Instead of mandating NS for women, let them contribute in ways of their choosing

I refer to Voices writer Cho Ming En’s letter, “Let women contribute by doing NS in the community” (Aug 27).

The writer acknowledged the contributions of men to Singapore’s defence, and proposed that women also do National Service (NS) in areas such as healthcare, eldercare, environmental conservation and community building.

There is a fundamental difference between defence and these industries.

Given Singapore’s population, a credible defence force requires many conscripts to supplement a small proportion of professional soldiers.

By contrast, the industries cited by the writer depend predominantly on professional staff with years of training, such as doctors, nurses, environmental scientists and social workers. No country around the world conscripts people to meet civilian demand in these sectors.

The writer proposed exploring the possibility of creating roles that require “less training, perhaps with highly specific job scopes, such as National Kidney Foundation health assistants or palliative carers”.

Consider the colossal costs of creating 20,000 temporary jobs with a high turnover. Every temporary role created potentially means the loss of a valuable worker in another industry. 

The Lien Foundation study cited by the writer recommended improving compensation and career advancement to retain long-term-care workers. It did not call for an influx of short-term workers.

Although women do not undergo NS, they are contributing across a myriad of occupations.

Take Ms Yeo Jia Min, a national shuttler who has won three Badminton World Federation titles and is on course to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Instead of derailing women’s careers for a year — and world-championship dreams in some cases — let them contribute to Singapore in their chosen ways, including military service.

Several women have excelled in this, such as Brigadier-General Gan Siow Huang of the Republic of Singapore Air Force. Such military-inclined talent should surely not be conscripted into a different industry.

The writer quoted Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the late founding prime minister, writing: “I was keen to have our women do National Service as Israeli women did, because that would reinforce the people's will to defend themselves.”

Immediately following those words were: “But (the late former defence minister Goh) Keng Swee did not want his new ministry to carry this extra burden. As the other ministers in Defco (the Defence Council) were also not anxious to draft our women, I did not press my point.”

While the pool of full-time national servicemen will shrink by a third come 2030, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen has said that the manpower challenges can be tackled through increased automation and less labour-intensive weaponry.

Lastly, even if women are conscripted for a year, servicemen who served two years should still receive higher starting salaries.

The gender pay gap is an inequality of outcome, not an inequality of opportunity. It is observed worldwide and will not be remedied in the least by removing higher starting salaries for operationally ready servicemen.

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