My view on Melvyn Tan's case
Reading a little more about Mr Tan's case has made me change my view about him. He obtained a scholarship from the Royal College of Music at age 17 and applied for NS deferrment since the course would take him past 18 which is the enlistment age. He was granted the deferrment by MINDEF. He then wanted to pursue his Masters degree and appealed for an extension of the deferrment but was rejected, and thus began his default story.
Now I can understand why he did what he did. He was a pianist. It was natural in his personal development for excellence to pursue his Masters immediately after his basic degree. Coming back to serve NS and staying away from the piano for most of the 2.5 years would clearly be a major disruption and hindrance to his personal development. I am sure there might be even more to the story. Perhaps he had a mentor who might not have been there come 2.5 years later?
Now I am all for having stiff penalties for defaulters, because it sends a message to people and the world that we are serious about National Service and maintaining a defence force.
However I also acknowledge that NS can be a disruption and hindrance to the development of talent. One example would be sportsmen. What if a Singaporean golfer was a young prodigy and was touring the PGA at 17 winning his first title. And then come 18, he disappears from the circuit for 2.5 years and returns at age 21. Now I have no doubt it could wreck his future as a golfer. But with the current rules about to take effect, Singapore says, that if he chooses his individual concerns above the states (ie non confucian) then he is not wanted by the state anymore, or face severe punishment. In other words we are also saying that if you are a world class talent at age 18, and choose to continue being one and default NS, then we do not want such world class talents anymore. Is that really ideal?
NS is always going to be a controversial one because people want others to be treated the same. I suffered, you also have to suffer etc. If you don't suffer, then you were treated "special" and that is unfair etc.
Now it's clear to me at the moment that NS is a LIABILITY. And as with all things, there must be balance. With this LIABILITY as a Singaporean male, what then are the ADVANTAGES and BENEFITS of being a Singaporean male?
I am very sure that if the ADVANTAGES AND BENEFITS were to be attractive enough, most would gladly accept the NS LIABILITY. In fact in some cases, people would be clamoring to serve their NS in order not to lose out on the ADVANTAGES AND BENEFITS that come after serving NS.
There are 2 ways to go about it. Improve the advantages and benefits (at the moment there seems to be none) of serving NS or improve the prevailling patriotism in Singapore (at the moment it appears that it is not high).
To me the former option seems easier to do and more practical in being able to influence directly.
posted by Dr Oz bloke @ 5:13 PM
7 Comments:
You're back!
I thought you went fishing!
Sell your theories to the Israelis who face annihilation everyday.
This guy was let off too leniently. The book should have been thrown at him without a shadow of a doubt.
That's why amends are being made with the write up on enhanced penalties. But it is a little too little, too late to placate all those whose sons were less gifted but nevertheless as singaporean as anyone when they had to serve NS.
The concept of National Service is only workable and justifiable if applied across the board irrespective of whether you are a talented musician or a world class sportsman. You can always apply for deferment.
Yeah I went swimming with my kids yesterday. I don't work everyday now :)It's a good life!
From what I have heard, Israelis are very patriotic!
To them serving in the armed forces is an honor. Most would die for their country. They value their independence and value Israel as their country.
My point is not about selling my theories to Israel. My point is why aren't we more like Israel? I mean we say we are like them, but in truth we are not.
I'm all for increasing the penalties to make them on par with the seriousness of NS. I mean for a normal Singapore male, he goes through 2.5 years of NS, then many in camp trainings and Melvyn Tan gets off from all that just by staying away and paying $3000? It's obviously unbalanced. And MINDEF acknowledges that they should have acted earlier to rectify this imbalance. Interestingly only when the Melvyn Tan case was highlighted, then this issue was reviewed. There have been many more who have escaped with just the fine. Ironically, Melvyn Tan is the "talent" that we covet to return ( and in the end he did not), what about the rest?
"You can always apply for deferment. "
MINDEF would have to look at your case and grant the deferment accordingly. The general rule so far is they allow for deferment for pursuants of basic degrees overseas but not postgrad studies. There is nothing written in black and white about sportsmen.
So again a case of subjectivity? That's what makes people unhappy isn't it? This "special" treatment for some and not for others. Yet if we apply it to all we can see how it can destroy a person's develoment too.
Tough issues, emotional and difficult.
What are your thoughts on the subject which is front page news on the "Home" segment today?
Death of a liver transplant donor? Well not really very surprising. It happens.
From the account it looks like they thought it might have been Pulmonary embolism which is a distinct risk after an operation. But heart attacks can occur at any time. The donor did have a history of hypertension which is a risk factor for coronary heart disease, he also did a treadmill ECG and echocardiogram to assess his cardiac status pre-op.
Little more they could have done assuming the results of the above were all normal.
I have met Dr KC Tan before in the waiting room for the Selvarani Slim 10 case coroner's enquiry. Seems like a nice guy, I let him go on stand before me as he had some emergency to settle that day and was in a rush.
Honestly, it's tough luck to the donor. Every operation has a risk. And a liver harvesting operation is NOT a minor operation. So I am sure he had been told that during consent acquisition for the operation.
We await the coroners verdict in any case.
I am just wondering if it is so straightforward why the blow up by our Straight Times and why the juxtapositioning of the headlines?
Something tells me it is not that straightforward.
Well my view is that in Singapore there is so little news to report. Actually there is but reporting on them would mean going against the government and risking the status quo and litigation from the politicians and so the next best targets are medical and doctors. They are the "chihuahuas tied to trees" after all.
And any bad news about medical is always good for the newspapers.
That's all.
Thanks for the enlightenment.
I am going for lunch then go to my club for a game of mahjong.
See ya tomorrow.
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