Some say the complaining has reached epic proportions where the government had to convene an NS committee on how to reward NSmen better. But seriously, is this about more money and more goodies?
When I did NS, I had to serve a total of 2 years and 6 months, followed by a ten year cycle of incamps and reservists. Like many NSmen, I also had to suffer the inconvenience of mobilisation recalls and yearly fitness tests. Yet, we did all these without much grumbling, even though we received less money and far less benefits. Why? Were we tougher? Did we have better discipline?
I wouldn't think so. But back then, when we served NS, we did so knowing that after our service, there would be good jobs and great career opportunities waiting for us SINGAPOREANS. Vast majority of my peers did well professionally. In my time, there was a huge advantage in being a Singaporean citizen. We were assured that citizenship conferred upon us the freedom of opportunity to excel. That was the key difference between then and now.
In case you misunderstood. I am not talking about getting a free lunch simply because we did NS or that we hold Singaporean citizenship. I am speaking about the right of Singaporeans to have access to opportunities for further education and career advancement. There was also no talk about employers refusing to hire Singaporeans because of their NS commitments, or employers sidelining Singaporeans because they prefer to hire their own kind. How could they do so, when close to half the workforce has to do NS reservist?
When Singaporeans are assured that there is a bright future waiting for them after they do NS, and that the government has policies in place to ensure foreigners do not displace citizens on a national level, there is hardly any complaints about the duration or allowance of NS. Morale was a lot higher too. It is for that same reason, why you don't see Israelis, Koreans or Taiwanese kick up such a huge fuss about NS.
The Israeli, Korean and Taiwanese economies reserve the bulk of the good jobs for their own citizens. If their citizens are not up to par, then the company has a duty to groom and nurture and train up their citizens, instead of just taking the easy way out and hire a foreigner. Many of these NSmen in those countries show loyalty because the country extends loyalty back to their own people. Have you heard of foreign companies in Korea firing the entire department of Korean staff of professionals, and replacing them with fellow Pinoys, Malaysians and Indian Nationals?
Such things only happen in Singapore. I have friends who are of foreign nationals who work in different companies. They all express amazement at the near complete lack of loyalty of the Singapore government towards its own citizens, in the name of 'meritocracy'. It is that easy to put in place hiring policies that allow Singaporeans to be blocked from entry from being hired, or to fire a Singaporean and replace him or her with a foreigner. And there are hardly any repercussions for such acts. In fact, they all think the Singapore government supports them for doing so, because whenever this issue is brought up, the government appears very reluctant to take action and instead, label the Singaporean victim for being 'racist' or 'xenophobic'. You can't do such a thing in Israel or Korea or Taiwan, and hope to get away with it. But in Singapore, you can.
The crux of the NS problem is not about duration or salary. It is about the perceived lack of access to opportunities or lack of fair play in the workplace simply because one is unlucky enough to hold a Singaporean citizenship or unlucky enough to be saddled with NS LIABILITIES, which puts one at a professional disadvantage in the workplace.
In the current workplace, foreigners already outnumber Singaporean citizens. It is quite easy to see this. If you exclude all civil servants including those in statutory boards, you will realize that Singapore citizens form the minority in the private sector. So, you have a case where half the minority are saddled with reservist liabilities, while the vast majority of the private workforce isn't. It is a very heavy burden where most employers, especially foreign employers, frown upon.
There are many ways to fire a Singaporean for his outstanding NS liabilities. The easiest is just to cite 'work performance' or 'corporate restructuring'. Use those reasons, and Mindef automatically backs off. Otherwise, go through the motion and interview a Singaporean, refuse to hire him because his NS liabilities is an unnecessary burden the company can do without, especially since in the eyes of MOM, there is no difference between a PR or a citizen. There is also no quota for Employment Pass holders. So, you can fire a citizen and replace him with an EP personnel.
Many of my peers did NS and reservist happily and bore no grudges to the SAF, because when we entered the workforce, there were ample opportunities for citizens to learn and grow. When this key condition was satisfied, we didn't care about SAFRA clubs or CPF top-ups. Those, while nice to have, are far less important.
Now, people doing NS have more SAFRA clubs, more CPF top-ups. But in return, their career prospects are far less promising. It is common to know of Singaporeans who get retrenched in their early 40s and late 30s, only for the same job to remain in Singapore but go to a foreigner who is either the same nationality as the manager, or that the foreigner has agreed to give kickbacks in return for the job. Where is the meritocracy and fairness here?
Many Singaporeans after serving NS also find that they cannot qualify to study in our top local universities, but foreign students who can't speak English, let alone pass English at O-levels or General Paper at A-levels, are allowed to study in the local university on full scholarships. Where is the meritocracy here?
When the rules are fair and swift to punish those who play dirty, citizens are assured that they have full access to opportunities to excel, they will complain less about NS and serve willingly. When we pass fair laws, but are reluctant to punish employers who bend the rules and exploit loopholes to discriminate against citizens, people take it that the government has broken faith with the citizens and is encouraging such acts. Who then, would want to serve NS willingly.
Under such circumstances, do you still think your NS army will stand and fight, or will they simply run away like what happened in Iraq? Why fight for a country that seems to favour its foreigners more under the pretext of 'meritorcracy'? While some foreigners are talented, many are not. Many simply are cheaper, have offered kickbacks to foreign HR personnel, or the foreign boss wants to alter the demographics of the workforce to ensure a dominant foreign majority in the office.
Without any concrete measures to ensure Singaporeans are not displaced at a national level from their own local universities, good career prospects, this disenchantment about the duration of NS will only get worse.
That's my humble take about the problem of National Service now.