Army of maids behind our boys in green?
To foster rugged youth, S'poreans must temper affluence with resilience
By William Choong, Senior Writer
A PHOTOGRAPH of a young man dressed in army fatigues striding ahead while a woman, presumably a domestic maid, carries his field pack, has sparked a fierce debate about whether this generation has become too soft.
Responding to a Straits Times query, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said on Sunday that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) 'takes a serious view of the conduct of its servicemen in public'. The spokesman added that the SAF will investigate and take appropriate action.
Yesterday, Mindef spokesman Desmond Tan told The Straits Times that the SAF 'had issued an advisory to remind its servicemen to be mindful of their conduct in public'.
Assuming that the young man is a full-time national serviceman (NSF) and that the photograph is authentic, it is actually not clear which law or regulation has been broken. In fact, one can say the young man's transgression is more a sin of omission than commission.
The country invests the highest hopes in its soldiers, requiring them to project the image that they are strong and steely defenders of Singapore's sovereignty. In this sense, the young man failed to hew to the SAF's carefully cultivated image.
A more pressing question is whether the younger generation of Gen Y soldiers are 'soft'. Last year, a Mindef-sponsored video of young recruits crying after a gruelling field camp fuelled perceptions of their lack of resilience.
In 2008, training accidents led to the deaths of two servicemen. Asked then whether younger servicemen are less fit than their predecessors, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said: 'My own sense, not based on any statistical evidence, is that our soldiers are fitter, but maybe less rugged.'
It is easy for critics to throw stones, and easier to forget the role all of us play as parents to create a society where young men become too 'soft'.
As Mr K.K. Wong, 50, an ex-NSman, wrote in an e-mail: 'Have we grown soft? Of course, because the entire society at large has... Once in a while, we (should) see things for what they are and have the courage to say what they are.'
Mr Wong was among fathers of NSFs who contacted me last year, following a commentary I wrote about the resilience of our soldiers. They said that in their growing-up years, they spent much time engaged in physical pursuits like running around and climbing trees - with minimal parental supervision. Today, they added, children are more sheltered and pampered.
At my six-year-old son's primary school, parents chauffeur their children around and carry their bags, with maids in tow. One mother told me she worried whether her son could lace his shoes or button his shirt properly.
Granted, some boys may need help. But if such mollycoddling continues, one should not be surprised when the same boys, 10 or more years later, get their maids to lug their field packs.
Singapore's dependence on maids also does not help the SAF. During one of my reservist training stints, a corporal got an earful from his company sergeant major for not having some items in his field pack during an inspection. His excuse: His maid had forgotten to pack them.
It is also easy for older NSmen to take potshots and say that they endured far greater privations than their younger counterparts. At the same time, however, SAF commanders say that today's NSFs are better-educated, learn faster and, when given the rationale for what they have to do, can be as resilient as their older counterparts.
Rather than recrimination, a better way to foster a more rugged youth requires deliberate effort - beginning from the home. Given the country's affluence, it is a given that this generation of NSmen has grown up in more protected environments. When they don army fatigues, they may assume a veneer of discipline and toughness, but their basic characteristics remain the same.
To foster resilience and independence, therefore, parents can make their boys do more household chores, participate in contact sports, and assume more responsibility for themselves.
For parents of NSFs, this means letting them take public transport home from camp, making them do their own laundry, and not calling their commanders to complain when they are detained in camp for performance breaches.
Second, the SAF should seek to replicate as realistic a training scenario as possible, as far as training safety regulations allow. As Russian general Aleksandr Suvorov wrote: What is hard in training will become easy in war.
Finally, promote the right spirit.
The focus on a Third-Generation SAF is apt as it plays to Singapore's strengths: a strong military-technological base and well-educated soldiers. But technology and massed firepower are not panaceas.
The fighting spirit of soldiers will be most decisive. 'You must understand it is not the armour, it is not the gun, it is not the airplane, it is not the howitzer: It is the man behind the gun in the tank that makes the difference,' said Brigadier-General Avigdor Kahalani, after Israel's outnumbered tanks beat back a Syrian assault in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Fighting spirit is critical, since it is intricately linked to the deterrent signals that Singapore projects to potential foes. Here, perceptions are as important as reality. Therein lies the young man's 'crime': If SAF soldiers give the impression that they could keel over in combat, deterrence will be compromised.
Before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saddam Hussein had taken the measure of the United States. He told a US envoy that the US would not be able to accept '10,000 dead in battle'.
During my NS days, a picture in my company sergeant major's office fascinated me. In it, a tank had stormed past a squad of soldiers, leaving them in disarray. Defiantly, a lone soldier fires off a rocket-propelled grenade at the advancing tank.
My generation of NSFs (I turned 40 this year) aspired to cultivate the fighting spirit so critical to the SAF's deterrent posture. One can only hope the same spirit burns bright in today's NSFs, and that the SAF remains the place where boys are made into fighting men - hopefully, without the need for an army of maids.
