<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>While getting all the freebies that could have given to NSmen? Wanna talk cock also must know limit mah!
Sep 5, 2008
NATIONAL SERVICE
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>It's not a debt, but for our very survival
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Mr Yong Yin Min's letter last Saturday, 'NS not a debt citizens must repay', and the Bugge family story ('Give up citizenship? Brothers must do NS first', Aug 25).
It is disheartening to know there are still people who do not know the purpose of national service (NS). I have the feeling they think it is nothing more than a debt to society and perhaps learning to march.
The Ministry of Defence should reinforce the message that NS is to create and maintain a credible deterrent and fighting force ready to defend our country, family, way of life and livelihood. To do this, every able-bodied man counts. We already face a shortage.
It seems there are people in Singapore who think that, simply by paying money (taxes), their able-bodied sons can live peacefully elsewhere while their neighbours' sons in Singapore are called to arms in time of conflict. No amount of money can buy the life of someone. How do you reconcile fighting for a family who lives in Singapore but whose sons refuse to fight to defend their family in Singapore? Looks like we'll have to do it for them. We will, of course, but something is not right here. For the Singapore Armed Forces to remain a credible fighting force, our citizen soldiers must be expected to fight with unshakeable conviction and belief and pride that we are all in it together for the sake of not only our country but also our families. Wars have been lost and won because of morale alone.
If the situation of citizens 'buying' or scheming their way out of NS worsens, our fighting men would become patsies to those who refuse to fight but are prepared to live off the blood shed by others. The law must punish defaulters to underscore the importance of national defence. This is to maintain the will to fight, and to assure every soldier we are all in this together and his role is invaluable. There must always be a glaring distinction between those who are able-bodied and willing to stay and fight or play some role, and those who are able-bodied but plan to do nothing. In this regard, there must be an 'us' and a 'them'. This is the core of the spirit of national solidarity, pride, and commitment to Singapore which must never be shaken but reinforced and inculcated, even in new citizens. Journeymen need not apply.
Our citizen soldiers must never be seen as patsies to anyone. Their willingness to fight for our country must be held in distinctive regard. NS is not a debt to society; it is for our existence and survival.
Yap Kwan Szu <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start -->
Sep 5, 2008
NATIONAL SERVICE
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>It's not a debt, but for our very survival
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Mr Yong Yin Min's letter last Saturday, 'NS not a debt citizens must repay', and the Bugge family story ('Give up citizenship? Brothers must do NS first', Aug 25).
It is disheartening to know there are still people who do not know the purpose of national service (NS). I have the feeling they think it is nothing more than a debt to society and perhaps learning to march.
The Ministry of Defence should reinforce the message that NS is to create and maintain a credible deterrent and fighting force ready to defend our country, family, way of life and livelihood. To do this, every able-bodied man counts. We already face a shortage.
It seems there are people in Singapore who think that, simply by paying money (taxes), their able-bodied sons can live peacefully elsewhere while their neighbours' sons in Singapore are called to arms in time of conflict. No amount of money can buy the life of someone. How do you reconcile fighting for a family who lives in Singapore but whose sons refuse to fight to defend their family in Singapore? Looks like we'll have to do it for them. We will, of course, but something is not right here. For the Singapore Armed Forces to remain a credible fighting force, our citizen soldiers must be expected to fight with unshakeable conviction and belief and pride that we are all in it together for the sake of not only our country but also our families. Wars have been lost and won because of morale alone.
If the situation of citizens 'buying' or scheming their way out of NS worsens, our fighting men would become patsies to those who refuse to fight but are prepared to live off the blood shed by others. The law must punish defaulters to underscore the importance of national defence. This is to maintain the will to fight, and to assure every soldier we are all in this together and his role is invaluable. There must always be a glaring distinction between those who are able-bodied and willing to stay and fight or play some role, and those who are able-bodied but plan to do nothing. In this regard, there must be an 'us' and a 'them'. This is the core of the spirit of national solidarity, pride, and commitment to Singapore which must never be shaken but reinforced and inculcated, even in new citizens. Journeymen need not apply.
Our citizen soldiers must never be seen as patsies to anyone. Their willingness to fight for our country must be held in distinctive regard. NS is not a debt to society; it is for our existence and survival.
Yap Kwan Szu <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start -->
