According to this article in The Online Citizen, one in three permanent residents renounced their citizenship to avoid serving National Service. There is a suspicion that these renouncers might have subsequently been given favourable treatment in getting a place in our universities. If this suspicion is found to be true, it would make a mockery of the sacrifice that is being made by our male citizens in serving the country.
I understand the difficulty faced by the Government in this difficult situation. They are keen to have more people become citizens or even to remain as permanent residents, rather than to lose them due to National Service. Regretfully, this difficult situation has been created by the Government due to its own inconsistent policies.
A better approach would have been to make it a privilege to serve National Service. Many who had served National Service have said that the experience was beneficial to them in improving their character and maturity. The disadvantage was financial.
It would have been better if the Government had paid a generous allowance for people who served full time National Service - an allowance that is comparable to what they would have earned if they had been working in the private sector. Alternatively, the Government could have given them a housing grant of (say) $30,000 for their 24 months of National Service, which would have helped them to afford a HDB flat. The Government is already giving a housing grant to many people, as the HDB flat would have been unaffordable without the grant. It would have been better for the grant to be tied to the completion of full time National Service.
If such a scheme had been in place, it would have been a win-win situation for most people. Many of the permanent residents would have opted to serve National Service for the generous housing grant and the benefit of character development. Singapore would not have lost so many permanent residents that it would have wished to keep.
I know that the Government would have another difficult question of how to deal with past generations of people who served National Service in earlier years. It would not be difficult to find a fair solution - although I do not have any ready answer. When there is a will, there is a way.
What are your views?
I understand the difficulty faced by the Government in this difficult situation. They are keen to have more people become citizens or even to remain as permanent residents, rather than to lose them due to National Service. Regretfully, this difficult situation has been created by the Government due to its own inconsistent policies.
A better approach would have been to make it a privilege to serve National Service. Many who had served National Service have said that the experience was beneficial to them in improving their character and maturity. The disadvantage was financial.
It would have been better if the Government had paid a generous allowance for people who served full time National Service - an allowance that is comparable to what they would have earned if they had been working in the private sector. Alternatively, the Government could have given them a housing grant of (say) $30,000 for their 24 months of National Service, which would have helped them to afford a HDB flat. The Government is already giving a housing grant to many people, as the HDB flat would have been unaffordable without the grant. It would have been better for the grant to be tied to the completion of full time National Service.
If such a scheme had been in place, it would have been a win-win situation for most people. Many of the permanent residents would have opted to serve National Service for the generous housing grant and the benefit of character development. Singapore would not have lost so many permanent residents that it would have wished to keep.
I know that the Government would have another difficult question of how to deal with past generations of people who served National Service in earlier years. It would not be difficult to find a fair solution - although I do not have any ready answer. When there is a will, there is a way.
What are your views?
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