[email protected]
To foster rugged youth, S'poreans must temper affluence with resilience
By William Choong, Senior Writer
A PHOTOGRAPH of a young man dressed in army fatigues striding ahead while a woman, presumably a domestic maid, carries his field pack, has sparked a fierce debate about whether this generation has become too soft.
Responding to a Straits Times query, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said on Sunday that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) 'takes a serious view of the conduct of its servicemen in public'. The spokesman added that the SAF will investigate and take appropriate action.
Yesterday, Mindef spokesman Desmond Tan told The Straits Times that the SAF 'had issued an advisory to remind its servicemen to be mindful of their conduct in public'.
Assuming that the young man is a full-time national serviceman (NSF) and that the photograph is authentic, it is actually not clear which law or regulation has been broken. In fact, one can say the young man's transgression is more a sin of omission than commission.
The country invests the highest hopes in its soldiers, requiring them to project the image that they are strong and steely defenders of Singapore's sovereignty. In this sense, the young man failed to hew to the SAF's carefully cultivated image.
A more pressing question is whether the younger generation of Gen Y soldiers are 'soft'. Last year, a Mindef-sponsored video of young recruits crying after a gruelling field camp fuelled perceptions of their lack of resilience.
In 2008, training accidents led to the deaths of two servicemen. Asked then whether younger servicemen are less fit than their predecessors, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said: 'My own sense, not based on any statistical evidence, is that our soldiers are fitter, but maybe less rugged.'
It is easy for critics to throw stones, and easier to forget the role all of us play as parents to create a society where young men become too 'soft'.
As Mr K.K. Wong, 50, an ex-NSman, wrote in an e-mail: 'Have we grown soft? Of course, because the entire society at large has... Once in a while, we (should) see things for what they are and have the courage to say what they are.'
Mr Wong was among fathers of NSFs who contacted me last year, following a commentary I wrote about the resilience of our soldiers. They said that in their growing-up years, they spent much time engaged in physical pursuits like running around and climbing trees - with minimal parental supervision. Today, they added, children are more sheltered and pampered.
At my six-year-old son's primary school, parents chauffeur their children around and carry their bags, with maids in tow. One mother told me she worried whether her son could lace his shoes or button his shirt properly.
Granted, some boys may need help. But if such mollycoddling continues, one should not be surprised when the same boys, 10 or more years later, get their maids to lug their field packs.
Singapore's dependence on maids also does not help the SAF. During one of my reservist training stints, a corporal got an earful from his company sergeant major for not having some items in his field pack during an inspection. His excuse: His maid had forgotten to pack them.
It is also easy for older NSmen to take potshots and say that they endured far greater privations than their younger counterparts. At the same time, however, SAF commanders say that today's NSFs are better-educated, learn faster and, when given the rationale for what they have to do, can be as resilient as their older counterparts.
Rather than recrimination, a better way to foster a more rugged youth requires deliberate effort - beginning from the home. Given the country's affluence, it is a given that this generation of NSmen has grown up in more protected environments. When they don army fatigues, they may assume a veneer of discipline and toughness, but their basic characteristics remain the same.
To foster resilience and independence, therefore, parents can make their boys do more household chores, participate in contact sports, and assume more responsibility for themselves.
For parents of NSFs, this means letting them take public transport home from camp, making them do their own laundry, and not calling their commanders to complain when they are detained in camp for performance breaches.
Second, the SAF should seek to replicate as realistic a training scenario as possible, as far as training safety regulations allow. As Russian general Aleksandr Suvorov wrote: What is hard in training will become easy in war.
Finally, promote the right spirit.
The focus on a Third-Generation SAF is apt as it plays to Singapore's strengths: a strong military-technological base and well-educated soldiers. But technology and massed firepower are not panaceas.
The fighting spirit of soldiers will be most decisive. 'You must understand it is not the armour, it is not the gun, it is not the airplane, it is not the howitzer: It is the man behind the gun in the tank that makes the difference,' said Brigadier-General Avigdor Kahalani, after Israel's outnumbered tanks beat back a Syrian assault in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Fighting spirit is critical, since it is intricately linked to the deterrent signals that Singapore projects to potential foes. Here, perceptions are as important as reality. Therein lies the young man's 'crime': If SAF soldiers give the impression that they could keel over in combat, deterrence will be compromised.
Before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saddam Hussein had taken the measure of the United States. He told a US envoy that the US would not be able to accept '10,000 dead in battle'.
During my NS days, a picture in my company sergeant major's office fascinated me. In it, a tank had stormed past a squad of soldiers, leaving them in disarray. Defiantly, a lone soldier fires off a rocket-propelled grenade at the advancing tank.
My generation of NSFs (I turned 40 this year) aspired to cultivate the fighting spirit so critical to the SAF's deterrent posture. One can only hope the same spirit burns bright in today's NSFs, and that the SAF remains the place where boys are made into fighting men - hopefully, without the need for an army of maids.
[email protected]
