LIFT : Of conscription and employment
OK, so I haven't been updating my blog, much less the LIFT series. But hey, I was bogged down down by school work and the exams are just round the corner. Anyway, I was surfing a local forum, well, not exactly local; it's hosted in the States but the content is largely local. Anyway, as I was saying, I was surfing this forum when I came across this interesting thread that featured the LIFT below.
The letter cannot be really classified as a LIFT per se, for I agreed wholeheartedly with the letter writer. Still, the letter serve no purpose, other than to allow the Ministry of Defence to come up with a nicely template-d reply to drive home its message regarding the "importance of national security". This letter will also serve as a nice target board for other "patriotic" male citizens - who firmly believes in the institution of conscription - to practise their rebuttal skills. Since he is about to receive an onslaught of not-so-friendly replies, I think I will skip my own reply. Oh... How I pity the letter writer. I shall keep a close eye on the forum pages in the days to come and post any new developments.
Oh yes. As you can see from the print screen capture, I'm using the latest Firefox 2.0 complete with the Adblock Plus extension. Man, it works like a charm. No more annoying ads ever appearing on the web pages that I browse. Try it and chances are, you will like it too.
The mandatory two years of conscription was (and still is) a waste of time. Sure, I learnt some useful skills but more often than not, it's basically being pushed around by superiors who treat me worse than the stuff you find at the bottom of your shoes. In fact, the entire conscription stint can be compressed into, say, 6 months or less. Just lessons to operate the rifles and basic fieldcraft will suffice. Things like marching around in parade squares, going on lengthy simulated exercises, dunking of one's head into a bucket of water and other stuff that generally don't contribute to the effectiveness as an soldier can be be safely omitted.
Since I'll be graduating and entering the labour market soon, the issue mentioned by the letter writer concerns me too. Gravely. I wonder, how many interviewers will give me a scowl or condescending smile, when I declare myself to be combat fit and liable for reservist duty? Perhaps I should migrate to a better place, specifically, somewhere where I can enjoy the similar benefits as a citizen but without the thankless task of defending the country.
Oh yes, speaking of "thankless", let me list down some examples:
1. My female contemporaries have a two year headstart over me, while I slog thanklessly in the Army. While it is true that males get higher starting pay, I think it is less than sufficient to offset the headstart.
2. National Service is not an one-off affair; it's life-long, until I reach 40 years old or I finish my reservist cycle, whichever comes first. So, while I attend the reservist training thanklessly, my colleagues will have a joyful time supplanting me and taking over my pet projects. I will come back from the training to see the smug smirks on their faces and that can't be too encouraging when I all physically exhausted and mentally drained.
3. I do have some perks though, for my efforts. One of which is of course the vague notion that the place where I live in will be defended by similar men like me: dispirited and disenchanted. Then again, we have a Gurkha contingent here, whom I have absolute faith in. I mean, we pay them quite a bit to do their jobs, right? So, logically, they should be doing their jobs right. And who can forget the tax relief that all NSmen enjoy? A measly SGD3000 per annum is all I get for my efforts and that's provided I go for the reservist trainings. Otherwise, it is just SGD1500. If that isn't thankless, I don't know what to call it. When I face the potential risk of losing my job while attending the reservist training, the carrot of tax relief is really nothing. I mean, without a job, I have no income. When I have no income, does it matter if my tax relief is 3000 or 3000 000?
4. While I'm still in conscription, I think I'm not paid according to market rate. My pay is roughly equivalent to that of a construction worker, my thankless job scope is twice of his and yet my freedom is a quarter of his. Going by the Equity Theory, it is obvious that I'll feel immensely inequitable. To add salt to injury, I entered conscription with a diploma. With that, I could have easily been making at least SGD1400 a month in the private sector. Am I compensated for the loss in income? Now, do you know why so many conscripts are so disillusioned and unmotivated? Apparently, the SAF went against the wisdom of the good ol' Herzberg Two Factor Theory (not by me; by this psychologist, Frederick Irving Herzberg) and no prizes for guessing who's the winner.
