NATIONAL SERVICE ENLISTMENT (Figures)

Mr Teo Chong Tee asked the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence how many full-time national servicemen had signed on in each of the defence forces for the years 1984 to 1986 and whether he considers the intake in each of the categories satisfactory.

BG Lee Hsien Loong (for the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence): Mr Speaker, Sir, as a matter of policy, MINDEF does not release manpower or recruitment figures for the armed services. However, MINDEF sets recruitment standards which ensure that the persons recruited are fit and able to fulfil their operational roles in the services, and sets terms and conditions of service sufficiently attractive so that MINDEF is able to recruit the manpower it needs from the national talent pool. By these criteria, the record of the past few years in all three services has been satisfactory.