National Service in Singapore

National Service in Singapore, (commonly known as NS), is a statutory requirement for all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents to undergo a period of compulsory service in the uniformed services. Depending on physical and medical fitness, they serve a two-year period as National Servicemen Full-time (NSFs), either in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Singapore Police Force (SPF), or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). A 2-month reduction in full-time National Service is given for pre-enlistees who are able to pass their National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) at the silver or gold standard.

When an NSF completes his full-time service, he is considered to be "operationally ready", and is thereafter known as an Operationally-Ready National Serviceman (NSman). In common parlance, the term "Reservist" is used, a vestige of the older nomenclature preceding the current terminology. NSmen are the equivalent of other countries' reservists. NSmen make up >80% of Singapore's military defence. They form the backbone of the SAF as NSmen represent the collective will of the nation to stand up for itself and to ensure the security of the nation.

The majority of NSFs serve in the SAF, as part of the Army. The reasons for this include the relative manpower needs of the Army compared to the Navy and Air Force, the SPF, and SCDF. Moreover, as compared to the Army, the Air Force (RSAF) and Navy (RSN) are smaller armed services composed primarily of regular servicemen. As the RSAF and RSN's manpower tend to be more specialized, the constant periodic turnover of NSFs is considered to be very disruptive.

Singapore is among the list of countries with a national service exceeding 18 months and thereafter a statutory age cap of reservist obligation up to age 40 for WOSEs (Other Ranks) and age 50 for commissioned officers exists. National Service Full-time (NSF) service men are granted 14 days of vacation leave per year, compared to. for example, South Korea's conscription leave days of 28 days a year of leave.

History
The NS (Amendment) act was passed on 14 March 1967, making National Service (NS) compulsory for all 18-year-old male Singapore citizens and permanent residents. The Singapore government felt that it was necessary to build a substantial military force to defend itself. The country had only about 1,000 soldiers at independence. In the late 1960s, the British government had decided to withdraw its troops and bases East of Suez, including troops stationed in Singapore. That prompted the government to implement a conscription program for the country's defence needs. It adopted a conscription model drawing on elements from the Israeli and Swiss national conscription schemes. Some 9,000 male youths born between 1 January and 30 June 1949 became the first batch of young men to be called up for NS. Singapore had sought assistance through official diplomacy from other countries, but their refusal to provide help prompted Israeli diplomats to extend a helping hand to the new sovereign nation in the establishment of the Singapore armed forces.

The stated rationale behind conscription is twofold. Firstly, because Singapore has a population of about five and a half million (as of 2014), an army solely of regulars would not be practical to defend the country. Secondly, national service is supposed to support racial harmony among the Chinese, Malay and Indian communities. The Malays were virtually excluded from conscription from the beginning of the draft in 1967 until 1977 and, after the policy was eased, were assigned mainly to serve in the police and civil defence (fire brigade), not in military roles. This is mainly due to uncertainties of where their loyalties will lie should Singapore engage in war with Malaysia.

In 1987, Lee Hsien Loong (then Second Minister for Defence) stated that "If there is a conflict, if the SAF is called to defend the homeland, we do not want to put any of our soldiers in a difficult position where his emotions for the nation may be in conflict with his religion" and in The Roar of the Lion City (2007), military analyst Sean Walsh claimed that "official discrimination against the Malay population remains an open secret". The Ministry of Defence contests the charge, noting that there are "Malay pilots, commandos and air defence personnel" and stating that "the proportion of eligible and qualified Malays selected for specialist and officer training is similar to the proportion for eligible non-Malays."

Enlistment
According to the Enlistment Act, conscription is mandatory for all "persons subject to [the] act", defined as those who are not less than 16.5 years of age and not more than 40 years of age, with some exemptions and with no specific bias to gender (not limited to males).

Male Singapore citizens and second-generation Permanent Residents (PRs) who have registered for their NRIC are required to register for National Service upon reaching the age of 16 years and six months, during which they would also be required to undergo a mandatory medical examination (PULHHEEMS) to determine their medical status, known as Physical Employment Status (PES), which determines which vocational groups the pre-enlistee is physically able to be posted to.

