And You Tell Me A Singapore Passport Is Priceless!

And You Tell Me A Singapore Passport Is Priceless!

http://blog.marcustan.com/index.php/2010/06/and-you-tell-me-a-singapore-passport-is-priceless/

So sorry to just jump up on all of you like that after close to a month of not posting and then diving deep into a chant-like rant. But really, the impetus for this post is this nagging frustration I have had over the past 10 years and a sudden desire to transcribe the abstract ideas into prose.

Well, it just happens that I am about to collect my new passport (it’s still a red one, unfortunately, if you happen to make some remote connection) tomorrow and have been flipping the pages of my old one. It is a respectable booklet which has served me well, in my honest opinion. It has identified me to numerous customs officers, gained me entry to many countries, and unbelievably survived 6 separate trips to the singapore immigrations and customs authority (aka passport office) for extensions to its validity.

“6 trips to the passport office in 10 years?!” you must be thinking now, “is this person a criminal or what?”

I’m sure that the common person’s experience with passports is a simple one: collect passport from passport office, use it till it expires in, perhaps, 10 years time, done deal. No, I apologise, not for me. My passport was issued in October 2000, and expired in July 2001. Yes, however impossible, that’s what’s written on its photo page.

Which is the reason why I always get one, if not two, stares from customs officers each time I travel. I do not blame them – just imagine if you were the officer at Washington Dulles who, in March 2010, was presented with this passport which has ‘expired’ for 9 years!

