**This is an extremely personal post and by viewing the post contents below, you agree that this is entirely an opinion of mine and I am not trying to mislead anybody. This post may be sensitive, if you are a Singaporean or Malaysian citizen, you may be offended by the contents, so don’t read it.**
I’ll be going into National Service real soon. Just a couple of months more. I didn’t train up, continued to munch on potato chips. It isn’t working out right.
You see, I am not motivated. I am just not motivated to go to this National Service thing. What is this Singapore National Service I am talking about asides giving birth to increase our population?
Well, basically you have to do military. You know, to protect our country and stuff. But protect for what? Just in case there is a war.
Let me update you, Singapore is a small country, we are around the size of Hong Kong. Anyway, we have around 4 million people here and lots of Chinese, some Malay, few Indians and no Osama. Seriously, we can’t win a war.
I keep hearing people talking about things like, “we can protect ourselves against Malaysia in case of an invasion.” Malaysia? That’s our neighbor with more people, more land and more Malays. Why would they be bloody attacking our country then, I asked. The answer I derived from Osama – Jihad.
Okay, fine fine. So maybe, just maybe, one day this Malaysia would come and attack us. And the bridge engineers like Benedict would be constructing this mobile bridge so that our soldiers can attack Malaysia back by just running across the bridge. I mean, asides this, I don’t see a better reason for training engineers to build bridges. You can’t god-damn connect the mobile bridge to Australia for them to send reinforcements anyway.
And seriously, do you think Singapore can win in a war against Malaysia? Okay, let’s stop this Malaysia-Singapore crap since I once swore that I shan’t speak about their acts after the water dispute both countries had that landed a placing in Asian Wall Street Journal. Can Singapore win against any country then? Yes, probably, but I am skeptical that Singapore can win any of our neighboring countries.
Convince me – what is this military for then? A certain friend told me that if some country comes to attack our dear motherland, we can fight back. Oh, so it’s a defensive strategy. Okay, point noted. That friend then continued, “we’ll try to fight till USA comes.” So the strategy is to defend and defend so that President Bush can finally withdraw his troops all around the world and throw them into Singapore via planes. Good thinking.
If Singapore is in war one day, I recommend an instant surrender to the enemies and wait for President Bush to send his troops if he wishes. Many people (including the enemy) would be spared from dying.
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Tags: singapore
[I have read the clause preceding this entry and I understood completely that the blogger's intention not to mislead and that the content therein and its entirety is of the blogger's own personal opinion. However, this comment is only meant to be taken into positive light depicting my rational thoughts in my own terms and it does NOT implicate patriotism on my end. I am not responsible for any mental upheavel that this comment may inflict. You don't have to read it.]
So you’re ranting this just because you’re going to be enlisted in the army? Dude I thought you can do better than that. Nobody likes to be enlisted. Nobody likes war. But instant surrender??? Dude, WTF?! So who is this friend of yours? Where did he get the facts? The ISD? Suppose someone wants to kick your ass … you’re gonna say ‘ok I surrender, go on kick my ass – until my mom and dad comes to the rescue’.
What good is a nation without military presence for defensive measures? And who is more worthy defending the land than its own people? That’s what military is all about in every country – defence. It’s not about being a unit of hooligans who attack other nations in the name of ‘pre-emptive strike’ and ‘liberation’!
Given the ’size of a nasal mucus’ our country is, how many of us do you think would take up a job in the armed forces? That’s where National Service comes in. Given a choice, I too didn’t want to be enlisted but I understood its necessity. Even Malaysia is doing it albeit the short period enlistees have to be in boot camp compared to our two-year service.
But dude, it’s only natural to feel anxious and angry at what we think is unnecessary and the irrational thoughts which are the products of it. Nobody likes to leave their comfort zone and into a realm of guts, sweats and military discipline. But I assure you dude, as a friend, that all is good in the army. Trust me, all is well. They’ll feed you very well and with something better than potato chips and they’ll make your abs better than before. You gotta take a little pain from training though, because the transition of being a boy to a man takes some sweat, not just premature ejeculation. Come to think of it, you’ll enjoy more welfare than I ever hoped for during my time.
The last thing we wanna be is overwhelmingly dependent on America. America goes to war and we find ourselves in security and economical turmoil – that’s just the impact of war and we’re not even holding a bullet.
by Event Horizon (Mar 10, 2005 at 12 AM)[This comment is not attempting to counter that of the above poster (Event Horizon). I only hope to reveal what I am thinking. You can treat it as blog therapy or something. Once again, I am not trying to ignite any anti-Singapore thoughts.]
I want freedom, Event Horizon. I think it would be a terrible time to be in National Service. I like Singapore, probably not as much as my peers do. But I am just not convinced that our military can successfully win a war.
You are right, I am ranting this because I’m going to be enlisted. I hesitated before I post, I don’t know if I am right to make just a post. To surrender wouldn’t be that hard to do so. But I given up on many things, I shouldn’t lead the country for obvious reasons as you can see.
What good does the National Service provide, I often ask myself. I have many fears. My life would be temporarily disrupted. Two years, it would seem short, but that probably takes 3% of my lifetime.
These days, I am undergoing mental stress. The problem is that I fail to see this future. Each time I try to look at my future, I can only see National Service. I can’t see beyond that period. I wasn’t guaranteed to pass that period. I have become negative these days, I saw the report of someone dying in National Service and I pictured myself as the next victim.
The whole my-country-needs-me idea is just not there this time. Defence is important to a country but I have no will to be part of it.
Dependent of the USA? I always have this feeling that we are very dependent to the USA, so much so that if the USA market crumbles that would be a direct hit to the economy here in Singapore.
My whole point circles around how feasible is it for us to win a war. I am skeptical. And when I am skeptical, I thought, “why go through the army when we’ll be in deep shit once a nuclear weapon hits town?” And my answer would be – because it is compulsory.
I am comforted by your statements regarding the welfare in the military. I have been picturing a harsh environment always. As for discipline, I don’t know how well I can face it towards someone in the army. They have been known to be unreasonable at times.
I am thinking of studying when I am in the army. I know this would really tire myself out but I feel like finishing my studies quicker. I don’t know if that idea is a good one. I still have consultation to do before I take this path.
by Mr. Dew (Mar 10, 2005 at 7 AM)Not every country in the world has armed forces. Countries roughly the size of Singapore (Panama, Costa Rica, Haiti) have decided to abolish their armed forces for various reasons.
Mr. Dew raises a good point about Singapore’s ability to win a war. This also raises another question; what is the point of Singapore’s armed forces? Event Horizon says defense, but who does Sg need to defend itself from? Or are Sg’s armed forces for periods of martial law?
Besides, not every country requires it’s men to serve in the military; what does that mean about all those men who choose not to serve all over the world?
by Jessica (Mar 10, 2005 at 12 PM)[...] My industrial training programme is coming to a close. I am going to graduate from Singapore Polytechnic soon. After that it would be National Service for me. [...]
by //beconfused » Blog Archive » current//tasks (Dec 22, 2006 at 1 AM)