Originally posted by Sardaukar:
Why do we Singaporeans go through National Service?Why do we go through conscription?Why do we train to become soldiers?
Singaporeans are in general a peaceable bunch.We don't train to be soldiers with the hope of one day using our skills in combat.We don't become trained killers just to be feared.We don't wield insane amounts of firepower for a country our size(it is my personal belief that the SAF has pioneered the concept of "beyond overkill" by sending 700 men to catch 3 robbers)just waiting for someone to come along so that we can pounce and devastate them with our insane amount of weaponry.
One of the main benefits from from national service is the increased self-confidence that comes with increased physical proficiency and prowess in combat skills.This actually prevents violence from erupting as we don't feel the need to prove ourselves with our weapons,and the knowledge of such power deters possible adversaries.We regard the actual use of force as a last resort,for only if diplomacy fails do we turn to violence.
To help make my point,here's a saying by Robert A. Heinlein,a late sci-fi author who wrote Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers,among numerous other volumes.He was noted for constantly imploring readers to be self-sufficent and self-reliant.
"The price of freedom is the willlingness to do sudden battle anywhere,anytime and with utter recklesness."
Encapsulated in those 18 words is what it means to live the life of a defender of any homeland.We train our bodies and minds so that we may unleash our skills at a moment's notice and control our minds in the chaos of battle so as to protect our comrades,family and loved ones.
We maintain our security and the peace of our land by letting others know that we'll rain down death and destruction on the enemy if we are forced to.Of course,we'd prefer that everybody get along well.
The only part of Heinlein's statement that I would change is the word "recklesness".I'd substiture "abandon".Recklesness indicates a lack of caution and control,while abandon implies a lack of concern for what happens to ourselves as we battle to preserve the well-being of those we care about and have vowed to protect.
We soldiers and aspiring soldiers know that this is the price of freedom-to surrender our time,a fraction of our lives,to train so as to be weapons of war to defend our comrades,friends,family and loved ones,to maintain our freedom as a nation and most importantly,as a people.
For us,eternal vigilance against the imposition of evil is not an option;it's a responsibility,as the soldiers of Singapore.
So if you would subsitute 'recklessness' with 'abandon', we have...The price of freedom is the willlingness to do sudden battle anywhere,anytime and with utter abandon?

"Recklesness indicates a lack of caution and control,while abandon implies a lack of concern for what happens to ourselves as we battle to preserve the well-being of those we care about and have vowed to protect."
You're trying to subsitute the word, but the meaning seem to stay. A lack of concern to ourselves as we battle will bring us a chance of likely defeat. No harm meant. While recklessness indicates a lack of caution and control, abandonment is a
deliberate lack of self control and caution. If there is a machine gun nest in front of a soldier, knowing that he is defending his homeland and loved ones, does he stand up and charge towards it with utter 'abandonment'? Or live to fight another day?
And also..sending 700 men to catch 3 robbers (the tekong incident) is not "beyond overkill". It's the large amount of land to cover!

So maybe you'll expect that since 700 men is a "beyong overkill", then maybe 100-200 men is a just nice "kill" ? Thankfully for those who was in charge that didn't happen, or the robbers wouldn't have been caught.