NATIONAL SERVICE IN-CAMP REQUIREMENTS OF PART-TIME TERTIARY STUDENTS

4.23 pm

Mr Chiam See Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am much obliged to you.

At this Motion for the Adjournment, I would like to highlight the plight of reservists who are pursuing part-time tertiary courses in preparation for professional or academic examinations leading to degrees or diplomas which are internationally recognised. These reservists who are doing part-time studies are generally not given deferment from their in-camp training (ICT). MINDEF's policy now allows only full-time university students or students who have gone abroad to pursue their studies or reservists who have gone overseas to work to defer their in-camp training.

The issue I would like the Minister to consider is whether he will allow reservists who are genuine part-time students pursuing university courses to be given deferment from their in-camp training. Would the Minister give them the same treatment as full-time university students in respect of deferment from ICT? I would urge the Minister to change the policy and allow bona fide part-time students who are studying for tertiary degrees to be given these deferments. On the one hand, MINDEF allows full-time university students to delay their national service and in-camp training but, on the other hand, those reservists who are part-time university students are not allowed to postpone their in-camp training. Why the anomaly? Such a policy is patently unjust, unfair and discriminates against those male Singaporeans who have missed the boat the first time from obtaining a university degree to get it the second time when they are already past the normal age for admission to a university. In fact, the Government should do all it can to help these genuine part-time students instead of discriminating against them. It is common knowledge that it is more difficult to pursue part-time studies than to do them full-time. It requires a lot of sacrifice, determination and perseverance to get a university degree through part-time studies. And if there are Singaporeans who are undergoing part-time studies, they should be encouraged and helped and not hindered. The SAF in this respect does not seem to have a heart and it is cold and uncaring on these part-time students. I am sure there must be quite a few reservists who have been thumped down by MINDEF when they requested for deferment from their ICT because they are doing university courses on a part-time and not a full-time basis.

I would like to highlight one such case. This reservist is a part-time law student. He enrolled in a locally registered private law school and he was scheduled to sit for his LL.B University of London External Intermediate Examinations on 11th June this year. He was served a notice on 9th September 1990 to attend an ICT from 11th March to 30th March 1991. He requested for deferment in writing on 20th October last year stating his reasons and supplying proof that he was pursuing an external LL.B course and he was scheduled to sit for the local preliminary examinations in April 1991 and the University of London External Intermediate Examinations on 11th June 1991. The period of his in-camp training will end just 10 days before his intermediate examinations date. This case is a deserving one for deferment. Yet, the request was flatly refused. The reply from MINDEF came some three months later on 25th January 1991 refusing permission for deferment and, as usual, no reasons were given. Can you imagine how this part-time student felt? He was frantic. He appealed against MINDEF's decision on 28th January 1991. He also sent his examination time-table to MINDEF. He went personally to see the Commanding Officer. I was told that he was made to wait for two hours before his Commanding Officer saw him. Despite his letter of appeal and personal visit to MINDEF, his appeal was predictably refused on 6th March 1991.

On 7th March, this reservist sought the help of the Vice Principal of his law school and also enlisted the assistance of his Member of Parliament. After much correspondence, the Vice Principal of his school and the Member of Parliament and the hectic telephone calls made by the former to the office of the Permanent Secretary, permission was finally granted after the reservist had attended two days of his in-camp training on 11th and 12th March 1991. Although permission was given on the 12th, it was not communicated to him until the day after, ie, on 13th March 1991. This is a trauma and heartache of a reservist who sought deferment from his in-camp training. 4.28 pm

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lim Boon Heng) in the Chair]

Mr Chiam See Tong: The reason given by MINDEF for not allowing part-time students to be granted ICT deferment is that they want to ensure operational readiness. I think this is not really a good reason to refuse part-time students deferment from their ICT. If there is really a need for operational readiness in the SAF, then this criterion should not only affect part-time students but also those who are studying full-time, because the concept of operational readiness implies that if Singapore is attacked by an external force, Singapore would have maximum military preparedness. In accordance with this kind of strategy, every able-bodied person who is liable to do military service should be prepared to defend Singapore in such an eventuality. Therefore, male full-time university students who are of military age should not be deferred from military training. But full-time students are deferred from national service. Therefore, under the policy of military preparedness or operational preparedness, there is no need to involve every male citizen of military age. The male full-time university students are deferred and the part-time reservists accordingly should be given deferment from their ICT.

The other question is whether once a part-time student is given deferment from ICT, this policy will be abused. The Minister need not fear that it will be abused because he can easily check to see that a part-time student is really a genuine one, and not use it as an excuse to avoid his in-camp training.

For these reasons, I hope the Minister will consider sympathetically the plight and the difficulties encountered by part- time students in regard to their in-camp training.

The Senior Minister of State for Defence (Dr Lee Boon Yang): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, Mr Chiam has, as usual, wielded a very poorly guided and indiscriminate brush to paint a dark and distorted picture of the position of a reservist who has to perform in-camp training in the SAF. He has misrepresented the SAF as an unreasonable and inflexible organisation. Sir, this could not be further from the truth and, in the course of the next few minutes, I will set the record straight.

