of petition to reduce national service

Former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian has started a petition online to call for national service (NS) to be shortened from the current two years to a year, and for less frequent reservist training.

Read more (Shorten NS to a year: Former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian)


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Petition to reduce National Service

National defense is important for Singapore. However, we should review our approach to make sure that the budget and resources are effectively used to produce the desired outcome.

Our defense budget is high as a proportion of GDP in relation to other countries. We also require our male citizens to spend two years full time for military training and to be called back for reservist training over a period of up to 15 years.

Two years is too long. In many countries that have conscription, they are able to achieve their training within 12 months.