From Grey to Green: Why serve NS?

NJC alumnus and Full-time National Serviceman Jerald Teoh shares his reflections on the importance of serving National Service, and why fellow Singaporean sons need not fret about or fear what comes next after JC.

In the pursuit of any endeavour or activity, it is important to start with “why”. Understanding the rationale and motivation behind why you do what you do will help you to adopt a more positive attitude toward them, for you will be grounded in direction and the internalised belief that what you do has reason and value.

For my fellow Singaporean sons, it may be possible that one of these things that we have to do, but might not want to do, is to serve National Service.

As a pre-enlistee in my JC years, I was often overcome with hatred for and lament about this system that binds me to two years of service in the armed forces. Is NS really still relevant today? What have I to gain from being a soldier for as many years as I had been in JC?

Today, having gone through just four months in the army thus far, I share some reflections.

First and foremost, to serve National Service is to fulfil my personal obligation of mandatory service to the state in order to retain my Singapore Citizenship. We might be inclined to grumble about having this “unfair undertaking”, but it is important to broaden our perspectives and realise that social contracts are fundamental to the functioning of society; living in a society entails having to play by some rules that we might not always agree with, but that typically aim to generate the most good for the majority of the population.

Curtails on some freedom of speech ensure safer communities. Restrictions on the right to protest protect against civil unrest. Prohibiting chewing gum keeps our trains running. Similarly, serving National Service is a necessary condition for earning our citizenship because it plays an integral role in securing our nation.

From a systemic perspective, National Service is also a mechanism to build social cohesion. By putting citizens (and second-generation permanent residents) through National Service, a common experience is attained, which is especially important since the residents of Singapore come from all walks of life. This allows for the development of a sense of belonging to Singapore, and builds a strong national identity that transcends generations, underscoring its continual relevance to preserving social harmony.

National Service also has great significance as an opportunity for personal development.

Since I have a natural tendency toward introversion, my capacity for comfortable social interaction was considerably limited. However, as the army is characterised by teamwork and communal living, I was forced to figure out how to adapt and interact favourably with people of personalities and dispositions that I had not dealt with before. From being betrayed and libeled to earning respect and trust, through my experiences dealing with different characters of individuals, I start to develop personal coping mechanisms and frameworks that I believe will serve me well even after I complete my service commitment term.

Although JC provides us with a holistic education and many opportunities to work in teams, only during your time in BMT will your strength of character, integrity of loyalty, propensity for social interaction and capacity for leadership truly be tested. You, too, will begin to discover tendencies that you did not know you had, should you take the initiative to venture out of your comfort zone in pursuit of personal growth. And you will find this pursuit to be richly rewarding.

Hope not to get it easy once you enlist into BMT, though, for the army life that you will lead will be a far cry from the comforts of civilian. Unless one is by his own character predisposed to the inflexible structure of military life, one will never really able to complete the full transition to the lifestyle of the armed forces; we merely learn how to survive within the system and tolerate the “some things no choice” without really coming to truly accept it.

In addition, the training in BMT will undoubtedly be both physically and mentally challenging, often pushing you to your limits. But it is in this constant shoving to the fringes of your abilities that you will discover yourself to be much more capable than what you had initially perceived. This transcending of your perceived barriers will become a source of strength as you further your journey through these two years of service.

Having had to face numerous setbacks that really get me down, I also begin to realise the importance of drawing strength from gratitude. I now try to practice active gratitude in being appreciative for the oft-overlooked positive aspects of negative events and occurrences, and in the humility of seeking counsel from others more experienced than I. Moreover, I begin to believe in the notion that at the end of the day, the day will end, regardless of how long and tiring it has been.

It being completely different from anything that you have experienced prior, your enlistment will understandably be fraught with anxiety, worry and fear of uncertainty.

I will, however, tell you this: The only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain; we cannot remove all uncertainty. All we can do is to prepare ourselves adequately within the bounds of reasonable expectation. Only when we start to internalise this might we begin to worry less about the factors beyond our control, and start to focus on those that are.

Thus, it will benefit you to identify such factors and plan for them, such as improving your physical fitness, doing basic research on the army experience (CMPB’s official website has a good collection of basic resources), packing properly for your first book-in, and keeping track of the multitude of administrative instructions leading up to your enlistment.

Beyond our control, but at the forefront of most of our minds, might be the issue of safety. At first, I was also highly apprehensive about the organisational stance on safety, especially in light of numerous high-profile incidents in recent memory resulting in grievous injury or death resulting from training. However, my concerns were quickly allayed with the observation of the myriad of measures that are in place today, such as having a safety vehicle and medic on site for high-risk activities and designating a Chief Safety Officer for every conduct, alongside a renewed emphasis on safety. Where culture is habits developed and practiced by many people consistently over a long period of time, I am reassured by the safety culture that is now in place and upheld by the SAF. Indeed now, one can unironically say that we cannot spell safety without SAF.

Above all, going through the Basic Military Training (BMT) programme had enabled me to internalise the importance of National Service to the defence of Singapore. Prior, I had struggled to understand the necessity of this conscription, nor why the Government continues to prioritise defence spending over other priorities as education, healthcare and public transportation infrastructure, since we now enjoy continual peace and security. Now, I realise that this peace is fragile and needs to be actively protected, where National Service constitutes a key tenet in Singapore's defence strategy to protect our sovereignty and safeguard our way of life.

In a troubled world that is rapidly spiralling out of control, I am proud to be able to play my part in defending this improbable island nation that I can call home, and I hope that as you go through your National Service journey, that you will realise the same too.