When you read something headlined "Even NS can wait for Olympic gold" in one of the local papers, you can't help but felt a sense of injustice for Melvyn Tan and Ike See. The former, a local-born pianist made good overseas but who got flak from fellow citizens when news leaked out that he was fined a mere $5000 for not serving his NS liability; the latter, a child music prodigy accepted by prestigious Curtis Institute for a 3-year Bachelor of Music degree but had his earlier requests for NS deferment turned down TWICE by MINDEF.
Gimme a break. What are they saying? That in the pursuit of that elusive Olympic gold, there's nothing that we won't do for you. Yes, we would defer your NS, give you the sun and the moon, anything - just like how we gave you our top sports men and women who are largely foreign imports. Who are we kidding?
International arts hub? Singapore?
Dream on. Not even the Durian made the cut.
Category: Musings
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4 comments:
Mindef is now being flexible in its policies by granting deserving sportsmen NS deferment to pursue sports excellence and it also kena criticised. If Mindef had stuck to its strict policy of not allowing NS deferment for them, you bet it will still be criticised as well. It is a case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't".
If the sportsmen succeed in winning at least an Olympic medal (not necessarily gold) it is not only a personal achievement for them, it is also a national glory. As a Singaporean, I would feel very proud of them as well. By letting the sportsmen concentrate on their training, Mindef is giving them full support to pursue this common goal. They have a chance to make history. I can only see this as a good move. After all, Tan Howe Liang is the only Singaporean who brought home an Olympic medal and that was so many decades ago. Now isn't that pathetic?
You are not comparing apple with apple.
Melvyn Tan- His pusuit of musical excellence is primarily personal. Few Sporeans even know about his achievements; hence didn't bring any glory to Spore. Plus he was away for decades.
Champion Athlete - getting an Olympic medal has been identified by our leaders as a national goal, even though some of us disagree. Plus he will be away for only a few years at most. Plus all that physical training makes him a better soldier.
Besides granting deserving sportsmen NS deferment to pursue sports, Mindef should also grant NS deferment to people like Ike See. As long as a Singaporean can bring honour to our country, his request should be considered.
To me, NS is a waste of time. You have BMT for a few months and after that, one & a half years of idling your time away in camp.
Would our men be able to protect our tiny homeland should there be a war? I doubt. With its sophisticated weapons, aircrafts ...etc, Singapore can hold for a few days, after that .....
Actually no need war, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand stop their exports to us can cause havoc already.
omg, have to emigrate. Singapore is not only vulnerable, it will be swarmed with ft (foreign trash) one day.
Victor and Chun See - It's not about comparing apple with apple or orang with orange. Thanks to Melvyn, the publicity generated by his case seemed to have thrown people like Ike into the radar screen of MINDEF. In rejecting Ike's request for deferment, it was stated that "allowing Ike to defer his NS would have been unfair to others who put their personal aspirations and goals on hold to serve NS". And then you read that they went around granting chaps NS deferment to let them chase the Olympic dream. To many sportmen, the pursuit of the olympic medal is also a personal aspiration, is it not? Say, I aspire to be a world class pianist. That's my personal aspiration. But along the way, if I truly became famous, I too brought glory and honour to Singapore, am I not?
This double standard juz cracked me up. I mean some people excel in sports; others in music or what have you. Both fields can make Singapore stand out in the world map, if we're really up to mark.
Jayne - You also MIA ah? Ike finally got a deferment. But instead of being allowed to take the 3-year music degree course, he was only allowed a 2-year reprieve for a diploma. Yes, Ike finally got his cake; but he couldn't eat it full :(
I don't quite agree with what you said about NS being a waste of time. It's absolutely relevant, especially for Singapore, a small dot, and a favourite punching bag by our neighbours, the latest by Thailand.... So you gonna emigrant juz so Jaymes need not serve NS ahh? Go where? Australia? Then you'd become third class citizen. Dun say I neber warn you ahh...
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