Why National Service is a National Disservice

Is a pianist worth more than just another unit of cannon fodder?

The question above is blunt and, perhaps, puzzling, but I shall explain - especially to my international readers. Singapore is a country with National Service. This is a period of two years in which all male Singaporeans must serve their country in the military or the police (usually the Army). During this period, they train as soldiers (or police), have little time to themselves and are "paid" so little it wouldn't keep them in soft drinks (or alcohol, for that matter!). It is a form of national servitude in more ways than one, given the pay and conditions. Yet, the powers-that-be in Singapore insist on it for all male Singaporeans - even if it is detrimental to the nation, in some cases.

What does Singapore do if a young man has a special talent that he must pursue, but is of the age of National Service? Well, an enlightened country would let him pursue his talent, understanding that it is of value to the nation, in another way. Singapore, however is not an enlightened country (and probably never will be). In Singapore, National Service is regarded as more important than anything else, for a young man - indeed it is mandatory, with severe punishments lurking for those who seek to avoid it, somehow. So, in Singapore, if you have a special talent, that is just too bad - because Singapore won't let you pursue it - you will just have to do National Service instead.

An example is the musician Keegan Ng. Now, you have probably never heard of him. There is a reason for this - you see the Singaporean Government didn't let him be a musician: they wanted him to be a soldier instead. This was no ordinary young man petitioning for a chance to follow what he loved: this was one of Singapore's most gifted musicians. At the age of 11, Keegan Ng won The Marion S. Gray Outstanding Musician Award, demonstrating that he was probably Singapore's best musician in his year. In his late teens, he wanted to further his study of the piano at the Eastman School of Music in New York - but the Singapore Government had other ideas: they were desperately short of one unit of cannon fodder and insisted that he do his National Service first.

Now, it seems to me that no-one in the Ministry of Defence (or whomever makes these decisions), has actually given any thought to what it means to be a pianist or to have any special talent. A talent needs to be nurtured, to be looked after. The skill level needs to be maintained with constant practice and/or study. If constant attention is not given to the skill, it fades away: in mere weeks, there is a decline in facility, in months, things that were easy start to become difficult, or impossible, in TWO YEARS the great skill that once was, will be no more: a pianist will have become an ex-pianist. You see, as Keegan Ng found out, there is no time to practice when you are having fun being shouted at, ordered around and generally experiencing life as cannon fodder. Keegan Ng tried to practice as much as he could, but there simply wasn't the opportunity while serving NS. By the end of the two years, Keegan Ng would no longer be at the skill level required to pursue a career as a pianist - where once he would have been able to rise to the challenge of the Eastman School of Music, as a pianist, there is just no way his skill would have been good enough to do so, after two years of fallowness. So, Singapore gained a unit of cannon fodder - and lost a great pianist. More to the point, of course, Keegan Ng, lost the love of his life and the sense of purpose being a musician would have provided him all his life long.

There is a name for what is going on here, in Singapore, with regards to National Service. It is called Stupidity. It is stupid to deprive talented young men of the chance to pursue their talents. Singapore loses much more than it gains by opposing the progress of such gifted young men. Singapore does NOT need another unit of cannon fodder - but it does need pianists and other gifted young men (I say "men" because girls are not called to be units of cannon fodder).

It is time for the special needs of some young men to be recognized. People with something special to offer that NEEDS ATTENTION/PRACTICE/MAINTENANCE, should be exempt from National Service. I don't mean that their National Service should be postponed - I mean that their National Service should be completely cancelled. There is no need to sacrifice the talents of Singapore's young men just so Singapore can have another unnecessary unit of cannon fodder. There is no need to worry that this proposed policy would deprive Singapore of an effective defence force since the numbers involved will be small. People of gift are rare - so it is not going to inconvenience Singapore to lose these few men from the battle field. However it does a great disservice to Singapore, to lose them from the creative, inspiring careers they would otherwise have led, were it not for the rigidities and stupidities of the present National Service system.

National Service should be there to protect Singapore. Presently, however, National Service is doing great harm to Singapore by depriving it of the talents of its most gifted young men. It is no wonder that Singapore is often accused of being a dull society - for National Service ensures that none of the young men with something to offer ever get a chance to shine.

Do Singapore a true national service: cancel "National Service" for any and all Singaporean young men with a special gift that needs constant maintenance. To do otherwise is to do Singapore a National Disservice.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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