Dealing with the question of NS again

I promised my reader Puppet a reply on this issue whilst I was in Belgium, so just to recap, allow me to cut & paste our short exchange to lead us into this article. We were talking about NS (national service) being a necessary evil:

Puppet wrote: This is similar to our attitude towards NS. The PAP will always claim that NS is a necessary evil, but that is irrelevant when we make decisions (to immigrate, for example) as individuals. Unfortunately, Singaporeans are unable to stand up for our own interests, as you have pointed out in your 27 Dec 2012 post.

I wrote: I think you have raised a very good point about NS. I don't think I can do that topic justice here, so if I may ask for your patience please, I will do a post for you on the issue, okay? 

So - here's the long overdue reply for Puppet as promised. Let's discuss if NS is a necessary evil: indeed there are many countries around the world where national service is a fact of life. From South Korea to Taiwan to Israel - NS is more common than you think. Nonetheless, the attitude towards NS in Singapore is very different from those in other countries. In South Korea, there is an imminent threat and enemy in the form of North Korea with whom they are still technically at war with. Israel is surrounded by many countries who are clearly hostile to their very existence and Taiwan is locked in this stand off with mainland China that has gone on for decades. As for Singapore, there really isn't a clear cut concept of the enemy.

The simplistic (and incorrect) explanation that many use is that Singapore is a rich and small country surrounded by Malaysia to the north and Indonesia to the south, hence the need to defend one's turf. Does that make Malaysia and Indonesia the enemies? Not at all, for so many reasons. Singapore has never really had any major political disputes or even minor wars with nether Malaysia nor Indonesia - instead our best policy to defend the peace is diplomacy, by engaging our neighbours and becoming their good friends. Don't forget, 13% of Singaporeans are ethnic Malays and Malay is in fact our national language (and one of the four national languages). Furthermore, Singapore is a part of ASEAN - whilst it may not be as strong as say the European Union, it still has accomplished much in terms of securing regional harmony amongst its members.

Indeed, ask Singaporeans today whom their enemies are and they're far more likely to refer to the invasion of migrants from China, India and the Philippines (guess who let these migrants into Singapore in the first place?), rather than our neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia. It is a far more complicated picture in terms of identifying an immediate threat or enemy to the average Singaporean's well-being compared to the cases of South Korea, Taiwan or Israel.

Speak to any South Korean, Taiwanese and Israel and they will feel that they have a good reason to defend their country against an external enemy, that the threat is very real and if they didn't serve, they would be letting down not just their families, but their wider communities as well. This is evident from the way many South Korean K-pop stars are disgraced if it is revealed that they did not serve national service or did not pull their weight during their national service - such as during the most recent scandal involving K-pop star Rain when it was rumoured that he was given special treatment, being granted off-days to see his girlfriend whilst other ordinary Korean soldiers have very limited free time and are largely confined to their barracks.

When I served NS in the period of 1995 January to 1997 May, we had a term "white horse" that described those sons of very important people who received special treatment. I don't think anyone really questioned the fairness of the concept of "white horse" - it was just like, yeah his father is someone very important, it's your misfortune to be the son of a commoner, that's life and it isn't fair. Yet any kind of favourtism shown to "white horses" would have to be reasonably subtle, so for example, those working in close partnership with the "white horse" would often be granted the same privileges. So if the "white horse" was to be granted a half day to attend his cousin's engagement party, the officer would "praise" a project that the "white horse" had been working on and grant those involved a half day off in recognition and reward of their efforts. Hence we all wanted to seek out "white horses" and be their best friends, so we may enjoy some of this privilege by association.

Whilst we never questioned such blatant nepotism in Singapore, it is socially unacceptable in Korea where the fans expect their K-pop idols to do their part and serve NS as it is genuinely perceived to be vital for their nation's survival. That is why Psy (of Gangnam Style fame) had to repeat his national service after being accused of being neglectful of his duties during his first NS stint. To have refused to have done so would have meant an end to his very successful pop career - he did it not so much out of a sense of patriotism, but because his fans expected him to do the right thing. Contrast that to Singapore, where most people take little interest in what their men have done in NS and are far more interested in what they have achieved in the real world, in the working world.

