By logging on to the MIW Internet portal, NSmen will get to see their training programmes even before they go to camp
By Natalie Soh
NSMEN will soon have one more reason to log on to the MIW Internet portal before they go for in-camp training (ICT): By next March, the training programme will be posted online in advance, so they will know exactly what they will be doing during their ICT.
Now, most NSmen have no idea what kind of training they will undergo until they show up in camp.
For those with work and family responsibilities, this is a less-than-perfect situation. It means they don't know when they will be out in the field, for how long, and which nights they can go home to be with their family.
With training schedules posted about one month before the ICT, this will change.
As Mr Daniel Soh, a ship broker, 23, explained: 'It will definitely allow me to plan better. As a civilian now, I have other things I want to do, and there are work and family commitments.
'Planning mentally and physically ahead for the training is important. Besides, I can tell my wife when I'm coming home!'
Posting of training programmes online is one of several improvements to be made to the MIW - originally Mindef Interactive Web, but it now stands for My Internet World - portal at www.miw.com.sg as it turns three years old.
Now, for instance, NSmen can create a personal homepage on the site, where all Mindef-related transactions such as booking fitness test dates, can be carried out.
The site also allows them to update personal particulars. By March next year, it will replace the NS Booklet, which serves as a training record, with an online version.
To most NSmen, though, the announcement of training programmes was the most exciting addition.
Mr Adrian Lim, 28, who has his own IT training company, said: 'It will be very good if we know what we're in for, whether it will be a field training exercise or if we'll be desk-bound.'
But will the posting of a tough training programme in advance lead to more NSmen applying for deferment?
As Mr Ivan Lee, 35, put it: 'I can just imagine how people will find ways and means to get out of the training if they know beforehand it will be very strenuous.'
A Mindef spokesman would not comment on whether there will be more deferments, but said applications are still subject to approval.
MIW, run by private start-up Green Dot Interactive Services, was set up three years ago as a modern way for NSmen to communicate with the Ministry of Defence.
Already, NSmen can tell the ministry they leave the country, book appointments for fitness tests and even buy army supplies online.
At a ceremony to mark the portal's third anniversary yesterday, the Permanent Secretary for Defence, Mr Peter Ho, remarked: 'It's hard to imagine that three years ago, to book his IPPT and notify Mindef of his overseas trip, an NSman had to either remember different telephone numbers to call, or send off a letter or fax, or take time off work to queue up at some Mindef office.'
--ST
mine is coming sooooooooon.
