Insensitive!

I've always believed in the benefits of National Service training. There is nothing like National Service to bring out the discipline and independence in our children. My daughter had hoped to be selected for National Service when she completed her Form Five two years ago but she was not selected. When arms training was introduced, I was rather apprehensive above this but I believe now that this will make the trainees more appreciative of the security of this country.

Of course, there are always the odd cases of mismanagement that we read in the newspapers. I wasn't surprised when the first cases of sexual abuses and bullying were reported. While the government has been fast enough to take action, it could still have been more efficient. For example, trainee deaths at the National Service camps can be avoided if the camp administrators are more careful, observant and diligent. Trainees themselves can be trained to notice warning symptoms among their fellow mates.


But what takes the cake is the sad news today that a National Service trainee was not allowed proper time off to visit her sick father and later, to attend to his funeral. And the camp was only 30 minutes away from her home. That's sad and reflects very badly on the camp administrators. Are they so heartless? After all, the trainee's sister had produced a note from the hospital about their father's medical condition. He had suffered a severe stroke. And two days later, despite producing a death certificate, the trainee was only given a few hours off to grieve. It's not everyday that a person's parent dies, you know...