When 21-year old Private Dominique Sarron Lee Rui Feng of 3 Singapore Infantry Regiment [SIR] passed away during training, a girl Zheng Huiting posted the comment “Singaporeans too weak? LOL” to a Facebook link about the news of this tragedy.

This is not a post written to flame Zheng Huiting, because many others have done that rather effectively. The girl has apologised and even beat a hasty retreat from social media by erasing her Facebook and Twitter profiles. My friends and I wouldn’t care to flame her, because we wouldn’t give a damn to the comments about National Service [NS] by those who are not required to do it and has never done it. Personally, I felt some of these girls probably can’t survive even one Physical Traiing [PT] session in the army. If they have so much to say, just try one of our PT sessions. Survive that first, then come back and talk.

However, I am still outraged. We don’t “LOL” (Laugh out Loud) over the death of someone. Regardless whether we know some of these people personally, these are one of our brothers who lost their lives doing their duty for our country.

I remembered watching with some apprehension when another NSF was carried into the medical center on a stretcher screaming in pain. One of his leg is broken and he was bleeding profusely. A part of the shin bone was jutting out. We don’t “LOL” about something like that. We simply rush out of the way so the medics and his platoon mates can carry him quickly into the first aid room. I also remembered back in 1994, I did a recovery for a overturned tank in which the commander was killed. I was subsequently sent as part of the unit (also as part of the larger Armoured Formation) to the poor sod’s funeral. No one wants to die doing their NS. But it breaks the heart when you see the mother screaming and running after the carriage carrying the coffin of her son to the crematorium. None of us even dared to smile, much less “LOL” at that.

Even after our full time NS is completed, some of us still feel something for the units or camps we have served in. When a Taiwanese F-5F crashed in Hukou camp in Taiwan, I went to look up the news to find more details. I was sad when I read that 2 of our soldiers were killed in that crash. No, we don’t “LOL” at such things even when we don’t know those people.

Are our young boys spending 2 years of the prime of their lives defending those who no longer appreciate it? Maybe it’s high time we implement some form of NS for our womenfolk, to bring about some real gender equality. Even putting them as nurses in hospitals would help. Having them pull night or weekend duties will make them understand how painful that is.

If there is any other thing that invalidates the meaning of NS, it would be our young womenfolk’s failure to appreciate the sacrifice our men has to make, on top of employers’ preference in hiring foreigners over Singaporeans due to our NS obligations. I shudder to imagine when they become mothers. Anyway, 2 years of NS is not all to a Singaporean men’s NS obligations. There is also a “reservist” cycle in which the men are expected to spend up to 40 days a year during training, and to keep fit and pass their annual Individual Physical Proficiency Test [IPPT] every year until their are released by the Singapore Armed Forces [SAF]. How long this cycle will be depends on how soon you reach 40 years old or complete 6 High Key and 4 Low Key training, whichever is sooner. If the NSman is an officer, he needs to serve even after 40 years old.

Are we ourselves to blame for this lack of respect for NS? All too often we talk about NS as a waste of time, and we ridicule some of the “silly things” we do during NS before our women folk. Worst of it all are those who thought little of their NS training and openly belittle it. Perhaps I was mistaken. Maybe this chap loved NS so much that he is angry that the Ministry of Defense [MINDEF] did not post him to a unit where training is tougher than what he experienced – such as the Commandoes, the Guards or even the Combat Engineers where they do more than taking a “stroll in Lim Chu Kang or Mandai with guns”. MINDEF should have made him redo his NS.

Then there’s the damage one of our full-time National Servicemen [NSF] has done to the image of NS. We have all done our part to ridicule that poor boy whose maid carried his fullpack, but what is worse is the public hounding of our NSFs – such as a recent photo showing a NSF sitting on the floor of our MRT trains, or even longer ago NSFs who occupied the ‘Priority Seat’ (if I remembered correctly). I have two things to say about this. First of all, why the hell does anyone complain about the NSF sitting on the floor of the MRT when we know just how horrendous the service has been recently? Are we forgetting that the trains come at irregular frequencies, and the increased number of break downs? Furthermore, the train wasn’t even packed and is this poor sod still sitting down where he is when the train is getting more packed? If he stood up when it is required, why berate him for it? Who knows what he might have gone through that day? As for those who took the priority seat, I always find it ridiculous that people takes photos of the “offenders” and make a fuss. Why didn’t they step forward and confront the “offender” right there and then? As far as I am concerned, anyone who failed to do so at the scene has basically forfeited his right to pursue the matter. Don’t convene a ‘kangaroo court’ in STOMP or some forum or website to trial the poor sod.

Really, even though the food, treatment and allowances maybe better in NS these day, I am quite sure the PT sessions to ensure everyone attain the IPPT standards are not compromised. Stop beating up on our NSFs because they seem to be better off now. We all aspire to a better life and we expect the SAF to improve and evolve over time as well. I don’t demand everyone to mourn about accidents and deaths in the SAF, but please remember this is a life of someone who is obliged by law to defend everyone else of us. At the very least honor them for their sacrifices even if they might be just pushing pens in a cubicle in one of our camps.

Recommended Reads:
FoxTwo: Singaporeans Too Weak? LOL!
Senang Diri: Singaporeans close ranks against post on NSF’s death