Continuing on with the customs officer role play, you would then be told by none other than myself to “flip down a couple pages”. What you will subsequently see confirms your suspicions of my ‘criminal past’.

~~~flips 2 pages~~~
- 9 month extension in March 2001
- 2 year extension in May 2001
~~~flips another 2 pages~~~
- 2 year extension in October 2002
- 2 year extension in June 2004
- 2 year extension in November 2005
~~~flips another 2 pages~~~
- 3+ year extension in May 2007

By the time you actually flip to the correct “passport extension” stamp, you would not only be irritated, but also puzzled all the same. “Why was this young man given a restricted passport? What crime did he commit?”

Truth be told, I have never committed any crime. This passport pain in the butt is also not an isolated case. In fact, every Singaporean male of my era (they scrapped passport restrictions on NS-liable Singaporean males in 2006) has experienced it before.

The incredibly long afternoon queues at the passport office (which really were incredibly long) just before an overseas trip to extend our passports; the odd stares from customs officers in foreign lands; the hassle of not being totally sure of our passport’s expiry date each time we fill those customs forms out on claustrophobic airplane seats. That was the price we paid since age 11 for the paranoid and autocratic policies of our government.

Yes, when I was only 11 years old, my government was so afraid of my leaving the country to escape military conscription that they issued me a passport which was only valid for 9 months. It signals paranoia when the government of a country which is not at war forces all males into 2 year conscriptions. A panic attack occurs when such a government pre-empts AWOL attempts and implements unnecessarily strict passport restrictions on all 11 year old males.

I’m not here to effect any changes – those passport controls have been abolished since 2006. I, however inappropriate this may sound, am just here to rant. You may be a Singaporean female or non-Singaporean, and do not know how being issued a passport which is valid for 9 months feels like. Let me tell you straight in the face now: it sucks.

Many people have ridiculed my every attempt at bringing up the topic of migration. They typically centre on one main argument: that the red little booklet gains you visa-free access to a buffet selection of countries. They then tell anecdotes of non-singaporean friends having to go through the troublesome motions of applying for visas, and expect me to conclude that a singapore passport is best. Well, haven’t I been experiencing that all this while? If we summed up the total amount of time I spent queuing at the passport office for passport extensions, I think it would be enough time to apply for all the visas I would have ever needed in the past 10 years. And how about my 2 year conscription? 2 years is definitely enough time to apply for all the visas the world can offer you ten times over.

And now you tell me a singapore passport is priceless? So sorry, I must be blind!

Risking Life and Limb as a Conscript in the Lion City

Monday, May 31, 2010

Risking Life and Limb as a Conscript in the Lion City

http://military-life.blogspot.com/2010/05/saf-commando-shot-by-thai-villager.html

The recent news of how not just one but two SAF servicemen (one a regular, the other a full-time NSF) were shot and injured by Thai farmer discharging his shotgun shows how one risks life and limb in mandatory conscription in the Singapore Armed Forces.

It was fortunate that no-one was killed but the regular serviceman now has a serious eye injury. The NSF is now living with pellets embedded in his skin possibly for life. How is he going to be compensated (if any) by the SAF for this accident?

Again it shows up how the scale of benefits and responsibilities is tilted against the Singaporean male citizen who has to serve full-time and reservist national service in the Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Forces.

Our young male citizens are risking life and limb; protecting us with their lives and in return, they are amply rewarded with Safra/Home Team Club memberships (which they have to pay their own subscriptions) and get the few thousand tax relief (and not rebate!). Do you think that human life is worth a few hundred dollars in tax savings and the additional $50 or $100 top-ups from the Government that occurs on the occasional year?

Do you think this is a fair exchange given that female citizens do not serve the same responsibilities and neither do first generation male Permanent Residents, female PRs and foreigners who enjoy the economic benefits of working and living in Singapore but none of the requisite responsibilities imposed by this archaic and wasteful system of conscription?

Is duty, honour and country the only thing male citizens can cling to in understanding why there is an uneven playing field for competing for jobs in Singapore Inc?

Why are we still clinging on to an out-dated system of mandatory conscription when many developed countries have either shortened their NS liabilities (e.g. Taiwan, South Korea etc) and even our neighbours Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand depend mostly on regulars and supplemented with a small group of conscripts (Thailand by lottery) or volunteers (Malaysia)?

Don't give me the old propaganda/national education spiel about Singapore being too small to deploy a fully professional force type of argument. When your defence budget of about $13 billion annually is 2-3x your neighbour's, you can afford to plough some of that budget into funding a fully professional army. It should be noted that our Navy and Air Force is staffed mostly by regulars or professional soldiers.

Conscription is an anarchronism in today's world. It is less about mobilising the citizenry to military defence than a mechanism to enslave the young male citizens to a system of compliance, obedience and fear of authority.