Male 2nd-generation Permanent Residents (PRs), i.e. Male children who take up permanent residency status under the sponsorship of their Permanent Resident parent, are required by law to serve National Service, just like Singaporean male citizens. The rationale is that they too enjoy the socio-economic national benefits of schooling and living in "peacetime" Singapore.

Pre-enlistees are allowed to defer NS to complete full-time tertiary studies, up to the 1st pre-university qualification bar (GCE 'A' Levels or Polytechnic Diploma, or their equivalent) before enlistment for Basic Military Training (BMT), following these criteria:
 * JC students will automatically be granted deferment, if less than 19 years old (Sec 4) or 20 years old (Sec 5)
 * Polytechnic students from secondary school will automatically be granted deferment - if less than 19 years old (Sec 4) or 20 years old (Sec 5)
 * Polytechnic students from ITE will automatically be granted deferment if less than 21 years old, or 22 years old depending on the academic stream.
 * ITE students will automatically be granted deferment
 * Cross-ITE streams (NITEC to Higher NITEC) will be granted deferment if less than 21 years old. A grace period may be issued if you are entering the 2nd year Higher Nitec if you are just reached 21 years old before the entry date.
 * Private schools will be granted deferment if less than 19 years old (Sec 4) or 20 years old (Sec 5)

Those granted approval in national sports teams to compete in national/ overseas events will be drafted as soon as they returned from one of the national level events. Pre-enlistees who ran afoul with the law and sentenced to Changi Prison are never released back into Singapore Armed Forces.

Complete NS exemptions are rare, usually due to permanent disabilities or severe medical conditions to be graded PES F by the SAF Medical Board and other exceptional case-by-case basis. Lately, national policies are progressively tightened to close up any loopholes that are exploited by draft evaders.

There is a voluntary early enlist scheme by the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) for pre-enlistees who opt for early enlistment, with the consent of their parents, to begin their full-time national service at the earliest age of 16 years and six months.

In the past, the duration of the conscription for a typical Singaporean male spanned over a period of either 2 or 2 years and six months depending on his educational qualifications. In 2004, the duration was reduced to 2 years, driven by the technological transformation into the 3rd Generation SAF and the surge in NS intake for the next 10 years. As a bonus incentive, the NS duration can be cut by a further two months when the combat-fit PES A/B1 enlistees are able to obtain a silver or gold for their physical fitness test (NAPFA) prior to enlistment. However, non-combat-fit enlistees (PES B2 and below) will still serve the full 24 months of NS.

Refusal to serve and conscientious objection
Those who are liable to serve national service as a national duty to the country but refuse are charged under the Enlistment Act. If convicted, they face up to both three years' imprisonment and a fine of S$10,000. Draft defaulters' penalties were increased significantly in January 2006 after Melvyn Tan, who was born in 1956 in Singapore, received a composition fine for defaulting on his National Service obligations in the 1970s after attaining British citizenship. If a male citizen defaults, has finished one course of study, and is going to be called up for enlistment, he will have to face a two-year jail sentence after graduation. No subsequent courses of study are allowed after the completion of the first course of study. MINDEF also grants pre-enlistees attending tertiary institutions a grace period, during which they will have to graduate. There have also been cases whereby defaulters who return to Singapore to renew their passports and visas are detained and arrested. Defaulters above 40 will also have to face a maximum of three years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000.

Some NS pre-enlistees are court-martialled for their failure to enlist or refusal to be conscripted. Most of them were Jehovah's Witnesses, who are usually sentenced to three years' imprisonment by default at the SAF detention barrack facility, and are separated from other conscription offenders. The government does not consider conscientious objection to be a legal reason for refusal of national service.

In the Singapore Parliament on 5 August 2014, the Minister of Defence stated that, according to records, no such persons have been granted reinstatement of permanent residence or citizenship. He added that the policy has been progressively tightened recently such that no NS-liable permanent resident who has renounced his permanent resident status in the last decade has been granted approval for work or study. For former permanent residents who fail to serve NS, any immediate or future applications including the renewal of their parents' and inclusive of immediate family members' Re-Entry Permits will be adversely affected, including curtailment of the Re-Entry Permit.

