New Citizen: I am too important to do NS

Coffeeshop Chit Chat - New Citizen: I am too important to do NS


New Citizen: I am too important to do NS
April 10th, 2011 | Author: Contributions | Edit

Yesterday morning on the bus, I overheard this conversation from a loud 20+ Indian male talking to his friend in the seat near mine.

¡°I told my colleagues that I am an upper class citizen and I don¡¯t do National Service. Your government had beg us to come here to be citizens and I am too important to do National Service, only the stupid lower class locals have to do National Service. I told them we are elites from India and we don¡¯t go to lunch with them because they were of lower class.¡±

He than continued to brag about how about how great India is and how bad Singapore is in comparison to India. So, I assumed that he must be a ¡®new citizen¡¯ from India.

Our 2nd Defence Minister had once put up his defence for these ¡®NEW CITIZENS¡¯ to exempt them from doing NS.

¡®But it is not a sufficiently strong reason for the requirement to be imposed on them.¡¯

He went on further on how to ¡®integrate¡¯ these new citizens in lieu of National Service by:

¡®The People¡¯s Association, for example, organised visits for new citizens to the Army Museum. And the Defence Ministry organises visits to the Pulau Tekong Basic Military Training Centre.¡¯

So these ¡®new citizens¡¯ will go to our Pulau Tekong camp like some VIP spectators watching our guys training like watching some monkey show? Isn¡¯t this adding salt to injuries of our insult?

But what else can I say, especially this is from the mouth of a ¡®DEFENCE¡¯ Minister.

I personally felt that it is a shame that our own Defence Minister had discriminate our own local born citizens on a very import issue of National Defence.

Does he not felt that his stand on NS exemption for ¡®new citizens¡¯ had undermined the morale and belief of total defence that they had been promoting for many years of our NS men?

Does he also felt that these third world country foreigners were so important that they don¡¯t have to do National Service?

Does he not felt the slightest shame that he have to pleased these foreigners to this extend?

Do we have to beg these third world country foreigners to be our citizens so badly that we allow them exemption of National Service which is the backbone of our national defence?

Do our ministers felt that two and a half years of National Service and a thirteen years cycle reservist is a joke?

For years the army had complainted about shortage of manpower for defence, but now we have this ¡®exemption¡¯ of new citizens for National Services.

And the discrimination does not restrict to National Service.

We might soon have PAP ¡®overnight citizen¡¯ new candidates entering the parliament through the tailcoat of a GRC.

Our ministers had keep reminding us that ¡°We need foreigners to create jobs for Singaporeans.¡±

I felt like being slapped on the face by that damn Indian new citizen¡¯s remark, but hell, there are some truth in it. We had been suckers of National Service. I suddenly felt my pride and dignity seriously hurt!

It reminds me of NTU¡¯s undergrad, Mr. Lim Zhi Rui¡¯s famous quote: ¡°I really don¡¯t know what I¡¯m defending any more.¡±

Are you guys who is still doing NS, reservist or completed NS and reservist feeling the same? Or am I the odd idiot out here feeling this way?

.

Marvin Fo