometimes phones are using space that people want for another purpose. Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital in Nowon District, northern Seoul, recently got rid of a phone booth near its emergency room to increase parking space.

About half of the phone booths in front of the hospital’s main gate were removed to give way to a valet parking office. Only three pay phones remain.

“There were no public phones in the emergency room, so I had to run to the main gate,” said Kim Suk-ja whose mother has been patient in the hospital for four years.

As the demand for pay phones has spiralled, some pay phone booths are doubling as unmanned libraries, like the one left in Wangsimni Square, or as shelters for tourist maps, right, in Hangang Park, Seoul. By Seo Gye-ho

Earlier this year, a phone booth in Seokgye Station was on the verge of being removed. The Nowon District Office wanted to get rid of it because it was barely used.

“I tried to keep the phone booth going by moving it to an area that commuters walk past,” said Han Jong-chan of KT Linkus.

Public phones are the only means of communication for people who can’t afford mobile phones. According to Han, a 15-year-old pay phone was a lifeline for an elderly couple in a nursing home on Mount Surak.

According to KT, the number of pay phones has decreased every year and 74,000 remain compared to 94,300 in 2009. Seoul has the biggest number with 15,407. Major metropolitan cities such as Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju have more than 3,000 each.

“Not everyone has ready access to high-tech digital gadgets like smartphones, and for those without cell phones, pay phones are still an important means of communication,” said a representative of KT. “This is why we want to keep the business. But, in an effort to keep pace with changing trends, we’d like to renovate phone booths a bit by putting new features in them.”

In fact, pay phones have already evolved. Some include ATMs. A phone booth near COEX in Gangnam District was reconstructed and given a glass ceiling. One of the booths in Itaewon is covered with faux graffiti, reflecting the edgy atmosphere of the area.

BY LEE JI-EUN [[email protected]]

 

[zhihau]

also in the news, not sure if the first CDF would take back his words that NS is an accepted way of life...

 

[laksaboy]

But at least we get to use our mobile phones during NS. Be grateful you're not serving in South Korea.

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com...aid=2978492&cloc=joongangdaily|home|newslist1

I hardly use my mobile phone inside camp. Of course, those smartphone addicts and those slaves who want to keep checking work email on their phone enjoy it.

 

[laksaboy]

also in the news, not sure if the first CDF would take back his words that NS is an accepted way of life...

They're mulling over including zhar bor for NS conscription. Because the number of FTs is increasing rapidly, and the number of Sinkie boys eligible for NS is declining in tandem due to a low birth rate.

NS is huge business, a lot of money is involved. The govt will never allow it to be abolished. Instead, they'll use emotional blackmail to brainwash you, asking you to defend Singapore your best home, be patriotic, volunteer for NS, serve with joy etc.

There's a reason why the lackeys at Mediacorp would produce such a show:

 

[zhihau]

Instead, they'll use emotional blackmail to brainwash you, asking you to defend Singapore your best home, be patriotic, volunteer for NS, serve with joy etc.

Pinky should get his FT pets to serve NS then

 

[zhihau]

It is time for Singaporeans to call for the ABOLISHMENT of NS altogether.

many thought of that before, am sure.
i started a thread after the National Pledge was deemed as an aspiration in 2009... :p

 

[winnipegjets]

also in the news, not sure if the first CDF would take back his words that NS is an accepted way of life...

for every female volunteer, free one guy from the NS liability, selected via lottery.

 

[Sideswipe]

i really like to know why Singapore has such a long Reservist period compared to other countries. did the PAP government ever explain it ? think only Israel has a longer Reservist period than Singapore.

 

[THE_CHANSTER]

Like many have alluded to, I think it's time to seriously look at the NS regime which has been in place for nearly 50 years without significant review or debate.
The more important issue is what do we replace NS with? Some have suggested a full -time dedicated army or using the Gurkha contingent.

No-one can seriously argue that Singapore does not need defending given its size and vulnerable geographic location but before we take steps to abolish it, we need to come up with a viable alternative to deter foreign aggressors and despots.

Sinkies have a lot to lose if their country's sovereignty is lost. Do not assume Uncle Sam or a NATO led alliance will help bail you out of such a predicament.

Singapore, in a strategic sense, means very little to these so called 'allies'.

 

[Physiocrat]

Ppl nowadays think in terms of companies rather than nations.

Nationalism is a bullshit concept.
Likewise for the idea of corporation: a fucking separate legal entity.
Wonder which motherfucker came up with such craps.

Life is not meant to be taken seriously.

 

[Leongsam]

Ppl nowadays think in terms of companies rather than nations.

It is for this reason that I think Singapore should be defended to the hilt by all those who have a stake in the country. The preservation of their vast wealth depends upon the success and sustainability of Singapore Inc.

 

[zhihau]

It is for this reason that I think Singapore should be defended to the hilt by all those who have a stake in the country.

what stakes are we looking at? living space?

 

[Leongsam]

what stakes are we looking at? living space?

The stakes are your Singapore assets which can be cashed in at any time while demand is still high.

 

[zhihau]

The stakes are your Singapore assets.

what assets do Singaporeans own then? the 99-years leasehold HDB? the 10-years COE? pray tell :p