Military service
There are several types of Basic Military Training (BMT) conducted by the SAF at its BMT Centre on Pulau Tekong, an offshore island off the north-east coast of Singapore, or at selected battalion units which directly draft mono-intake recruits. Combat-fit NSFs with higher education undergo a 9-week Enhanced BMT program. NSFs with other educational certificates and mono-intake recruits undergo a similar program (standard BMT program), less a Situational Test (Sit Test), for assessing recruits in the selection posting to command schools, the Specialist Cadet School (SCS) and Officer Cadet School (OCS). Also, a selected handful of top candidates are transferred to the Singapore Police Force to get accelerated advanced training as an Inspector at the Home Team Academy for a period of 9 months, likewise for the Singapore Civil Defence Force where a few are also carefully groomed to become lieutenants. Recently, selected NSFs having at least NITEC certificates who perform exceptionally well are recommended to undergo the Situational Test model to deem assessment suitability for commander training.

NSFs who are medically graded PES C and E (non-combat-fit), either have to go a 9-week Modified BMT or a 4-week induction program for recruits to be trained for combat service support vocations NSFs who are graded PES A and B1, but did not pass the pre-enlistment National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) test, will have to undergo an additional 2-month Physical Training Phase (PTP), making it a 17-week BMT program for additional physical conditioning. Conscripts who are considered medically obese go through a weight-loss 19-weeks BMT. The obesity of a conscript is determined by his body mass index (BMI) during the pre-enlistment medical checkup. A BMI of above 27 is considered indicative of obesity, as opposed to the World Health Organization's guideline of 30 and above.

Mono Intake
Refers to conscripts who are directly enlisted into battalion units and undergo their basic military training there, bypassing the Pulau Tekong BMT, e.g. Naval Diving Unit, Commandos, Guards, Infantry, Armour.

Police service
Though a majority will serve in the SAF (predominantly in the Army) for their National Service, a number of enlistees will serve their NS years in the Singapore Police Force (SPF). Those who have been chosen to serve in the SPF undergo training at the Home Team Academy where they study the Penal Code and standard police protocol. After training at the Academy, they will be posted to various departments of the SPF, such as Special Operations Command (SOC), Logistics, Land divisions, Airport Police Division (APD). Those posted to the Police Coast Guard (PCG) or Police KINS will undergo further training. Selection of Officer Cadets (OCTs) to undergo the NS Probationary Inspector Course (NSPI) is a stringent process for Police National Servicemen (Full-time). A very small number, usually one who is awarded the Best Trainee Award, from each cohort will be selected, with the majority of the OCTs being carefully chosen from the Singapore Armed Forces' National Servicemen (Full-time) who have completed their Basic Military Training (BMT) forming the senior officers corps for the Singapore Police Force

Civil defence service
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is the emergency rescue force of Singapore and they provide firefighting, rescue and ambulance services, and has been one of the three National Service postings since 1972. Those enlisted into the SCDF typically undergo seven weeks of training at the Basic Rescue Training Centre (BRTC), where they are given basic rescue training (BRT), exposed to regimental discipline, and trained to maintain a level of fitness required of all NSFs in Singapore.

Much like the SAF's SISPEC course, selected NSFs are also posted to the Civil Defence Academy (CDA) to undergo the Firefighter Course (FFC) or the Emergency Response Specialist Course (ERSC) within the first two weeks of their BRT stage, passing out as Firefighters for FFC trainees, and as Fire & Rescue Specialists for ERS trainees who would also simultaneously be conferred with the Sergeant rank (Firefighters mostly pass out as Lance Corporals prior to station posting). Firefighters would typically be posted out to the various fire stations island-wide after passing out, while Fire & Rescue Specialists would be posted as Section Commanders at territorial division, fire stations or at the Special Rescue Battalion; based largely on rankings at the time of course completion, a small number may also be posted as Instructors back in the CDA to staff the Command and Staff Training Center (CSTC), Specialist Training Center (STC), or Firefighting Training Center (FFTC).

