Run fast, and officer's job is yours
National servicemen arriving at the Central Manpower Base at Kallang in 1967The Straits Times, Nov 24, 1997
By Raoul Le Blond
IT WAS a simple beginning. In 1966, 500 applicants turned up for places at the newly-formed Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Training Institute.
But there were no sophisticated tests to select the fittest among them then.
Colonel Kirpa Ram Vij, the highest-ranking officer there, made them run the 3 km from Jurong Road, down a dirt track to the sea and back. The first 300 back got the job.
From these came the SAF's first batch of officers, who, in turn trained Singapore's thousands of national servicemen.
Since 1967, over 300,000 Singaporeans have undergone what is now a familiar and accepted ritual.
The unique tale of how the nation's citizen army turned itself from a ragtag force of two infantry battalions into a modern air, land and sea force, is chronicled in a new coffeetable book.
Author Mickey Chiang has written a well-researched, illustrated and readable work that will not only impress military buffs, but is also likely to reassure 18-year-olds facing life in the military.
It comes with a CD-ROM packed with pictures, movies and sound clips of events and speeches described in the book.
UNIQUE TALE -- The new coffeetable book (left) by Mickey Chiang tells how Singapore's citizen army turned itself from a ragtag force into a modern air, land and sea force. It comes with a CD-ROM packed with pictures, movies and sound clips of events and speeches.
The first four chapters provide a behind-the-scenes look at the SAF's early years, some aspects of which bear restating now that NS is so familiar.
These include how the Government went all out to convert the mindset of a populace raised on the dictum that "good sons do not make good soldiers", on the need for a citizen army.
When NS was announced in 1967 by its chief architect, Defence Minister Goh Keng Swee, it was unpopular.
Several hundred Chinese-school students took to the streets in protest.
But there was none of the bloody sieges of 1954 when scores rioted after the British had tried to introduce it here.
This was partly because in 1967, the stakes had changed and were higher.
Suddenly independent and facing a withdrawal of British forces, security was a premium on the island.
The ruling People's Action Party was also able to swing public opinion by arguing that NS would serve, for the first time, national, and not colonial, interests.
The then Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and MPs personally took the message to the grassroots. Send-off dinners, gift packs and commemorative medallions told the first recruits: "The nation values your sacrifice."
The book also sheds light on how Singapore had first asked India and Egypt for help in setting up an army, but was turned down.
Israel was the only nation willing to help. But its only influence on the military here -- often wrongly labelled "Israeli-style" -- was to make the SAF downplay military pageantry, strive for an egalitarian relationship between officers and men, and to focus on tough training.
The book captures well the meaning of NS for those who have been through it, through interviews and pictures.
For instance, Lieutenant-Colonel Albel Singh, who was among the first 900 called up in 1967, recalls sharing a bunk with a Chinese farmer with whom he communicated in sign language.
Readers can also chuckle over a 1971 article by a Private Ranjeet Singh on Army Lingo, and find out how the SAF cares for its soldiers in the areas of training, welfare, scholarships, awards and other perks.
The final chapter, NS And The Success Of Singapore, is perhaps the most thought-provoking, taking a long overdue look at how the experience of NS has affected the nation.
Quite apart from providing the physical security which attracts commerce, it is also credited with instilling the resilience, teamwork and discipline necessary for survival.
Surely something for the academics to follow up from.
SAF And 30 Years Of National Service was launched on Saturday. The 208-page book costs $20 and is available at Times The Bookshop, SAF camps and Safra clubhouses.
THE first batch of full-time national servicemen was enlisted on July 17, 1967.
SAF And 30 Years Of National Service reveals how national service in Singapore dates well before that.
* 1915: All British men in Singapore and the Straits Settlements between the ages of 18 and 55 were called to arms, to prevent a repeat of the mutiny of Indian troops in Singapore that year.
The island was one of the first colonies outside Britain to experience compulsory military service. Non-British "natives" were exempted from the privilege of bearing arms.
* Dec 15, 1953: The British introduced national service, with the Communist Emergency at its height in Malaya.
They argued that any people seeking self-government should be capable of defending themselves, a move the Singapore Labour Party described as "immoral".
Over 24,400 youths aged 18 to 20 were registered between April 5 and May 12, 1954. After a public ballot, the first 400 recruits reported for training in July.
It sparked bloody riots among Chinese Middle School students who opposed the draft. The British crushed them.
* October 1964: With Singapore part of Malaysia, the federal government invoked the National Service Ordinance.
About 30,000 men registered, but only 82 of the 100 called up turned up for basic training in Port Dickson. Four more batches were trained, but as civil defence personnel and air-raid wardens. By the time the fifth group returned in 1965, Singapore had left Malaysia and was independent.
Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.
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