Singapore Expats

NATIONAL SERVICE

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AECSO

NATIONAL SERVICE

Post by AECSO » Fri, 13 May 2005 2:02 am

anyone born a Singaporean but lives where else since birth, and then one day u receive a call or a letter from the Singapore consulate from your country on reporting to Singapore city-state for National Service (NS) as u r due for conscripting into the Army, Air Force or Navy (armed forces of singapore)?

as an airport staff, I know a handful who get detained in Singapore changi airport while in transit or as a tourist in Singapore as they don't know about enlistment when they live in other countries although with a Singapore citizenship. Worse, one of them even did not know of his citizen since he is on dual citizenship.

a question is if u r born in a singapore hospital, automatically a citizen of singapore but the parents r on a vacation, both US citizens flew back and ask for US citizenship for the child. doesn't singapore practice dual citizenship stating that singapore is too young a nation to have this scheme during parliament debate on ways to increase the birth rate in singapore


anyone pls enlighten self.

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eh+lah
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Post by eh+lah » Fri, 13 May 2005 11:03 am

just cos one is born in singapore, doesn't necessarily make one a singaporean. not at least recently. perhaps in the past. however, the issue of contention then is should you have been registered as a citizen of singapore by birth, it is your responsibility to ensure that you uphold the responsibilities of that citizenship. i.e. serve your time in the military.

in your case, should you ignore their request to return to singapore even though you have no wish to serve or require singapore citizenship anymore, the fact remains that you are considered singaporean by the government of singapore.

should you return or even the least transit in singapore and get identified by authorities in singapore, you WILL BE DETAINED. make no mistake about that. in singapore, there's no room for mistakes, one strike you're out.

my personal advice? serve your two years and do whatever else you've gotta do. you might not like it, i didn't either but it was a learning experience that made a difference in my life.

hope that helps

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Post by Guest » Fri, 13 May 2005 11:17 am

I agree, go ahead with NS. Don't take it as a serive to the country, take it that you are doing yourself a favour.

Military training has more to just robotic training. Go thru it with an open mind and heart, you will learn much more and who knows, it might just change you to be a better person and your view in life.

I might not have the right to comment coz am a female. But I went thru a short military kind of training before and it has made me to be better person. My friends who have gone thru the same course as me, can see the drastic change in them, become more pro-active, compassionate, responsible. Laziness and irresponsible are not in our dictionary anymore.

Another point of view, think about it, if one day should you need help from Singapore, would Singapore goverment turn you away? Nope, this will not happen as you are holding a Singapore citisenship.

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"a question is if u r born in a singapore hospital, automatically a citizen of singapore but the parents r on a vacation, both US citizens flew back and ask for US citizenship for the child. doesn't singapore practice dual citizenship stating that singapore is too young a nation to have this scheme during parliament debate on ways to increase the birth rate in singapore "
Refering to your above question, I want to say that this does not only apply to Singapore, it applies to all countries. I was born in Indonesia and was made as their citizen as well. Only when I trun to 21 then am given a choice to remian or to revoke.

Anyway, not harm to serve your NS.

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Post by eh+lah » Fri, 13 May 2005 8:01 pm

to add something inspiring to the last response,

don't run away from your problems, face them.

with regards to singapore's military service, you can run but you can't hide. trust me :P

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Post by jpatokal » Sat, 14 May 2005 11:56 pm

Anonymous wrote:I agree, go ahead with NS. Don't take it as a serive to the country, take it that you are doing yourself a favour. Military training has more to just robotic training. Go thru it with an open mind and heart, you will learn much more and who knows, it might just change you to be a better person and your view in life.
I call bullshit. NS is the worst possible waste of youth. You will learn nothing of use, the whole point is to force you to take orders, obey authority, and march happily into a volley of machine-gun fire.
Another point of view, think about it, if one day should you need help from Singapore, would Singapore goverment turn you away?
Of course. The Dear Leader just said that Singapore is and will not turn into a welfare state. Citizens have obligations, not rights.

