Is National Defence a sacred cow?

[Arctic]

Or current system is perfect?

Other than edmw and mm, hardly hear anyone talking about it


Ppl are ok with a doctor being Defence minister
Regulars being super highly paid + guaranteed a retirement job after that
Women are exempted from ns, enemies and bullets
18 yo boys are licensed to kill but cannot vote
18 yo boys are deprived of their 2 yrs of life
Some 18 yo boys died in svc under ridiculous scenarios

[jim889]

jobs for ....
ns for ...

fill in the blanks..

just 2 yrs but really gib other ppl who nose need to serve ns an advantage ..

just start by the bf / gf stories..  after go ns... gf gone.
then jods.. start 2 yrs later than others
 

[BuiBuiForeverAlone]

No, not a sacred cow. Not in the top 5 concerns of Singaporean voters.

[Keeptrucking]

Agree with most points. But i think only officers hv retirement jobs. Warrant officers are only those who hv strong connections or did very well.

But ya all the majors and above are over paid.

I think all the high pay and retirement jobs are there to prevent them from joining opposition after retiring.

Cb pap using our money to extend their political longeveity.

[Keeptrucking]

I also feel strongly that we sld hv a day that commemorates all those who died and suffered life long injuries during NS.

But surely pap dont dare to do it.

I think they said that is is considered under SAF day, which totally does not do justice at all.

That said i think NS cnt be touched cos i believe that under the seemingly peaceful relationships we hv with our neighbours things are prob not as simple.

[Arctic]

Anyone knows if national defense budget is published anot

How many % goes to salary of regulars. How many % goes to nsf?

I all for regulars being well paid but not to the extent of super highly paid. It's ironic that in Cs we have "super scale"!!
MIW said serving ns is a privilege which cannot be measured by dollar and cents. I'm sure regulars will agree. But if cos, passion alone cannot put food on the table so yes, regulars should be well paid but no excessive.

[Arctic]

Agree with most points. But i think only officers hv retirement jobs. Warrant officers are only those who hv strong connections or did very well.

But ya all the majors and above are over paid.

I think all the high pay and retirement jobs are there to prevent them from joining opposition after retiring.

Cb pap using our money to extend their political longeveity.

They are already so well paid. Best to stay retired at 50yo and enjoy life

About the joining oppo part, I agree that is true too

[Imboredtodeath]

it's necessary as a show of force for neighbours. but they dont want females to join because at least half go NS, half go workforce/studies

it really depends on the POV

[Keeptrucking]

They are already so well paid. Best to stay retired at 50yo and enjoy life

About the joining oppo part, I agree that is true too

Yeah esp the higher ranking officers. I don't they care about warrant officers joining oppositions. I can imagine it will make for good headlines like 'Ex SAF Colonel joins PSP/WP'.

It won't happen cos they all have cushy retirement jobs.

[Arctic]

it's necessary as a show of force for neighbours. but they dont want females to join because at least half go NS, half go workforce/studies

it really depends on the POV

What is necessary? NS? Total defence is necessary for ALL citizens

I'm no expert and understand it is a complex issue but this women conscription and pov is for gov of the day to solve, they are paid and elected to do so.I having no solution to this doesn't mean they can also say they dun have a solution

Dun tell me NS is also under act of god/global issues/mkt forces/no amt of engineering can solve

[Keeptrucking]

What is necessary? NS? Total defence is necessary for ALL citizens

I'm no expert and understand it is a complex issue but this women conscription and pov is for gov of the day to solve, they are paid and elected to do so.I having no solution to this doesn't mean they can also say they dun have a solution

Dun tell me NS is also under act of god/global issues/mkt forces/no amt of engineering can solve

I don't have the stats but I am very sure that our army is understaffed. I had an older friend who was in 30 SCE in the early to mid 90s I think. Back then, they still had an Echo company but when i joined the unit many years later there was no more Echo company and one entire floor of the company block was left empty.

It may be for operational reasons but I am sure it is similar in other units like infantry, armour, artillery... all these need manpower, you cannot 100% replace them with tech. And for Bargain Hen to come out and say that tech can replace manpower shows that he is just trying to protect his incompetent colleagues who are in charge of TFR.

Our army looks good on paper but once tested a little, it will crack.

Imagine if the women step in to be medics, signallers, admin, store... freeing up men for combat roles. 

[Imboredtodeath]

What is necessary? NS? Total defence is necessary for ALL citizens

I'm no expert and understand it is a complex issue but this women conscription and pov is for gov of the day to solve, they are paid and elected to do so.I having no solution to this doesn't mean they can also say they dun have a solution

Dun tell me NS is also under act of god/global issues/mkt forces/no amt of engineering can solve

it's all about GDP. they chose the so-called best and cheapest solution for peaceful times. it's never about fairness of sexes

since v few women can actually be as physically fit as men, most of them would have to serve in like nurses type of roles

then another thing im not sure if they consider, is because women need to be younger to have kids. of course u will argue that men also being put at a disadvantage.

anyway really is 讲不完

[Arctic]

I don't have the stats but I am very sure that our army is understaffed. I had an older friend who was in 30 SCE in the early to mid 90s I think. Back then, they still had an Echo company but when i joined the unit many years later there was no more Echo company and one entire floor of the company block was left empty.

It may be for operational reasons but I am sure it is similar in other units like infantry, armour, artillery... all these need manpower, you cannot 100% replace them with tech. And for Bargain Hen to come out and say that tech can replace manpower shows that he is just trying to protect his incompetent colleagues who are in charge of TFR.

Our army looks good on paper but once tested a little, it will crack.

Imagine if the women step in to be medics, signallers, admin, store... freeing up men for combat roles. 

School and bmt intake already getting less so it's no surprise? Anyway, as what default mentioned, if women also enlist then who work?
This is a problem for gov to solve, they can't just pretend it's not a problem and sweep it under the carpet. Having no solution to it doesn't mean problem dun exist

[Arctic]

it's all about GDP. they chose the so-called best and cheapest solution for peaceful times. it's never about fairness of sexes

since v few women can actually be as physically fit as men, most of them would have to serve in like nurses type of roles

then another thing im not sure if they consider, is because women need to be younger to have kids. of course u will argue that men also being put at a disadvantage.

anyway really is 讲不完

I believe most are fine with women in non combat roles. There are 1001 positions to be filled in ministries, stat boards and glcs

Rather than 讲不完, why not start something first. Heck, even msia have women conscripts despite all the wayang and it's a failure

[Keeptrucking]

it's all about GDP. they chose the so-called best and cheapest solution for peaceful times. it's never about fairness of sexes

since v few women can actually be as physically fit as men, most of them would have to serve in like nurses type of roles

then another thing im not sure if they consider, is because women need to be younger to have kids. of course u will argue that men also being put at a disadvantage.

anyway really is 讲不完

I think it is all about whether or not pap wants to do it. We learned from Isreal right? And they enlist women too, why can't we learn from them again?

And I did mention before that it is all about out of the box thinking. No need to do the full term like us. Just 1 month modified BMT to learn weapon handling, self-defence, FIBUA, field craft, and basic section movement. Then 2/3 months vocational training (medic, signaller, admin, store...), and 1 month attached to unit.

About four/five months in total. Can book out every day other than night training days. Maybe do 5 days reservist every year depending on vocation.

And don't enlist every women from the get-go, do lottery and voluntary system with incentives thrown in. Slowly expand the numbers if needed.

I don't see how it can affect the workforce if it is just a few months of their life. More political reasons than anything.