RSAF Open House

Last Saturday, 2 September, I visited the RSAF (Republic of Singapore Air Force) Open House for the first time to acquaint myself with the most updated preparations/arrangements for the defence of Singapore if attacked.

It seems that Singapore is now at the '3rd Generation' stage as regards air defence and that will involve not only the latest equipment and technology that can fully make use of and benefit our young people with a higher level of education, but also the cooperation and readiness of the other arms of defence including the army, navy, civil defence, etc.

Apart from a purely military standpoint, the RSAF has also been involved in humanitarian aid, to Indonesia during the Tsunami crisis in particular. I am impressed by their work!

Here are some pics of my visit:

 

Yes I've heard it many times before that "National Service is a waste of time".

It was even worse during its early years of implementation when parents fear that their children will not be treated well, will likely to be injured during training, unable to continue their varsity education after high school or they will lag behind their lady counterparts when they start to work. If you think about it, these are selfish reasons.

Thankfully, parents and NSmen have now come to accept NS as a way of life. Woe betide those who try to escape from NS. One may request for deferment on special grounds but not otherwise. A world famous pianist, Melvin Tan, I think, returned to Singapore to visit his ageing parents who are no longer mobile enough to visit him in London as they used to. Melvin is now almost 50 but he did not serve his NS. Although he is a special talent and had apparently paid a heavy fine on his return, he was condemned by the public and had to cancel his performance and return to London.

There are young Singaporeans now living abroad and dared not return to Singapore as they will be jailed because they did not fulfil their NS obligation. Their parents sent them abroad for studies before they are 16 but had to deposit a cash bond with the government in case their sons did not return home to serve NS as every other able-bodied young Singaporean who has turned 18.

If one were to return to the scene of how wealthy Kuwait was being brought down to earth many years back because she relied on foreigners to do most of the work. They thought that foreign mercenaries could defend their country and their 'black gold' but was sorely mistakened. No, your own men must be trained to defend the country, the people, the families, the hard-earned wealth, etc. Foreigners owe no loyalty to Kuwait and when the chips are down, they disappear!

Because Singapore is so tiny, she needs all her available resources to defend the country. If nobody in every houselhold, every family, is able to hold up a weapon and fight the enemy, then the country deserves to be bullied and captured by another more aggressive and territorially ambitious enemy.

Singapore has its share of being subjected to abuse, humiliation, torture and other untold atrocities, including the taking of young and innocent lives during the Japanese invasion in 1942. The British who were held in high esteem, both militarily and otherwise as Singapore's masters, were supposed to defend Singapore and her people. But their invincibility was just a myth as British soldiers were no match for their hardy Japanese counterparts and they surrendered peacefully. But for Singapore, the hardship and mental torture continued during the Japanese Occupation until 1945 when the Allied Forces forced Japan to surrender with the dropping of the atom bomb in Hiroshima.

Will history repeat itself? If you are a leader would you just leave things to nature and not having to care about defending your own country and your own people? How do you go about doing it? Do you still leave it to others to fight for your interests?

 

I'm glad we are of the same opinion.

Yes, with our youngsters now graduating with higher academic qualificiations than in the early NS history and their exposure to IT nowadays, it is essential that our NS training be kept abreast of times and thus the 3G emphasis is welcomed. I'm also glad to note that NS training has been shortened and although we no longer rely on brute physical strength, the overall fitness of our NS men should be maintained in case of emergency.

I consider it a plus point that some of our spoilt kids have to undergo NS and to be instilled with the essentials of obedience to authority, discipline, responsibility and accountability. When they realise that their colleagues' lives will depend on them and vice versa, they will quickly learn to develop into manhood and the consequences of their actions.