Once again National Service has become on the hot topics of
discussion. Thankfully, nobody had to die to make national service a hot
talking point. Ironically, in light of the recent World Cup, the other key driver
in making this a hot topic is football, or as the Americans and Australians
would prefer – soccer.
The story outline is simple. Ben Davis, a young Singaporean who
had been playing for Fulham Under 18s, part of the English Premier league club
Fulham, was given a contract to play for Fulham. Unfortunately for Mr. Davis,
the Ministry of Defense (MINDEF) refused to grant him a deferment from National
Service. Much has been said about the whole saga, so I don’t think I can say
more than what has already been said. However, I do argue that the problem here
is a question of loving the words of the law too much.
What do I mean by that? The underlying position for the
Ministry is that National Service should be for everybody, regardless of how
rich, powerful or famous they are. I remember my Dad insisting that I would do
my national service to the best of my abilities. My father had placed a bond of
$75,000, which would have been forfeit had I not returned to Singapore. To many
of my peers in National Service, this was something crazy because as far as the
world was concerned, I came from a family with money. Nobody in my family
considered my skipping national service as being acceptable. National Service,
however unpleasant, was something that I had to do.
Having been through National Service, I believe in the value
of the institution. This is the one institution in Singapore that has the
ability to bring everyone onto a level playing field, which when you consider
the fact that Singapore is one of the most unequal societies on the planet, is
a very good thing. If people want to enjoy the privileges of citizenship, I
think they should also be willing to pay the price for those privileges.
To be fair to the Ministry, they also have pointed out that
they have schemes to accommodate young players so that they can nurture their
talents and there is a precedent in the shape of the last Singaporean who had
some sort of sporting talent that was recognized on the international stage –
Fandhi Ahmad. Mr. Ahmad, who is currently head coach of the Young Lions, was a
Singapore superstar who earned a two-years contract playing for the Dutch Club,
FC Groningen. You could say that if Mr. Ahmad could serve National Service and
go onto play for an international club, why can’t Mr. Davis?
Having said all of that, the Ministry’s argument has a major
flaw namely the fact that it does give people deferments to pursue their
dreams. This is especially true if you get a government scholarship to study at
some university outside of Singapore. The most prominent example is Dr. Patrick
Tan, son of the former President, Dr. Tony Tan, who managed to get 12-year
deferment to study soil. Nobody questioned why he got this deferment. Nobody asked
how this would benefit the nation.
I suppose the Ministry would argue that government scholars
pay back the privilege of getting deferments by contributing their brains
through their work for the government. The Ministry has even gone on the attack
by stating that Mr. Davis has no intention of fulfilling his National Service
obligations and is only interested in his career. The full story can be found
at: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ben-davis-has-no-intention-to-fulfil-ns-duties-mindef-10541112
However, there are two key arguments here. Firstly, how does
one measure patriotism? Is there any concrete evidence to show that Mr. Davis
is any less patriotic or pro-Singaporean than your average Singaporean?
Then, who is to say that Mr. Davis and Singapore’s interest
are not inline. How many Singaporeans are good enough to play for a club in the
English Premier League? The benefits of having a Singaporean get into the
English Premier League are boundless, particularly in soccer obsessed
Singapore. It’s easier to list the benefits of having a Singaporean play for
the premier league are perhaps easier to list than having Dr. Patrick Tan study
soil. Getting into the Premier League as many have observed is no mean feat - https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/the-start-of-hard-work-to-come-what-signing-a-professional-10544746
So, here’s what we need to look at. How do we redefine the
concept of “service?” Surely it has to be a way where Ben Davis gets to pursue
his dreams of sporting glory and to fulfil his national service obligations.
Why, for example does the term “service” have to be all about the military
variety? There are, as the Europeans found out, ways of getting people to “give
back” to society.
Why can we not explore ways of making Mr. Davis use his genius
for football, a much-loved game in Singapore to “give back.” Yes, National
Service should be universal but should it be a means of crippling people with a
certain “genius” from following and developing their genius? I think of Melvin
Tan, who is an internationally recognized concert pianist who had to leave
Singapore to develop his talents for the rest of the world. We lost an “internationally”
recognized concert pianist – do we need to lose a potential soccer star because
of the rules.
The system has helped produced good workers but have we
produced anyone brilliant enough to be recognized by the rest of the world? Surely,
its time to understand that once in a while, you need cut the talents a bit of
slack and know when to be flexible. I’m not saying that laws have to be broken
but surely, you have to find a way to let people with the potential to be brilliant
a bit of wiggle room.
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