Why is this the case? This is because South Korea is far more homogeneous - 99% of the people in South Korea are Koreans, whilst Singapore is a far more mixed country with about 35% of the residents being foreigners and only 45.8% of Singaporeans actually born locally according to this calculation. For the non-Singaporean residents who have no NS liability, they know little about what the men actually get up to during national service. Since it is a system they are not familiar with, information such as military records and achievements during military service are often ignored by those who did not go through the same system. Indeed, even Singaporean women know precious little about what their male counterparts get up to during national service - there are even Singaporean women who are dismissive about the very culture of the SAF, criticizing it as very far removed from the real world where real business deals get done.

This impression is fuelled by the fact that many well educated highly skilled male Singaporeans leave their professional jobs during reservist activities, only to do the most menial tasks as a reservist soldier - using their muscle power instead of their brains. An engineer with a phD and expertise in precision engineering in the civilian world may end up spending his reservist days cleaning storm drains or reorganizing a store room as his civilian qualifications mean nothing in the military - only his rank matters. Yup, welcome to the bizarre world of the SAF where rank trumps brain power. I realized that in my national service and spent most of my time pretending to be stupid and quiet so I could slip under the radar and have an uneventful, stealth-like existence during my national service.

Does the SAF make the most of your abilities? Or are you just cannon fodder?

Some people may argue - being in the army is not about "showing off" how highly educated or skilled you are, it is about doing whatever is necessary to defend the country. Hence if the storm drains need to be kept clear so the army base wouldn't flood when it rains, then clearing the drains of rubbish becomes a noble job even for the most intelligent scholar. Oh I have encountered so many people with that kind of attitude over the years - my haters have hit me with the same argument when I turned down a volunteer position at the London 2012 Olympics because I felt that the role offered was beneath me. (Please see the video below for the full story.)

The fact is, I hardly did any 'noble jobs' such as preventing the flooding of an important military base during the rainy season - hell no. Not only did I spend my 2 years 4 months mostly doing the most mundane tasks, I was involved in a conspiracy to help one of my superiors cheat on his wife whilst he had a string of girlfriends behind her back. When I remember that episode and think about his wife, I wished that I was clearing rubbish from drains instead - at least I could have somehow convinced myself that it was a noble but humble task. There was nothing noble nor honest about what I did and I am going to call a spade a spade. Such was the culture of NS - the golden rule was to keep your head down and say nothing, show respect and servitude to your superiors and never question their judgement even when you felt that something was going very wrong.

Never mind being noble - a sense of purpose needs to be restored to NS in Singapore. There are just too many professional, highly skilled men who are not being utilized during their reservist activities simply because they are being assigned to vocations and units based on what they had done during their conscription days rather than what they have done since in the working world. There needs to be a system which recognizes their professional qualifications in the civilian world, making it relevant to their role as a reservist soldier. Someone needs to say, "oh this guy has gone to university, got himself a degree in engineering from NUS and is now working for a top player in the electronics industry. We can do with an engineer like that, let's use his brains and skills for the brief period we have him." Instead, no, the records may be updated, the paperwork may be filled in - but no one in the SAF is really that interested in tapping into this huge pool of talent that is available.

Is the SAF even interested in what you do in the civilian world?

The question of course is, "what do you do with a highly skilled, highly intelligent person for a maximum of 40 days a year? That is such a short time!" I'm not sure I have the perfect answer to that question - but surely the current system of reducing them to manual labour and ignoring their brilliant brains is not getting the best out of them. How is one supposed to take pride in playing such a role when the very institution is not interested in recognizing what you can contribute? This is why even Singaporean men who have been through national service are often critical of this aspect of the system - so if the men who have done NS are critical of the system, how do you expect Singaporean women to respect it? Heck, the women are just grateful they are spared the burden of NS.

