SINGAPORE — The Government’s plan to enhance housing, healthcare and education benefits for operationally ready national servicemen has received a pushback from a gender-equality advocacy group, which disagreed that support for these basic requirements should be linked to military service.
On Thursday, the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) posted on Facebook that it “disagrees strongly with any link between support for fundamental needs and an individual’s status as an NSman, especially when the military may not be suitable for many people, regardless of their gender”.
It added: “AWARE has long maintained that military service should not be held up as the single gold standard of citizen belonging — an approach which this proposal threatens to intensify, creating different tiers of people with different social entitlements and worth.”
As of last night, the post received about 60 “likes” and more than a hundred comments — the majority of which were negative, sparking a spirited discussion on the group’s Facebook page. Among the comments, some felt that AWARE was jumping the gun as the benefits had not been announced, and others said that giving housing, education and healthcare benefits to NSmen does not mean depriving others of their basic needs. A few also argued that AWARE should push for women to serve NS if it was advocating for gender equality.
On Thursday, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said a package of “meaningful” benefits is being considered for operationally ready NSmen. “We want to centre the recognition benefits by giving them a greater stake in Singapore, whether it is housing, health or education,” he had said.
Asked about AWARE’s Facebook post, Minister of State (Defence) Mohamad Maliki Osman, who leads the Recognition and Benefits for NS working group, reiterated that his group is looking at how best to recognise the efforts and sacrifices of NSmen. “Women contribute to society in many different ways and I think in whichever capacity that they contribute in, the stakeholders would also want to give them equal recognition,” he said.
AWARE Executive Director Corinna Lim told TODAY that it fully recognises the “huge sacrifice involved in giving up two years in the prime of one’s life” for NS. “But the solution to address this is not to provide substantial housing, health or education privileges, as those are fundamental needs central to social equity,” she said.
Ms Lim added that, in debates about gender and immigration policies, NS seemed to create state-sanctioned tiers of entitlement and status in society. “Arguments are already made against women’s equal rights in other areas and resentment is expressed against migrants on the basis that they haven’t done NS. Tying it to access to fundamental social goods and services may make it an increasingly divisive factor as it will signal that the state sanctions different tiers of belonging and entitlement.”
The Government could instead pay NSmen and full-time national servicemen decently and improve conditions under which NS is served, she said. Ms Lim added that AWARE does not think the present benefits for NSmen — consisting of S$9,000 or S$10,500 paid in three tranches to one’s post-secondary education account and Central Provident Fund account — should be rolled back, “as the amount does not currently affect fundamental rights associated with citizenship”.
“We would urge the Government to rethink the whole notion of National Service, to make it broader and more inclusive so it goes beyond military conscription — and to make it voluntary or mandatory for all, regardless of gender.”
Chua Chu Kang GRC Member of Parliament Alex Yam, who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs, noted that NS is an emotive issue but, having just undergone In-Camp Training, said he does not feel NSmen are inclined to curtail discussion on gender equality or immigration issues purely on the basis of National Service. “There may be a vocal minority who may be interested in pushing this, but I think the discussion requires a level of maturity,” he said.
Mr Yam added that Dr Ng’s comments were not about fundamental access to healthcare, education and housing, but were alluding to additional benefits being considered by the Committee to Strengthen National Service. Defence is fundamental to any society, without which other fundamental benefits of citizenship would not exist, he said. “So, there is something our NSmen have put in, in terms of defending our country and making a contribution. Therefore, I think it’s right that we recognise their efforts.”
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