National service for permanent residents

NS: PRs who don't serve will face adverse consequences

WE REFER to the commentary by Dr Leong Chan-Hoong ('Bridge the foreign-local gap with NS'; last Wednesday) and related letters ('Have alternative NS for new citizens, PRs' by Dr Harold Teng Siow Song, and 'No NS? Get new citizens, PRs to do community service' by Jack Lin in Forum Online; last Saturday) recently about national service (NS) for permanent residents (PRs).

NS-liable PRs who fail to register or enlist for national service will be treated as national service defaulters. PRs who renounce their PR status without serving national service will also face adverse consequences.

Their failure to serve national service will be taken into account when they subsequently apply to study or work in Singapore, or when they try to have their PR status reinstated.

These adverse consequences will apply to the PRs, quoted by Dr Leong, who gave up their residency before being enlisted for national service.

Under the Enlistment Act, male PRs are liable for national service. First-generation PRs who are able to contribute to Singapore economically immediately upon the grant of PR status are administratively exempted from national service.

Second-generation PRs, who are sponsored by their parents for PR status and those granted PR status at a young age based on their potential to contribute to Singapore in the future, are required to serve national service and will be enlisted after age 18.

Therefore, it is incorrect for any PR who is serving or has served national service to claim that he volunteered for it. National service is mandatory for PRs, just as it is for Singaporeans.

Colonel Kenneth Liow
Director, Public Affairs
Ministry of Defence
ST Forum, 16 May 2012

Have alternative NS for new citizens, PRs

I SUPPORT the views of Dr Leong Chan-Hoong ('Bridge the foreign-local gap with NS'; Wednesday) and would like to add a suggestion.

For national security reasons, it is understandable if the authorities have concerns about letting new citizens or permanent residents serve national service (NS).

The Government could consider alternative forms of NS such as community service in public hospitals, hospices, old folks' homes and so on.

Singapore has an ageing population and there is a severe shortage of manpower in health-care-related industries.

The foreign parents of these new citizens or permanent residents may also be more willing to allow their sons to serve such alternative forms of NS, as these may be perceived to be less dangerous and, at the same time, contribute to the character-building of their children.

Dr Harold Teng Siow Song

ST Forum, 12 May 2012 

No NS? Get new citizens, PRs to do community service

WHILE I agree with Dr Leong Chan-Hoong ('Bridge the foreign-local gap with NS'; Wednesday) about a distinct dissonance between Singaporeans and foreigners, and the loopholes some permanent residents (PRs) have exploited, the mandatory national service liability may seem archaic, undemocratic and even against human rights and freedom.

I suggest that PRs or new citizens who do not serve national service, regardless of age or gender, undertake mandatory community service. Their records can be kept by organisations, including the People's Association, whose comprehensive network of community centres gives it a practical role as a record-keeper.

The conditions that apply to breaching national service should apply to community service requirements, including, in extreme cases, revocation of PR or citizenship offers.

To balance the flexible and convenient nature of this scheme, the community service commitment should be lengthier than that for national service.

Such a contribution will show that these immigrants truly desire to sink their roots here and call Singapore home.

Jack Lin

ST Forum, 12 May 2012