Why else do we have a system when clearly there is sufficient money to fund a fully professional army that is more suited to fight the low intensity conflict that is characterised by the war on terrorism?

Majullah Singapura.

The Issue of NS for Singaporean Men

Even today, things still have not changed for the better for NSmen. Are you going to wait some more?

Friday, May 28, 2010

The Issue of NS for Singaporean Men

http://singapore-lighthouse.blogspot.com/2010/05/issue-of-ns-for-singaporean-men.html
Some one wrote to Today paper Voices saying that part time students of UniSim cannot get deferment from ICT as the University is not recognised by Mindef. Mindef then adviced him to seek the NS unit CO's understand, but the CO told him that NS duties come first....

I was thinking is this the deal male citizens get when comes to NS? Doing a part time means juggling between work and study and needed alot of commitment. Unless someone's family is rich enough to sponsor himself for full-time local or even overseas university education, part-time university course is the only option.

However, we, the Singaporean men still lacks behind the PRs who need not serve NS.

My friend who was in the human resource company was telling me that there were PRs from Malaysia who was in Singapore since young and yet need not serve NS. I was told that one of the parent, usually the mothers are Singaporean. Their kids are just PR and they need not serve NS.

This period the Poly gradation ceremonies are just been over and the Singaporean males students are now in BMT while these PR males are out looking for jobs. They will have 2 years lead time over Singaporeans.

If they did not take up any grants from Singapore government, they can carry on the university education and the gaps between Singaporean and PRs become wider.

I am not saying NS is no good, but the PAP government should look into these PR loop holes and even the playing field.

However, the local political playing field is control by PAP alone and I am doubtful the PAP government is even bothered by this issue.

As some said, the NS and the SAF are here to protect the PR and the wealth associated with them....

Shooting incident: Mindef should have told public

http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_531934.html

YESTERDAY'S report ('Another SAF soldier shot by Thai farmer too') made me feel greatly disappointed with the Ministry of Defence's public affairs division.

Mindef's failure to admit that not one, but two Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) soldiers were shot in Thailand, until a relative of the second injured soldier approached The Straits Times, has demonstrated the ministry's basic reluctance to tell the public the truth about military casualties.

The second case also was a matter of genuine public interest, especially since a full-time national serviceman was involved.

As citizen soldiers and taxpayers, we have a right to expect that Mindef will account for all military casualties - whether in training or actual operations -where there are no national security implications.

Matthias Chew

Another SAF soldier (NSman) shot by Thai farmer too

May 26, 2010 Another SAF soldier shot by Thai farmer too By Jermyn Chow & Lester Kok http://www.transitioning.org/2010/05/26/another-saf-soldier-shot-by-thai-farmer-too/ NOT one but two Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) soldiers were hurt while out on a night military exercise in Thailand in March. A local farmer out hunting accidentally shot Private J. Pritheery Raj, a full-time national serviceman (NSF). Two shotgun pellets are still lodged in his cheekbones and his right shoulder. The 19-year-old is now on medical leave. News of this second shooting surfaced after a relative of Pte Raj called The Straits Times on reading its report that a villager had fired his shotgun at First Sergeant Woo Teng Hai. The regular commando is said to have been blinded in his right eye. The Defence Ministry, which had confirmed the accidental shooting of 1st Sgt Woo on Monday, admitted yesterday that another soldier had also been hurt in the same incident. It would not say how many other soldiers were with them at that time. All it would say was that these were the only two who were injured. The Straits Times understands that another SAF officer was with Pte Raj and 1st Sgt Woo as they walked along a plantation in the Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, on March 13. The SAF has been carrying out training on Thai soil since 1973. The night mission was part of the 1st Commando Battalion’s annual proficiency test, which is conducted by the Army Training Evaluation Centre, or Atec, the unit that Pte Raj is serving in as a trooper. The soldiers crouched on seeing flashlights about 20m away, and that was when the farmer fired. Pellets hit Pte Raj’s face and shoulder, while it is understood that 1st Sgt Woo was shot in his right eye. An army medic attended to them onsite before they were evacuated to a local hospital. Both servicemen were then flown back to Singapore and hospitalised. Pte Raj’s mother, Madam Isaac Kanaeswary, said doctors here could not remove the pellets lodged in her son’s cheekbones and shoulder because they deemed the procedure too risky. The NSF declined to comment on what happened but said he would be reporting for duty next week, after being on medical leave for two months. Save for the occasional headaches, Pte Raj said he ‘feels fine’. A shotgun is generally used to hunt animals or birds using pellets half the size of a pea. It could kill a person if fired at close range, within 30m. Two months after the shooting incident, the SAF is still discussing with Madam Kanaeswary’s family Pte Raj’s role for the remaining year of his full-time national service. The NSF’s superiors from Atec visited the family at their Thong Soon home near Upper Thomson last night. The mother of two said she wants everything to be over and for her son to complete his stint.

Military conscription to be abolished in 2015

Military conscription to be abolished in 2015

