May 12, 2012
I SUPPORT the views of Dr Leong Chan-Hoong ('Bridge the foreign-local gap with NS'; Wednesday) and would like to add a suggestion.
For national security reasons, it is understandable if the authorities have concerns about letting new citizens or permanent residents serve national service (NS).
The Government could consider alternative forms of NS such as community service in public hospitals, hospices, old folks' homes and so on.
Singapore has an ageing population and there is a severe shortage of manpower in health-care-related industries.
The foreign parents of these new citizens or permanent residents may also be more willing to allow their sons to serve such alternative forms of NS, as these may be perceived to be less dangerous and, at the same time, contribute to the character-building of their children.
Dr Harold Teng Siow Song
[Hoo boy!. Another one. Every now and again, someone will come up with the "hey! how about alternative forms of NS for Girls/New Citizens/PRs?"
Say we are short of HDB flats, how about we get the new citizens to build HDB flats?
Or we don't have enough nurses or attendants in old folks homes. How about we get girls/new citizens/PRs to be nurses or health attendants?
Simple. NS in the military makes sense because we are training boys to fight and kill. Now most boys can fight and most can be trained to go thru the motions of killing. In a war, hopefully, they can fight and kill our enemies. If they can't at least they can hold a line for a while, and maybe that is enough. But if all goes well, just having them in the army should be sufficient to deter anyone from attacking us, and we don't actually have to see if they are capable of fighting and killing our enemies. And if they are pissed off at having to do NS and reservists, well, they have outlets for their frustrations - shooting.
NS in the medical or caring sector is WRONG! Do you want your beloved mother or father cared for by a disinterested, frustrated, irritated, underpaid (only NS allowance) PR who is only thinking of all the money he is NOT making because of the stupid NS?
Military NS is a contingency, and serves as a deterrent to our potential enemies. Medical and Caring service NS is not a contingency. It will be applied to actual people who actually NEED proper care! Only to be given NS-level care!
In war, if our soldiers are lousy shots and miss their target, there's a good chance the bullet might hit another enemy. In a hospital, if the NS nurse makes a mistake, patients could DIE.]
I SUPPORT the views of Dr Leong Chan-Hoong ('Bridge the foreign-local gap with NS'; Wednesday) and would like to add a suggestion.
For national security reasons, it is understandable if the authorities have concerns about letting new citizens or permanent residents serve national service (NS).
The Government could consider alternative forms of NS such as community service in public hospitals, hospices, old folks' homes and so on.
Singapore has an ageing population and there is a severe shortage of manpower in health-care-related industries.
The foreign parents of these new citizens or permanent residents may also be more willing to allow their sons to serve such alternative forms of NS, as these may be perceived to be less dangerous and, at the same time, contribute to the character-building of their children.
Dr Harold Teng Siow Song
[Hoo boy!. Another one. Every now and again, someone will come up with the "hey! how about alternative forms of NS for Girls/New Citizens/PRs?"
Say we are short of HDB flats, how about we get the new citizens to build HDB flats?
Or we don't have enough nurses or attendants in old folks homes. How about we get girls/new citizens/PRs to be nurses or health attendants?
Simple. NS in the military makes sense because we are training boys to fight and kill. Now most boys can fight and most can be trained to go thru the motions of killing. In a war, hopefully, they can fight and kill our enemies. If they can't at least they can hold a line for a while, and maybe that is enough. But if all goes well, just having them in the army should be sufficient to deter anyone from attacking us, and we don't actually have to see if they are capable of fighting and killing our enemies. And if they are pissed off at having to do NS and reservists, well, they have outlets for their frustrations - shooting.
NS in the medical or caring sector is WRONG! Do you want your beloved mother or father cared for by a disinterested, frustrated, irritated, underpaid (only NS allowance) PR who is only thinking of all the money he is NOT making because of the stupid NS?
Military NS is a contingency, and serves as a deterrent to our potential enemies. Medical and Caring service NS is not a contingency. It will be applied to actual people who actually NEED proper care! Only to be given NS-level care!
In war, if our soldiers are lousy shots and miss their target, there's a good chance the bullet might hit another enemy. In a hospital, if the NS nurse makes a mistake, patients could DIE.]
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