While a certain level of health and fitness pre-requisites are expected by both the FFC and ERSC administrators before one can be selected for these courses, admission into the ERS course typically requires a certain set of additional qualifications, namely either a minimum of a GCE Advanced Level certificate, a Diploma or a Higher Nitec Certificate. These added pre-requisites are viewed as necessary in the light of a Section Commander's operational and administrative role when posted out. One marked difference between the FFC and ERSC is the added rescue and emergency training received by ERS Specialist Cadet Trainees (SCTs), as well as the General Command & Control Term, which includes the Basic Home Team Course held at the Home Team Academy and an outward-bound Brunei trip which serves to equip and develop the necessary leadership skills required of a specialist junior officer. In terms of administration and duration, the FFC is under the charge of the FFTC and lasts three months, while the ERSC is under the purview of the CSTC and lasts six months.

In addition, there is also the Basic Officer Course under the charge of the CSTW, designed to train NSFs and regulars as Senior Officers of the SCDF, with NSFs graduating as Lieutenants (LTA). While the BOC is traditionally largely made up of NSFs from the SAF who had just completed their Basic Military Training (BMT) at Pulau Tekong, the top 5-10% of the ERSC will also be offered to cross over to the Basic Officer Course (BOC) to be trained and commissioned as Senior Officers after passing out, spending the last three months of the BOC together with Officer Cadet Trainees (OCTs).

NSFs who undergo the full 7-week basic rescue training at the BRTC are subsequently posted and trained to become medical orderlies (medics), dog handlers, provosts, information and communications and logistics specialists or instructors (such as Physical Training Instructors) among many other vocations upon passing out from the BRTC.

Singapore Permanent Residents
Second Generation Permanent Residents are mandated by law to register for enlistment to the compulsory full-time national service and later reservist duties when they turn operationally-ready (ORD).

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen stated in Parliament that between 2006 and 2011, about 8,800 males who had become permanent residents under the sponsorship of their parents were enlisted for and served National Service (NS). On the other hand, 4,200 males who had become permanent residents under the sponsorship of their parents renounced their PR status prior to serving national service. Their failure to serve NS will be taken into account should they decide to study, work or travel in Singapore in future. The government advises of such consequences at the point of renunciation.

After completing mandatory full-time national service, they can qualify to apply for the accelerated Singapore citizenship scheme. However, citizenship is not guaranteed for all applicants, as there are certain criteria that must be met such as educational qualification, income qualification and NS work performance/ conduct appraisal in the NS Certificate of Service issued upon ORD. From 2006 to 2010, about 2% of 3,000 Second Generation Permanent Residents who completed full-time national service and applied for Singapore citizenship were rejected.

If the person is not granted Singapore citizenship but still holds Singapore permanent residency, he is still obliged by law to serve the national service obligations, i.e. operationally-ready reservist duties/in-camp trainings

Singapore Permanent Residents who served national service but did not acquire Singapore citizenship will be treated equally to those permanent residents without service obligation; they would not have access to the privileges granted to Singapore citizens.

Military Offences
Military offences are governed by the Singapore Armed Forces Act and the Enlistment Act in the Singapore Statutes. However, civilian offences (e.g., against the Penal Code) may also amount to a military offence. Offences may be prosecuted by military prosecutors, through the military justice system, or through the normal court/justice system.

Literature

 * From Boys To Men: A Literary Anthology Of National Service In Singapore edited by Koh Buck Song and Umej Bhatia (2002) - 50 works of poetry, prose & playscripts by 30 writers, from 1967 to 2002, the 35th anniversary of national service in Singapore. This anthology contains seminal works about the dilemma of duty, such as The Fragrance Of Lallang, a sonnet by Koh Buck Song.

Film

 * Army Daze directed by Ong Keng Sen (1996)
 * Ah Boys to Men and ''Ah Boys to Men 2 directed by Jack Neo (2012–2013)
 * Ah Boys to Men 3: Frogmen directed by Jack Neo (2015)

Theatre

 * Army Daze by Michael Chiang (1987, 2006)
 * Full Tank! (2008)
 * Radio Silence (2008)
 * Botak Boys (2008)
 * Charged (2010)

Documentary

 * Every Singaporean Son (2010)
 * Every Singaporean Son - Epilogue (2011)
 * Making The Cut: Guards Conversion Course (2011)
 * Every Singaporean Son II - The Making of an Officer (2012)
 * Commandos: Documentary (2015)