First, let me address the specific example that Mr Chiam has brought up of the student who was sitting for his external law examination, appealing to be deferred from in-camp training because it coincided with a local intermediate examination. I think Mr Chiam forgot to inform this House that the local examination was, in fact, a mock examination conducted by a local private law school to prepare their students for the formal examination. Being a mock examination, it could always be re-scheduled or could always be re-arranged in some way to accommodate the student's in-camp training. Nonetheless, after appeal by the hon. Member of Parliament who represented this student, and the hon. Member is not Mr Chiam, MINDEF had decided, in this particular case, notwithstanding the fact that it was only a mock examination, to allow him time-off to take the examination. So this is, in fact, a case in point showing that MINDEF does consider each case on its own merits.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me now state a fundamental principle. National service, whether it is full-time national service or part-time national service in the form of reservist duty, entails a certain degree of inconvenience and disruption to civilian routine. This is a sacrifice which all male Singaporeans have to make for the security and survival of Singapore. In this way, they are helping to ensure peace for Singapore and their standard of living can continue to go up, and they are also helping to build up a better future for their families. Sir, it is simply not possible to have a national service defence force without causing some degree of inconvenience to Singaporeans. In the case of reservist duty, it is essential to carry out periodic training, such as in-camp training, to maintain a high level of operational readiness, which Mr Chiam seems not to agree, even if such training results in some disruption to the civilian life. If reserve service is not carried out thoroughly and effectively, then I have no doubt that SAF's ability to defend Singapore will certainly suffer.

Mr Chiam's point is: why not allow the part-time students deferment from reservist duty? Does Mr Chiam know, for example, that there are 100,000 part-time students in VITB alone? And if all part-time students are eligible for deferment from reservist duty, then how can SAF maintain a credible defence capability.

Sir, on the other hand, while we want to maintain the operational readiness of the SAF through a serious programme of part-time in-camp training, MINDEF also understands the compelling desires of Singaporeans to upgrade themselves throughfurther education, whether it is full-time or part-time basis. MINDEF supports such aspiration. In fact, MINDEF, as an employer, regularly sends its own officers for part-time and full-time courses. And where reservists are concerned, unlike what Mr Chiam has said, MINDEF does allow deferment from in-camp training for part-time students. However, a balance has to be struck when allowing such deferment. We have to ensure that allowing time-off from in-camp training for studies for part-time students will not jeopardize the training needs of the reserve unit.

Reservists who are attending full-time course, as Mr Chiam himself knows well, are allowed deferment or even disruption if their course exceeds one year. Reservists who are attending part-time courses can be granted deferment from in-camp training to prepare and to sit for these examinations, provided the exam- inations fall during or just after the in-camp training period. In other words, MINDEF will allow reservists to prepare for these examinations provided it is going to take place within a reasonable period from the in-camp training. We cannot allow reservists to be deferred from in-camp training for a very long period on the basis that they are going to sit for an examination six months or eight months after the in-camp training period. In fact, Sir, for reservists who are attending part-time night classes, if they have to attend in-camp training, the unit commander will be able to let them off at night to attend those classes provided there is no night time training schedule on that day. So the SAF is, in fact, helping all these reservists to carry on with their part-time studies, wherever possible. With these guidelines, MINDEF has been able to devolve the power of deciding who should be given deferment to the unit commanders because the unit commanders know their men. They are in the best position to decide whether a reservist's application for deferment has merit or not and whether the application can be approved after considering the training schedule that has been prepared.

Sir, I would take this opportunity to let the House know how effective is this system of devolving it to the commanders to decide on the outcome of each application for deferment. Let me quote you some figures of applications for deferment from part-time students who had been called up for in-camp training. These are figures that I have managed to collect from three of our divisions. Out of 226 applications for deferment from part-time students, between the period June 1990 and May 1991, 151 were approved. In other words, two out of three such applications were approved. So it is not as if the SAF had not been sympathetic or supportive of these applications. We had approved two out of three such applications.

Sir, in order to minimize the need for deferment, MINDEF notifies reservists at least six months in advance of their in-camp training. This gives them ample time to make arrangements to hand over their work to their colleagues, or to make plans for make-up lessons if they are undertaking some part-time studies. Where possible, MINDEF also allows reservists to make their own arrangements, such as for fitness examination and for IPPT, which I have announced recently on Wednesday, 26th June, 1991. By allowing reservists to make their own appointments and to choose their own locations, we have made it more convenient for them to undergo these tests and to serve out their reservist duties.

Sir, in the final analysis, reservists should understand that deferment comes at a price, a price for SAF, on the one hand, and for the reservist himself. A reserve unit operates as a team. All members of the team should be present when it is undergoing training. In-camp training helps to buildup team work, mutual support and esprit de corps. When the reservist is absent from in-camp training, he has broken the chain. He has deprived a fellow reservist of a buddy in the training. He has weakened the platoon by his absence. Worse still, Sir, if he is an NCO or an officer, the soldiers under his command would have lost a familiar superior to guide and direct them. All in all, Sir, the value of training to the team will be reduced and continuity disrupted. For the reservist himself, he will have to do make-up in-camp training at a later date. He may have to do two in-camp training in the following year. Otherwise, he will complete his reservist training later than his team mates. When he goes for make-up reservist training he has to be fitted in with a different unit, train with different people under a new and different environment. All these will affect the quality and value of the training to him.

I hope, Sir, that Mr Chiam and those who have encountered difficulties in securing deferment will now understand that MINDEF is indeed sympathetic to their appeals. However, to maintain an alert, effective and credible SAF, reservists must take in-camp training seriously. So while we are sympathetic and we will do what we can to make reservist service more convenient and less disruptive, not all appeals for deferment can be granted.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

That Parliament do now adjourn.

Adjourned accordingly at Sixteen minutes to Five o'clock pm to a date to be fixed.