Look at these extracts from the letter by Oliver Michael, who claims to be a full-time NSman instructor.
"Even routine events reveal this mollycoddling attitude, such as when parents fetch their recruit son: it is not the boy, but the maid, who packs the recruit's belongings into the boot of the car."
"Training facilities are treated like secondary schools with parents hounding instructors over trivial issues. Full-time national servicemen (NSFs) argue with instructors, going so far as to threaten to complain to their Member of Parliament over minor matters."
And here's a creative spin at how the Singaporean Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and SAF could have been spared the online media storm. :-)
Read Oliver Michael's full letter below.
NS does not make men, parents do
Source: The Straits Times Forum
30 March, 2011
By Oliver Michael
AS A Singaporean currently doing my national service as an instructor, I must say the baptism of fire that is national service is not enough to change boys into men ('He's in the army... but she has the backpack'; Monday).
National service has long been associated with making men out of boys. However, parents should be aware that they too play a key role in the grooming of boys into men.
As an instructor, I have come across NS recruits mollycoddled by their parents. For example, parents call up to complain about the harsh training despite the fact that training is gentler now compared to years before.
Even routine events reveal this mollycoddling attitude, such as when parents fetch their recruit son: it is not the boy, but the maid, who packs the recruit's belongings into the boot of the car.
While it is understandable for parents to be concerned about the well-being of their son, too much of it would affect the boy negatively. It would lead to a situation where he is unwilling to step outside of his comfort zone and face the real world.
Training facilities are treated like secondary schools with parents hounding instructors over trivial issues. Full-time national servicemen (NSFs) argue with instructors, going so far as to threaten to complain to their Member of Parliament over minor matters.
These attitudes, and indeed those such as letting one's maid carry one's field pack, become second nature only if one's parents allow it. These attitudes take time to form and, unfortunately, do so in the adolescent years.
Parents should refine their balance of welfare and discipline, of care and coddling, lest they distort the definition of NSFs, and men in general.
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