Well, I guess that's pretty enough for now. There's a lot more examples that I can quote but I think you get my point. Sigh... Such is the thankless life of a physically fit Singaporean male. Resign to fate? Nah, I think I'll work out a way somehow.
The letter cannot be really classified as a LIFT per se, for I agreed wholeheartedly with the letter writer. Still, the letter serve no purpose, other than to allow the Ministry of Defence to come up with a nicely template-d reply to drive home its message regarding the "importance of national security". This letter will also serve as a nice target board for other "patriotic" male citizens - who firmly believes in the institution of conscription - to practise their rebuttal skills. Since he is about to receive an onslaught of not-so-friendly replies, I think I will skip my own reply. Oh... How I pity the letter writer. I shall keep a close eye on the forum pages in the days to come and post any new developments.
Oh yes. As you can see from the print screen capture, I'm using the latest Firefox 2.0 complete with the Adblock Plus extension. Man, it works like a charm. No more annoying ads ever appearing on the web pages that I browse. Try it and chances are, you will like it too.
The mandatory two years of conscription was (and still is) a waste of time. Sure, I learnt some useful skills but more often than not, it's basically being pushed around by superiors who treat me worse than the stuff you find at the bottom of your shoes. In fact, the entire conscription stint can be compressed into, say, 6 months or less. Just lessons to operate the rifles and basic fieldcraft will suffice. Things like marching around in parade squares, going on lengthy simulated exercises, dunking of one's head into a bucket of water and other stuff that generally don't contribute to the effectiveness as an soldier can be be safely omitted.
Since I'll be graduating and entering the labour market soon, the issue mentioned by the letter writer concerns me too. Gravely. I wonder, how many interviewers will give me a scowl or condescending smile, when I declare myself to be combat fit and liable for reservist duty? Perhaps I should migrate to a better place, specifically, somewhere where I can enjoy the similar benefits as a citizen but without the thankless task of defending the country.
Oh yes, speaking of "thankless", let me list down some examples:
1. My female contemporaries have a two year headstart over me, while I slog thanklessly in the Army. While it is true that males get higher starting pay, I think it is less than sufficient to offset the headstart.
2. National Service is not an one-off affair; it's life-long, until I reach 40 years old or I finish my reservist cycle, whichever comes first. So, while I attend the reservist training thanklessly, my colleagues will have a joyful time supplanting me and taking over my pet projects. I will come back from the training to see the smug smirks on their faces and that can't be too encouraging when I all physically exhausted and mentally drained.
3. I do have some perks though, for my efforts. One of which is of course the vague notion that the place where I live in will be defended by similar men like me: dispirited and disenchanted. Then again, we have a Gurkha contingent here, whom I have absolute faith in. I mean, we pay them quite a bit to do their jobs, right? So, logically, they should be doing their jobs right. And who can forget the tax relief that all NSmen enjoy? A measly SGD3000 per annum is all I get for my efforts and that's provided I go for the reservist trainings. Otherwise, it is just SGD1500. If that isn't thankless, I don't know what to call it. When I face the potential risk of losing my job while attending the reservist training, the carrot of tax relief is really nothing. I mean, without a job, I have no income. When I have no income, does it matter if my tax relief is 3000 or 3000 000?
4. While I'm still in conscription, I think I'm not paid according to market rate. My pay is roughly equivalent to that of a construction worker, my thankless job scope is twice of his and yet my freedom is a quarter of his. Going by the Equity Theory, it is obvious that I'll feel immensely inequitable. To add salt to injury, I entered conscription with a diploma. With that, I could have easily been making at least SGD1400 a month in the private sector. Am I compensated for the loss in income? Now, do you know why so many conscripts are so disillusioned and unmotivated? Apparently, the SAF went against the wisdom of the good ol' Herzberg Two Factor Theory (not by me; by this psychologist, Frederick Irving Herzberg) and no prizes for guessing who's the winner.
Well, I guess that's pretty enough for now. There's a lot more examples that I can quote but I think you get my point. Sigh... Such is the thankless life of a physically fit Singaporean male. Resign to fate? Nah, I think I'll work out a way somehow.
Labels: National Service, NS, Singapore
posted by hg @ 00:19
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