At least some of the "off-duty" Gurkhas had the guts to protests - supposedly over some remuneration issues.
Are the Gurkhas paid according to the remuneration scheme available to Singapore Police Force, or are the Gurkhas treated poorly by the Singapore Government - with a lower wage scheme that is paid and being similar to the practices of the UK Armed Forces in its treatment of their Gurkhas ?
The Gurkhas in the UK Military had also raised issues with the UK Ministry of Defense with regards to their entitlements, and to available opportunities to them to retire in the UK as subjects of the Crown.
Surely, this is not part of the contract with our Gurkhas in the Singapore Police ?
Comparing with the courage of the Gurkhas and some of the gutless display from some SgForum participants - will anyone in the SAF stand up to any unfair treatment, or even the compensation issues, or the medical care issues offered to SAF personnel who are injured in the course of their duties ?
Singaporeans have been brought up to believe that we must be obedient, not to protest, depend on ourselves, and if there are any complaints - to do so through a formal channels.
Now it seems those Gurkhas who had participated in the protests are facing disciplinary actions for protesting inside their camp - even when they were "off-duty".
The "Red Trucks" were present at Mount Vernon Camp during the "disturbance".
Did our boys in Red-Beret managed to scare the Gurkhas, or were the kukris drawn to intimidate the Red-Berets from entering the Camp ?
If we must outsource the the defence of Singapore to mercenaries, we had better learn from this experience of "the Gurkha uprising" - that they are also thinking men.
Will MM LKY have second thoughts about their loyalty after this incidents - that pile on to the Gurkha involvment in the MSK escape due to lapses in their attention ?
Who on earth can MM LKY trust now ?
How big should our standing army be?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_active_troops
Mandatory NS ensure there's a supply of cheap labor as compare to hiring FT mercenaries.
You think our gov which is so $$$ minded will want to spend that kind of money?
aiyah wats different? like everyone says, if there's problem with FT, just pay higher lor. in all fairness, the gurkhas probably got what they want.
gurkas are considered no better than banglas hard labour in views from the govt.
if we consider mecernaries, we have to consider this risk of their intergrity and honourability. u feed an army for a 1000 days but u use them only once. what if we kena put aeroplane by the mercs when we need to use them?
as for sg boys going up against israel and such..is the same theory as sg soccer winning world cup..the time will surely come when sg will excel in these..just that it is time indefinite to tell.
Originally posted by Catknight:Depending on local men is not a long term solution…Sg is just not reproducing enough men to do NS for 20 years including reservist..
Worse comes to worse, we can consider woman citizen soldiers just like Isreal has now.
"Will MM LKY have second thoughts about their loyalty after this incidents - that pile on to the Gurkha involvment in the MSK escape due to lapses in their attention ?
Who on earth can MM LKY trust now ?"
In the early 80s or late 70s, when asked, the Old Man once said something along this line:-
'If one local race rebels, can he use another local race to put down the uprising?
Because of this reason, the Gurkha are there.'
But The Old Man, in all his wisdom, would never imagine that the Gurkhas, being human as they are, can do the same thing.
gurkas worth every single penny.trust me.i work with them before.damn pro!
"Someone suggested that we should outsource our armed forces to FT mercenaries which I think is not a far fetched idea since everything is privatised not only in SG."
I think this protest is not a simple matter. Our useless, local newspaper has low-played this potentially explosive case.
I think, what we saw is only the tip of the Iceberg. It was reported they protested over remuneration. In other words, it is over money. Over what money were they unhappy about?
My guess is that the weeks and weeks, the months and months of sniffing Mas Selamat whereabout, have put pressure on these guys to claim OT and other benefits.
The long comfort and security of this country has put these Gurkhas into thinking like the local ‘regular-guy-next-door’. Ask them for extra duties and they ask for OT and benefits.
This has long term implication of their ability because the very reason for their service is that they can bear what the local can’t bear and do what the local can’t do. This is a fallacy which the Gurkhas has debunked themselves through their demonstration.
My take is this – the Gurkhas hidden motive is that they here solely for the purpose of MONEY. It is ‘show me the money and I will do the job.’ Gone are the days of blind loyalty.
Not to mention that the two Gurkhas guards who escorted Mas Selamat to the toilet, were the very ones responsible for Mas Selamat sneaking off, under their very noses.
If this the case, when the pushing becomes shoving, will they be around to fight for us, to defend us and to die for us? The myth about them has been debunked, the secrecy surrounds them has been unveiled.