Societal cost of enlisting women into National Service 'far outweighs' benefits, says Ng Eng Hen

SINGAPORE - The societal cost of enlisting women into National Service (NS), even for non-military roles, would far outweigh any benefits, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen on Monday (May 9).

Compulsory national service can be justified only if it serves a critical need of national security and defence, he said, adding there are "distinct pitfalls" if conscription is implemented for any other reason, whether it is for men or women.

Responding to Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon GRC) and Ms Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC) in Parliament, Dr Ng cautioned that enlisting women into NS would delay their entry into workforce, and this would have the immediate effect of accentuating a decline in the local manpower pool and a reduction of household incomes.

"Even if women are enlisted for non-military national service roles to augment our healthcare and social services, it may make manpower shortages in other industries worse," Dr Ng said.

"Over the long term, it will impose a great cost, not only on women themselves, but also their families, children and spouses, and society as a whole," he added.

"Is that cost justified to send a signal or to reverse stereotypes? From the Government's perspective, no. I think most Singaporeans would say no too, from a security perspective."

During the debate on the White Paper on Singapore Women's Development in Parliament last month, Ms Tan had suggested expanding the scope of National Service to include care vocations, enlisting both young men and women to these roles.

She suggested that this would help to support the community with their caregiving needs, reduce the stress of Singapore's people and workforce, and more critically, help care work be seen as a shared civic responsibility.

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In her third IPS-Nathan Lecture last year, Ms Corinna Lim, executive director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), had also called for NS to be made gender neutral, and expanded beyond the traditional domains of the army, navy, air force and police.

On Monday, Dr Ng said the primary reason for enlistment into the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) must be to train soldiers who are able to defend Singapore, and repel, if not defeat, enemies who want to invade the country.

Similarly, enlistment into the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has to be based on the national need for homeland security and emergency services.

"It is very far off from the proposals to conscript women to serve in roles, such as caregivers and healthcare workers, or to send a signal, a powerful signal, of gender equality," he noted.

"These are inadequate justifications or reasons to mandate that someone must suspend individual liberties as a civilian, give up two years of his or her life, and if they do not, they go to jail, as our courts have sentenced NS defaulters."

While he acknowledged that birth rates have fallen, Dr Ng said the use of technology and optimisation of resources has produced a modern SAF that is more lethal and effective despite a smaller number of soldiers.

"If Singapore is ever threatened with an existential threat by an aggressor, and there is a sudden and grave need to boost our military, I am certain that Mindef (Ministry of Defence) and the SAF will call on the government of that day to enlist not only women, but even teenagers and older men into military service... The Ukrainians did exactly this when their homeland was invaded," he added, noting that Ukrainian women aged between 18 to 60 years were required to register for possible military conscription after Russia invaded the country.

Dr Ng said there are currently more than 1,600 uniformed servicewomen in the SAF, making up about 8 per cent of its regulars.

Women make up 5 per cent of SAF regulars holding senior ranks of Lieutenant Colonel, Military Expert 6, or Master Warrant Officer and above.

Additionally, more than 500 women have also been trained and deployed in different roles as volunteers in the SAF Volunteer Corps since 2015, the minister said.

"There is currently no need for us to enlist women (into) National Service," he told the House. "Women are already contributing to national building as regulars and volunteers," he added.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.