"You coward chicken shit"

Memoirs of a foreigner who did not serve in Singapore's National Service.

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With the whole 2011 General Elections hoohaa about foreigners being a source of Singapore's problems, some opposition supporters got a bit carried away. In no way am I discussing the merits of certain opposition parties' manifesto. I am highlighting how xenophobic some Singaporeans can be, and how I was personally verbally attacked by a Singaporean adult. Let's just call him Mr X.

Mr X once came up to me and asked, "Do you know my background?"

This Mr X was open about his political alignment. As a proud supporter of the opposition in Aljunied, he championed the Worker's Party manifesto. Many people do, and I respect their views although I might not necessarily agree with it. I did have several fruitful discussions with opposition supporters on their political stand. Despite knowing that their stand could necessarily have implications on foreigners in future, we still managed to have a fruitful discussion. Knowing full well that I am a foreigner, they did not make offensive personal remarks against the likes of me.

You would least expect a law graduate, much less an adult, to have utter disregard for civility in political discourse.

Mr X confronted me one day, demanding to know why I don't wanna serve NS. He then proceeded to call me a "coward" and "chicken shit" for not wanting to serve NS. He said foreigners are here just to take Singaporeans' money, and that we don't care about Singapore and should leave the country.

"You coward chicken shit"

I immediately told him off. I told him that he should listen to the nonsense he's spouting, and that I felt ashamed and embarrassed for him, a full grown educated adult talking to a young person in this manner.

Interesting character, Mr X is. 

Despite this, I do not regard Singaporeans any differently. I am grateful for the friends and their families who have helped me all these years - be it inviting over for dinner, offering a place to stay, or just simply seeing me as a friend and not a foreigner.

In all this, Mr X never once bothered to listen to my views and understand where I'm coming from. He seemed more interested in insulting foreigners more than anything.

At this moment, here's why I don't serve NS.

#1 There is nothing requiring me to serve NS

I am a full-fledged foreigner in Singapore. I hold the Malaysian passport, with the student pass. I am paying foreigner's fees, renting a room on my own, agreeing to serve the 3-year bond in return for my education subsidy.

The law doesn't require a foreigner to serve NS. Until that day comes, I will not voluntarily apply for PR-ship and serve 2 years of NS. I could also still choose to maintain my foreigner status in Singapore while living and working here, and it is perfectly legal. There is nothing wrong with a foreigner wishing to maintain his foreigner status, and not being eligible for subsidies and whatnot. Several of my Malaysian seniors are doing just that, and they are living in Singapore, loving it more than their own homecountry. 

On Singapore's terms, I am serving my part of the bargain. If anyone has dissatisfaction with the amount of subsidy that foreign students are receiving, the proper channel for feedback is whatever feedback channels you have (I don't know - not my country what...), and not to tell it straight up to foreigners.  Sure, there are valid concerns. But the hell can we do about it???

#2 My family is not in Singapore

My entire family is in Kuala Lumpur. I am living here alone. There are 3 implications.

First, I would be committing too much to a foreign country. At this young age, why should I entrench myself in Singapore? I will still serve the 3 year obligation period from my education subsidy. After that, I still intend to live in Singapore in future, but it still only remain as tentative plans. It's really too soon to commit to anything at my age. Some people ask "Oh look at the WP candidate who voluntarily served NS". I ask, "Wasn't his family here with him in Singapore?".

(Also, I notice an irony. On the one hand, some Singaporeans send their kids overseas under full-foreigner status, with no plans of remaining there. On the other hand, they expect foreigners to commit and remain in Singapore at such a young age)

 Second, don't you think that if ever Malaysia and Singapore goes to war, I sure as hell would not want fight for Singapore. Why would I help the army that could potentially risk the lives of my family? It's even worse for those Johor boys who served NS - the first place Singapore would attack would be JB. The hell the JB boys wanna fight for Singapore?!?!?! This is something many Singaporean guys can relate to. When I ask them why would they bear arms, they said it's mostly for their family. If their family migrated overseas, there would be less motivation to fight for the country.

In fact, we foreigners probably be rounded up in concentration camps, like them Japs were back in California after the Pearl Harbour bombing. But sure, Singapore and Malaysia would never go to war so this isn't about family security anymore. I then move to my third point.

Singapore and Malaysia are so close, the plane doesn't even move on the world map on the flight from KL to Changi.

Thirdly, I am renting a room alone in Singapore. If I were to serve NS, where would I go when I book out? Mr X remarked, "Just rent a room for yourself for the weekends then". Seriously, dude? Spend $700 a month just to get a bed for 1 or 2 nights over the weekend? Are you listening to yourself? Of course there are some foreigners who stay in camp. I applaud them. But that's because they need the PR status.


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I didn't serve NS. I probably never will. As long it is not required under law, I will not do it and remain a full-fledged foreigner.

You can sulk all you want for serving those 2 years. Life is unfair like that. There is a whole lot of things that foreigners have to experience in a foreign land, and many of us are filling that end of the bargain fairly. 

Some Singaporeans should put themselves in the shoes of a foreigner, appreciate the circumstances we are in, before demanding that we serve NS should we wish to live here. Given that my family is not in Singapore, that the law does not require me to do NS, that I don't need PR-ship, does it make sense to do NS voluntarily? In a simple poll I did on my Singaporean friends, all said 'No'.

I spent the past 11 years in Singapore. I practically grew up here. I am very fond of Singapore. I often dream that my family is here with me in Singapore. Just the other day, I was trolling this Malaysian teenager on Facebook for taking jabs at Singapore. He called Singapore 'Lousypore' because 'lousypore has to drink recycled shit water.. pity them..'. I took the liberty to troll him for the entire day coz of his anti-Singapore remarks. 

I now turn to a related issue.

Are foreign men any less a man for not serving NS?

I might not know how to use your SAR 21 variants. But I can shoot a pistol better than you.

On a side note, it is unfair to tell a foreigner that he is any less a man for not knowing how to operate a rifle, sing army songs, or understand military communications. It's just taking cheap shots. We simply didn't get the training you did (because we are not required to - see above). I have 2 Singaporean male friends who constantly rub it in that I did not serve NS. So one day in Thailand, we went to a shooting range. We shot a few pistol rounds. 1 of the Singaporean missed several shots. So much for arms training at NS.

Sure, maybe you didn't train with handguns. Still, a Malaysian CIVILIAN got good shots, while you MISSED?!?!?! Something wrong there, right?

Then, when asked to guess which target belongs to the Malaysian, a Singaporean girl chose the one with the worst aim. Turned out the Malaysian CIVILIAN had several headshots, with all shots on target. The target with the worse aim belonged to a Singaporean. It's a pity that a Malaysian CIVILIAN has a better aim then some military-trained Singaporeans.

On another occasion, 3 Singaporean men attempted to climb Mount Kinabalu with a Malaysian. The Malaysian scaled down the mountain effortlessly, even sprinting the final stretch, reaching the end point ahead of the Singaporeans who throughout the trip kept harping on the fact that the Malaysian did not serve NS and is therefore weak. One of the Singaporeans needed 2 walking sticks, and took 1.5 hours longer to reach the bottom.

Singaporeans, don't look down on foreign men merely for the fact that we didn't do NS. If you wanna look down on us, at least find a proper ground to do so, please ;D Don't use the NS card to establish dominance over foreign men. Eh, got this one Malaysian CIVILIAN can shoot pistol better than your military-trained men. Don't challenge this Malaysian in a mountain - he'd headshot you and sprint up and down the mountain faster than you!

And for cow's sake, just because you were stationed at an airbase during NS doesn't mean you flew a plane.