http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xitem=54708&ctnode=413&mp=9

Taiwan aims to abolish the compulsory military service system starting 2015.(CNA)

• Publication Date：07/15/2009
• Source： United Daily News

Beginning in 2015, the compulsory military service system that generations of Taiwanese males have had to undergo will be abolished, it has been announced.

In other words, males born after Jan.1, 1995 will not be required to undergo the one to two years of military service that has historically been required of all Taiwanese men. They will still need to receive four months of basic training, however.

Males born before Dec. 31, 1992 will still need to undergo military training. Even if these males do not perform their military services until after 2015, they will be required to perform one year of compulsory military service duties.

As to males born in between Jan.1, 1993 and Dec.31, 1994, their fate is still not entirely clear. The Ministry of National Defense has not announced if 1993 or 1994 will be the final dividing line separating those who do and do not have to perform compulsory military duties.

In regards to the uncertainty, Wang Chun-chiang, director-general of the Department of Manpower at the MND, explained July 14 that the issue has not been decided and is still under review.

But the MND will follow the requirements of the Legislative Yuan and make a decision at the very latest one year before the new system takes effect.

When the MND reaches a decision, it will submit it to the Executive Yuan. After the Executive Yuan approves of the decision, the MND will make a formal announcement on the matter, Wang said.

In terms of funding the new all-volunteer force, Lin Yu-pao, deputy minister of national defense, admitted that a volunteer force would be more costly than a conscription force. However, the extra costs are not as high as others have speculated, Lin said.

In order to fund the new forces, the MND does not rule out requesting additional funds from the Executive Yuan, said Jaw I-ming, director general of the MND's Comptroller Bureau.

In principle the MND hopes that its total budget will be less than 3 percent of the gross domestic product. If its budget exceeds 3 percent of the GDP, one acceptable solution would be to have personnel costs make up 45 percent of the entire military budget, up from 40 percent, Jaw said.

Enlisted men will serve a period of four years after the new system takes effect in 2015. After one year, enlistees can apply to become non-commissioned officers. The salary for an enlisted soldier would be roughly NT$35,000 (US$1,060) per month, about twice as high as the basic labor wage. (HZW)

France salutes end of military service

Thursday, 29 November, 2001, 15:48 GMT France salutes end of military service http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1682777.stm The last 1,000 conscripts are leaving armed forces Almost a century of French history has come to an end as the country's last conscripts completed their military service. Around 1,000 young men were being demobbed after their 10-month stint in the armed forces. The ending of military service marks France's move to a purely professional armed forces. Several other European countries, like Spain, Italy and Portugal, are also phasing it out. I think that they could have made better use of us Conscript Philippe Guiffault Among those coming to an end of their enforced army life were the last 24 men to be conscripted into the 16th Rennes Artillery Unit, based in western France. The conscripts had contrasting views on their time in the army. At a ceremony to mark the occasion, Emmanuel Lepine told French La Chaine Info television that he had found it beneficial. "You can integrate with everyone and different social classes. It's a good thing. Honestly, I think that it was a good experience for me," he said. But Philippe Guiffault reflected a not uncommon view among conscripts that they could have made better use of their time. Emmanuel Lepine was happy in the ranks "In light of the duties that we were given, I think that they could have made better use of us," he said. National service was originally going to be ended next year, but 200,000 young men breathed a sigh of relief in June when it was announced that they would not be called up. The French Government decided to withdraw the service earlier than planned because it said it had had major successes in recruiting professional soldiers. However, military experts have said conscripts are expensive to call up and then feed, clothe, house and train, but are of little use in a modern fighting force. Over the years increasing numbers of young men also refused to do military service and as conscientious objectors opted for a longer civilian service. Century of service The modern form of universal national service was introduced in France in 1905 when conscripts had to serve two years in the armed forces. Some conscripts said service was a waste of time This increased to three years in World War I but was progressively reduced to 10 months and millions of young men were called up down the years. France's armed forces are expected to comprise 92,500 professionals with another 27,000 participating as national service volunteers by the end of next year. BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.

See also: 29 Jun 01 | Europe The death of conscription 16 Nov 00 | Europe Spanish army goes professional 03 Sep 99 | Europe Italy to scrap conscription 15 Apr 99 | Africa Angola starts conscription drive Internet links: La Chaine Info television (in French) French Defence Ministry The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Europe stories now: Mass resignations rock Turkey Crash pilots given conflicting orders Serbia jails first war criminal New hope for Aids vaccine Ukraine mine death toll rises Russian anti-Jewish sign explodes Sicilians dish up anti-Mafia pasta Finland and Sweden plan 'Eurocity' Links to more Europe stories are at the foot of the page.