NATIONAL SERVICE DEFERMENT FOR ATHLETES

NATIONAL SERVICE DEFERMENT FOR ATHLETES

7.

Ms Joscelin Yeo asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) over the last five years, what percentage of those enlisting for National Service are national athletes; and (b) whether his Ministry will consider requesting deferments for those who are carded as A1 athletes or are under the Project 0812 or Special Assistance Scheme.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Over the last five years, the percentage of national athletes, who are National Service (NS) enlistees, range from 0.27% to 0.48%. The breakdown of the figures is tabulated below:

|

2004

|

2005

|

2006

|

2007

|

2008

---|---|---|---|---|---

No. of national athletes

|

66

|

93

|

95

|

54

|

64

No. of NS enlistees

|

20,000

|

20,000

|

20,000

|

20,000

|

20,000

Percentage (%)

|

0.33

|

0.47

|

0.48

|

0.27

|

0.32

My Ministry and the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) recognise that NS enlistment can affect our sportsmen’s performance. Efforts have been made to minimise the impact of NS on the sports training schedules of our top athletes.

Under the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) Sports Excellence Talented Elite Athletes Management (spexTEAM) carding system, NS athletes who are graded B2 and above and have strong medal potential, may be placed under the SAF Sportsmen Scheme (SSS). Athletes under the SSS are eligible for time off and Full-Pay Unrecorded Leave (FPUL) during their full-time NS. This arrangement allows our top NS athletes to train and participate in major competitions, such as the South East Asian (SEA) Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the Olympic Games, without having to defer from their NS obligations. MINDEF also considers NS deferment requests on a case-by-case basis, where athletes may delay their enlistment to prepare and compete in major competitions.