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Post by Guest » Sat, 14 May 2005 11:58 pm

jpatokal wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I agree, go ahead with NS. Don't take it as a serive to the country, take it that you are doing yourself a favour. Military training has more to just robotic training. Go thru it with an open mind and heart, you will learn much more and who knows, it might just change you to be a better person and your view in life.
I call bullshit. NS is the worst possible waste of youth. You will learn nothing of use, the whole point is to force you to take orders, obey authority, and march happily into a volley of machine-gun fire.
Another point of view, think about it, if one day should you need help from Singapore, would Singapore goverment turn you away?
Of course. The Dear Leader just said that Singapore is and will not turn into a welfare state. Citizens have obligations, not rights.
Well all I can say is that you can do with some yourself given your apppalling attitude. You are just as bad as the lot you criticise and stop moralising around and you'll sound maybe just maybe a little better!

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Post by eh+lah » Sun, 15 May 2005 6:35 pm

you always have the good and the bad. it's how you learn from your experiences and what you do with them. in his case, it obviously take his learning experiences in good stride. i severely disliked the military when i was in it but having been in the military, comparatively to all those peers who did not serve, one can see a difference in perspectives. perhaps better, mostly worse. you win some, you lose some. voilà, c'est la vie. it is the way life is.

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Post by Guest » Sun, 15 May 2005 7:03 pm

jpatokal wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I agree, go ahead with NS. Don't take it as a serive to the country, take it that you are doing yourself a favour. Military training has more to just robotic training. Go thru it with an open mind and heart, you will learn much more and who knows, it might just change you to be a better person and your view in life.
I call bullshit. NS is the worst possible waste of youth. You will learn nothing of use, the whole point is to force you to take orders, obey authority, and march happily into a volley of machine-gun fire.
Another point of view, think about it, if one day should you need help from Singapore, would Singapore goverment turn you away?
Of course. The Dear Leader just said that Singapore is and will not turn into a welfare state. Citizens have obligations, not rights.
i certainly think that u r in some clerical or storeman vocation... u slack in the army.... those who made it to officer cadet school will think otherwise... r u a quitter at heart?

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Post by Guest » Mon, 16 May 2005 11:53 am

jpatokal wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I agree, go ahead with NS. Don't take it as a serive to the country, take it that you are doing yourself a favour. Military training has more to just robotic training. Go thru it with an open mind and heart, you will learn much more and who knows, it might just change you to be a better person and your view in life.
I call bullshit. NS is the worst possible waste of youth. You will learn nothing of use, the whole point is to force you to take orders, obey authority, and march happily into a volley of machine-gun fire.
Another point of view, think about it, if one day should you need help from Singapore, would Singapore goverment turn you away?
Of course. The Dear Leader just said that Singapore is and will not turn into a welfare state. Citizens have obligations, not rights.
Am the original Anonymous, most moderators in this forum seem to be very negative. First negative about life-insurance now about NS.

I guess with your attitude, you dont have a heart to do the 'extra-mile' in work or anything, cos you just dont bother. You seem to be a person who will only give/work when there is a promise of return/ bonus/pay. You only give when you are sure that there is a return which is beneficiary to you. You need to be recognised and appreciated.

There is a proverb in Mandrian "Giving is more fotunate and blessed than receiving'

Pple who has gone the extra-mile in work and life did not expect any recognition or appreciation, but end of the day, their hardworks are acknowledged and respected.

Going thru NS; not everyone can learn from another angle which would make them into a better person.

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take orders, obey authority, and march happily into a volley of machine-gun fire
Do you really sit down and think what is the reason behind this training beside the military reasons? Have you thought about how this training works on personality, attitude in work and life?

Sigh...............perhaps some pple just would not have an open mind. This is why we are surrounded mostly with negative and selfish colleagues, associates etc. But am very glad I am not one of them :wink:

Birds of a feather flock together, thats why negative pple can never share the same perspective as the positive pple.

Lastly, if you have a friend who is always giving the extra-mile in thing they do, look at them, just look at their attitude.

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