Blogger Alvin Lim launched a tirade on his blog, Alvinology,
in which he compared National Service (NS) to slavery. As expected, the post
got a lot of comments, Facebook shares and page views. What I did not expect
was that so many people seem to agree with the post.
To these people, I have a few questions. Are you guys nuts?
Did no one watch Django Unchained? That's slavery. No matter how you dislike
NS, how in the world can you compare it to slavery? These two aren't even in
the same league! More importantly, did any of you actually read the original
BBC report that prompted the tirade?
Look I don't like NS either but guess what, we have things
we have to do even though we dislike doing them. It's called a duty. Mr. Lim
was moved to post his distaste for NS after reading a BBC report where a
Mr. Alex Liang renounced his Singapore citizenship to settle in the United
Kingdom. Mr. Liang pointed to NS as his primary reason for doing so. Mr. Alvin
Lim agrees with him and wrote on his post how much he hates NS as well.
I actually read the BBC report in question and frankly I
fail to see how that BBC report could morphed into a anti-NS tirade. The BBC
report was actually a follow-up report on Americans who renounced their
American citizenship to avoid taxes in the U.S. As many people knows, the
American government is coming down hard on people who moved their money
overseas to avoid taxes. Singapore has "benefited" from these people
as well, and now a lot of them are looking to renounced their American citizenship
to avoid the American I.R.S.
The BBC report is a follow-up where they asked a whole host
of people from around the world why they renounced the citizenship of their
birthplace and switched nationality. Mr. Alex Liang commented that, "I was born and bred in Singapore but moved to the UK when I
was 21 and eventually naturalised as a British citizen after seven years here -
I am 37 today. I
left Singapore because I had no faith in the government there. Singaporean
males were discriminated against by the government because of the compulsory
national service and many years of reservist obligations afterwards. That is
compounded by the fact that the Singapore government is actively wooing skilled
migrants to Singapore. Their "foreign talent" program gives these
migrants all kinds of advantages that locals are not entitled to. I gave two
years and four months of my life to serve in the army and my reward is to be treated
like a second-class citizen. I wasn't prepared to fight the system, so I simply
left and settled in the UK instead."
The problem with what he said is the fact that he moved to the UK
when I was 21 and he is now 37! He left 16 years ago, well before the Singapore
government open the floodgates for foreigners. Also he said that he was naturalized
as a British citizen after seven years in the U.K which means he became a
British citizen at 28; 9 years ago! Were we flooded with foreigners 9 years ago? No, we were not. That only started about 5-6 years ago.
I don't want to call him a liar but does a guy who left 16 years ago be someone who could complain about foreigners flooding into Singapore? Also, isn't he himself a foreigner who flood into the U.K? Does Mr. Alex Liang really has a right to complain about the issue? I strongly advise readers to read
the original report from the BBC and then ask themselves the same question I
did; is that report something that could or should prompt a tirade against NS?
11 comments:
Don't shoot the messenger.Surely even an ex-Singaporean can point out what ails us. Does he not have family left in Singapore? As for Alvin his tirade may be over the top but he is not far from the truth. NS is a form of slavery. The Constitution recognises that. Under Aritcle 10 slavery and all forms of forced labour are prohibited. That is why Parliament is given the poweer to provide for NS. Many people, like you, may disagree and that is what democracy is about.
It's not called shooting the messenger when it's your message. Mr. Alvin gave his opinions and he is wrong. Yes, I think he is far wide of the mark, far from the truth or whatever you want to call it.
I may not like NS but it's far from slavery. Anyone who call NS slavery need to brush up on their history on how slaves are really treated. Either that or go do some work for groups like EmancipAsia Ltd, a Singapore non-profit company against human trafficking and modern slavery.
Anyone who thinks NS is slavery frankly do not know what he is talking about. Because he do not understand what slavery is at all!
"To these people, I have a few questions. Are you guys nuts? Did no one watch Django Unchained? That's slavery. No matter how you dislike NS, how in the world can you compare it to slavery? These two aren't even in the same league!"
So if a slave-owner treats a slave well, is he no longer a slave owner? That is rubbish logic. The slave is still a slave regardless of how the owner treats him because he cannot disobey the owner and oppose his bidding at the threat of some penalty.
The UN definition of slavery and forced labour is:
"all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily"
I see NS fulfilling that exact statement. I have not offered myself voluntarily for NS. It was imposed on me. If an NSF doesn't want to do go for a route march after his superior has ordered him to, he will suffer a penalty, i.e., he will get charged. The Singaporean male is coerced into NS with penalties, make no mistake about that.
I just checked again. That definition above of forced labour is excluded for conscription. So I guess you are right.
It's rubbish logic to call NS slavery just because you don't do so voluntarily. By that definition, anyone struck at a job he hates is a slave. You may hate your job but you still report to work because you need the money to provide for your family. It's called a duty. NS is the same thing. You do your time to protect your country, and when it's over, you shake the hand of your officer, get your stupid watch, and leave. You did your duty.
Slavery is not as uncommon as Singaporeans like to think. It still happens and I would strongly advised all to do work to combat slavery by joining certain groups and organizations who are already doing so. Anyone who thinks NS is slavery need to so do. Slavery is not a joke. It is not a word Singaporeans like you or I can throw around just because we are doing something we dislike.
Ghost, if you have the time, you should read Alex Liang's blog on what was edited out from his BBC interview and his subsequent blog posts related to this topic. Especially since you made many inferences and remarks about Alex's credibility and integrity.
The link is
http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/what-was-edited-out-of-my-bbc-interview.html
I fail to see where did I wrong Mr. Liang. His subsequent blog posts notwithstanding, he did said those words quoted on the BBC report. He did left Singapore 16 years ago and became a British citizen 9 years ago. All these are facts quoted directly from him. How did I attack his credibility and integrity? Did I quote something wrongly?
I don't care if he's gay. That's a different question for a different time.
Just curious to know how your blog post would read assuming the following was the actual BBC report instead.
I was born and bred in Singapore but moved to worked in the UK when I was 25 and eventually naturalised as a British citizen just 1 year ago - I am 32 today. I left Singapore because I had no faith in the government there. Singaporean males were discriminated against by the government because of the compulsory national service and many years of reservist obligations afterwards. That is compounded by the fact that the Singapore government is actively wooing skilled migrants to Singapore. Their "foreign talent" program gives these migrants all kinds of advantages that locals are not entitled to. I gave two years and four months of my life to serve in the army and my reward is to be treated like a second-class citizen. I wasn't prepared to fight the system, so I simply left and settled in the UK instead."
It sounds a little like the pot calling the kettle black. You are complaining about the Singapore government doing the same thing the U.K government is doing.
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