One key problem with NS and the SAF of course, is that it is run by SAF regulars. For those of you who are civilians, let me explain this to you. Regulars are those who have chosen to pursue a career in the military, they are career soldiers who often have virtually no work experience in the civilian world. That is why they are quite clueless when it comes to dealing with a professional who has built up a wealth of experience in the civilian in an industry which couldn't be more alien to the military environment (eg. banking, insurance, architecture design, fashion, interior design, law, fiduciary services, accountancy etc). So when a reservist reports to camp for his reservist activities and declares, "I have qualified as a plumber now and am working as plumber." Now I would get that plumber to put his technical expertise to good use in the camp, rather than simply say, "I don't know anything about plumbing but the drains need clearing, so you need to go clean the drains. Oh and according to your vocation, you're officially cannon fodder so you can forget plumbing for the duration of your reservist activities."

Perhaps the plumber could do plumbing work for the SAF for free (and only charge them for parts) as his reservist duty. So rather than having a fixed block of 3 or 4 weeks reservist activities, he could get calls from the SAF to say, "We have a job for a plumber, if you do it, it will count towards 2 days of your reservist obligations." And then that way, he can work off his reservist duties and do plumbing work for the SAF until he fulfils his required number of days in his reservist cycles - think about how much money the SAF could save using the talents and skills of the reservist soldiers instead of paying plumbers (and electricians, accountants, interior designers, IT consultants, web designers, architects etc).

Does the SAF know what to do with plumbers? 

Likewise, if K-pop superstars like Psy and Rain had to serve national service in South Korea - surely the sensible thing would be to get them to entertain the troops, letting them do what they do best. I really don't see the point in treating them as cannon fodder - as they may be very average soldiers, but are excellent entertainers. Sure, there are people who see national service as the ultimate process to level the playing field: it doesn't matter how rich or successful you (or your family) are - you have to suffer serve like everyone else. Nonetheless, surely there can be a sensible way to exercise that concept of 'fairness' whilst allowing those serving national service to do what they do best, maximizing their contribution to the organisation. Surely a sensible compromise can be struck, so the system is perceived to be fair and effective and those serving NS will take pride in what they contribute to the organisation.

Lastly, a lot of the negative feelings about NS amongst Singaporean men are also to do with the fact that they are not rewarded for having served NS by he government - instead, they face intense competition from foreigners in the job market who do not have the burden of NS + reservist obligations and the fact that they enter the working world by 2 to 3 years later than their female Singaporean peers is also a bone of contention. Thus many male Singaporeans feel like a second class citizen in their own country because they are made to carry this burden of responsibility yet are neither appreciated by the government nor the people around them for having paid this price. I would like to see local male Singaporeans who have served NS being much higher paid during their time in NS, in recognition of their services to the country and I would also like to see them enjoy more priority and privileges in the local job market. Likewise, I would also like to see the playing field levelled by making both females and foreigners serve some kind of civilian NS akin to community service (whilst utilizing their skills in an appropriate manner, of course).

So there you go, that's my take on NS. All these negative feelings surrounding NS can be dealt with if simply the men going through the process felt far more pride in what they did - and in order for that to happen, the system has to treat them as individuals with valid and useful skills to contribute. The proof is in the pudding - if men walked away from NS with a sense of pride, feeling that they have made a useful contribution, then there won't be any resentment about the need to serve NS (or as Puppet puts it, accepting it as "a necessary evil"). Right now, there are so many flaws with the system and there really isn't anyone interested in trying to change things given that nobody wants to be seen as criticizing the system, lest they get accused of not being patriotic enough. Ironically, improving the quality of the NS experience for male Singaporeans is probably the most patriotic thing you can do for Singapore - but that starts with dealing with the problems in the current system and that's a Pandora's Box that few people dare to touch.

As usual, any comments, rebuttals, ideas etc - leave a comment below, cheers.