SINGAPORE COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE (Attendance of Reservists)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Dr Lau Teik Soon asked the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence why his Ministry is asking reservists to attend the six months full-time course at the Singapore Command and Staff College and whether this will not create undue disruption for both the reservists and their employers.

The Minister of State for Defence and Trade and Industry (BG Lee Hsien Loong) (for the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence): Mr Speaker, Sir, at present, reservists earmarked to be Battalion Commanders and Brigade Staff Officers attend the part-time Reserve Officers' Staff Course (ROSC). The course spans two years. It involves two in-camp training periods of 40 days each, with a considerable amount of home assignments during the rest of the two years.

The ROSC can cover only the bare bones of the full-time Singapore Command and Staff Course (SCSC). This cannot be helped because of the current limitation of 40 days of reserve training a year. There is time in the ROSC only to teach procedures and tactics, the essentials for the higher reserve appointments. The SCSC does much more than this. It provides for personal development and rounded exposure, which will also benefit the reservist in his civilian employment. It gives reservists and regular officers on the course a chance to interact intimately, to develop personal ties and camaraderie, even as they learn from one another.

The six months of full-time SCSC may appear disruptive to employers and reservists, but it need not be. SCSC is good management training. The course develops a man's ability to make decisions within strict time limits, to sort our priorities, to cope with uncertainty and false or incomplete data, and to revise assessments and decisions as new information comes in. The absence of the reservist from his office is offset by what he and his employer gain in leadership and management development. Many other far less intensive executive development programmes take more than six months.

Mindef will continue to conduct ROSC courses to generate the required number of reservist commanders and staff officers. But the reservists and their employers are urged to consider the full-time SCSC instead.

Dr Lau Teik Soon (Serangoon Gardens): Sir, can I ask the Minister of State whether the Ministry will consider granting scholarships to reservists who wish to study full-time at the National University of Singapore?

BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, nearly every male citizen who studies in the National University of Singapore is a reservist. Our scholarships are limited, and our priorities are to grant scholarships to those reservists and also serving officers who will come back and serve with us as regulars and make a, contribution to the SAF. So if any reservist wishes to come back to the SAF and make it a career, and if we think that he is suitable, and he thinks that he is suitable for the SAF, we shall be very happy to take him and to award him a scholarship.