that's what the little bar above the ticker tape on CNA says right now, 15 June 2004 at about 1530hrs...

ahh.. how nice for the people

so how many guys out there planning to defer until next year to do NS?

so good ah? means wat? 1 yr 10 mths for those without PTP?

dunno...

frankly, don't care either

i ROD (note.. it was ROD then, not ORD ) about 13 years ago!

Originally posted by wuming78:

so good ah? means wat? 1 yr 10 mths for those without PTP?

Quoted from: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040615/5/singapore90049.html

Full-time NS to be cut to 2 years from Dec 2004 intake: Defence minister

SINGAPORE : Singapore is shortening its full-time National Service by six months.
NSmen, who are 18 years of age and promoted to the rank of corporals or higher, will only serve two years instead of two-and-half years.

This takes effect from the December 2004 intake.

There will also be a graduated reduction in NS stints for batches enlisted earlier.

In a ministerial statement to Parliament on Tuesday, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean assured the nation that the operational readiness of the Singapore Armed Forces and its ability to carry out its mission will not be affected.

Rear-Admiral Teo explained that two key factors have come together to allow for this change - the transformation of the SAF into a third generation fighting force and a projected surge in the NS intake over the next 10 years.

There will be a 15 to 20 percent increase in the annual intake of full-time NS men over 10 years from 2006.

This is because of a higher birth rate from the Dragon year in 1988, which lasted till 1997.

There will be no change for those serving two years full-time NS.

The Home Affairs Ministry will make similar cuts for those serving NS in the Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force.

Mindef is also working with local universities to realign their intakes from 2007 to be in line with the shorter NS stints. - CNA

B ULLSHIT!

I couldn't find anything in channelnewsasia. with falling birth rates, very unlikely they will reduce the term.

B ULLSHIT!

I couldn't find anything in channelnewsasia. with falling birth rates, very unlikely they will reduce the term.

i didn’t know can just suka suka defer when and where u like it wan

Originally posted by spencer99:

B ULLSHIT!

I couldn't find anything in channelnewsasia. with falling birth rates, very unlikely they will reduce the term.

see here Singapore News

I wonder if the headcounts/babies is the real driver for this cut........

Anyway it's more tax money saved..........in exchange for what?

With more technology coming online, we can safely look forward to a further cut to 12 months!

congrats guys?

eh i receive sms from someone i know who works in army. quite high ranking officer wan. she oso say 2 years

Its true... the article that is...

Originally posted by spencer99:

B ULLSHIT!

I couldn't find anything in channelnewsasia. with falling birth rates, very unlikely they will reduce the term.

please. search and you shall find.

Yes, I saw the article....It is true.

I am very surprised..... but will they increase the term of the ICTs??

This is a really a huge policy change. Looks like the SAF is really very serious about 3G. in a high-tech armed force, warm bodies not as important as equipment.

Hope the people going in will appreciate that they are serving 2 years instead of 2.5 years and work harder!

Originally posted by spencer99:

Yes, I saw the article....It is true.

I am very surprised..... but will they increase the term of the ICTs??

This is a really a huge policy change. Looks like the SAF is really very serious about 3G. in a high-tech armed force, warm bodies not as important as equipment.

Hope the people going in will appreciate that they are serving 2 years instead of 2.5 years and work harder!

penalise the nsfs later huh?

Then must i still serve my remaining 6 months of Ns when i go back in 2006????
i disrupted to go study in Australia......
Man if someone tells me the good news that i dun need to serve it, ill be the happiest man on earth!!!!!!!

Originally posted by Leo_is_me:

Then must i still serve my remaining 6 months of Ns when i go back in 2006????
i disrupted to go study in Australia......
Man if someone tells me the good news that i dun need to serve it, ill be the happiest man on earth!!!!!!!

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the report says the new policy starts from the Dec 2004 batch. In other words, those before are still subjected to the old policy.

Full Time NSmen is what? People who sign on or male regular citizens?

http://www.singstat.gov.sg/keystats/annual/poster.pdf

just checked... the birth rate during those periods is almost twice the current birth rate.

and for population under 15.... there was a marked increased of 100,000 due to the birth rate between 1980-90.

this imply that there would be far more enlistee in the coming years then those who enlisted 10 to 15 years ago.

the current low birth rate impact wont be felt for probably another 10 to 15 years later....

if the service time is not reduced... the cost would surely goes up.. and many units would have "bloated" sections...

furthermore... over the years... the desire to cut manpower needs has resulted in saving systems like the M71s (12 to 16 men) to SPH (4 men) and triple acrow panel bridge to leguan bridge...

aiya, it was already a 2 years duration before it was changed to 2 1/2 years mah.

it's not anything that hasn't happened before. few years down the road, they'll increase the duration again. it's just a matter of resource management.

Maybe they realised that the economy would be better with people working than `keng-ing`.

when i was still serving my ns, heard rumours that ns will be extended to 3 years.

now they changing to 2 years instead, really glad for my 2 younger brothers.

anyway, i believe the whole structure would be changed in the SAF now.

eg) an infantry spec take like 6-7months from a recruit to a 3SG, then join an infantry unit for the next 2year for one whole mono-intake. If now they ord 6 months eariler, the unit will need a new batch of specs. it wouldnt be easy for men and spec to gel up quickly and imagine the result of ATEC.

*Shrug* maybe i am thinking too much , hahahaha. Still Cheers for all the new soldiers!!

This is a very huge change that will be phased in gradually. All current NSFs who need to serve 2 years 6 months (including current disruptees) get an immediate two month reduction in service requirement, to an earliest ORD date of 30 June 2004. (That means that you need to serve only 4 months on your return from your studies, Leo_is_me.) Those enlisting in the July 2004 to November 2004 batches will get a 4 month reduction (i.e. 2 years 2 months). Those enlisting with the December 2004 batch or later will all serve 2 years. There is an 8-week reduction for scoring a silver or better in NAPFA to a minimum of 1 year 10 months.

I am not so sure this is a good idea. This particularly affects the training of officers. The training of specialists and certain difficult vocations (like commandoes) will also be made very hard. There will barely be enough time for these people to gel together with their unit before they ORD, since their training takes so long. This may actually undermine moves toward a 3G force.

Maybe SAF is moving toward a flatter command structure with fewer officers? Or will improved training technology step in to help? Maybe officers, specialists and the tough vocations can be trained on the job (OTJ)?

For example, officer cadets could receive a relatively short 10-15 week primer course at OCS. After this course, they are sent to their eventual unit and shadow a particular officer. This officer will be their mentor and responsible for completing their training. This will be like a correspondence course with CAI technology. These cadets should even go to ATEC as a cadet and lead men there in a section commander or platoon sergeant role. After 6 months or so, they could return to OCS for a few weeks of summary exercises and final prociency tests before receiving their commissions and returning to their unit. Cadets who drop out will still return to their unit, but as specialists. Actually, this form of training might be even better than the current 42-week OCS. At least the new 2LT will be less blur about unit life and will have met the men he is to lead and know what they expect of him. In this way, the officer will be able to gel with his unit earlier, and training in the units might also be improved.

Regardless, this is a huge change. My head is spinning thinking of the connotations. This is the first time both commanders and men have the same length of NS. Before the 2.5 years for corporals and above, it was 3 years for officers and 2 years for WOSEs. The difference in time it takes to train commanders vs men will have many manpower officers tearing their hair out. Let's see what will happen.

It's good for the people and economy!!!

Time is cheap in SAF!

It's good for the people and economy!!!

Time is cheap in SAF!