Good policy

Despite all those BS reasons, still a great govt policy which I'll benefit from. Kudos!

IN-CAMP TRAINING FOR NSMEN REDUCED
Friday August 12, 2005
Loh Chee Kong

FROM April next year, In-Camp Training (ICT) for operationally ready
National Servicemen (NSmen) will be cut from 13 to  10 years, Mindef
announced yesterday.

The change will take place with immediate effect for NSmen who have
already started their ICT. This means that around 17,000 men who have
completed 10 years of training will be getting their run-out-date letters
earlier than expected.

The move follows the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF) announcements that it
is working towards becoming a Third Generation (3G) fighting force, in
which it will harness new, advanced technologies to enhance soldiers'
fighting capability and reduce full-time NS from two-and-a-half years to
two years.

Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said: "The army has finished the review of
the Operationally Ready National Service system, so we are now able to
streamline the ICTs."

A 3G SAF is "not just about the equipment but about training systems", he
added.

Said Mr Teo: "For example, the in-processing is a lot more efficient now.
So the time that a NSman spends in ICT can be better used for training.
(Training) will be more performance- and outcome-based. Subsequent
sessions can be tailored to the standards that the NSmen have achieved."

Previously, reservists had to undergo three two-day Basic Individual
Training (BIT) sessions and 10 ICT sessions over a period of 13 years.

Under the new system, there are no BIT sessions, but NSmen still have to
complete 10 ICTs or reach the statutory ages when their NS liability ends,
whichever is sooner. Under the Enlistment Act, reservists are liable for
NS call-ups up to the age of 40. For officers, this is 50 years.

Director of National Service Affairs  Brigadier-General Hugh Lim said:
"The impetus for the change is the 3G transformation of the army. What
facilitates it is the surge of full-time NSmen over the next  10 years."

He added that the change will be sustainable, despite Singapore's
declining birth rates.

BG Lim said: "We hope that by then, all the 3G transformation efforts will
reduce the deficit of manpower and eradicate it. Many are already kicking
in at this point."
......

 

TODAY article

we got ask for a space meh?

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YOUTH GET THEIR SPACE, BUT BUTTON THEIR LIPS
Given their own hotspot to play with, young S'poreans don't seem to care
Friday 5 August 2005
Tor Ching Li

NOW they have what they wanted, they don't know what to do with it. Or,
they don't care.

In a nationwide consultation exercise, Singaporean youth revealed last
year that they wanted a community space to call their own.

The Government has granted their wish in the form of a 1.2ha plot of land
in Orchard Road called *scape. It has even asked them how they would like
to see the space used.

All it has received so far are some uninspired suggestions - but mostly
silence.

The *scape advisory panel is trying to wring responses out of Singapore's
apathetic youth - even offering iPod shuffle mp3 players for ideas that
should have been forthcoming anyway.

With less than a month before the consultation period ends, just over 700
of Singapore's 700,000 youth - those aged between 15 and 29 - have come up
with suggestions.

According to *scape advisory panel co-chair Khairudin Saharom, 29, most of
the entries were obtained from secondary school students at school
outreach events.

Getting the views of working adults in their early-to-late-20s has proven
an uphill task.

"Personally, I would like to hear more youth speak up," said fellow
co-chair Charissa Ee, 33.

The irony is that Mr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for Community
Development, Youth and Sports, said at the launch of *scape that it
"should not be something that is planned top-down, but should emanate from
young Singaporeans".

Instead, it appears that young Singaporeans are either not used to being
asked for their opinion or simply cannot be bothered.

"We've never had something as 'bottom-up' as this before," said Ms Ee.

And the advisory panel has shown flashes of frustration. Added Ms Ee:
"It's typical of Singaporeans to ask for something, but when they get it,
they don't take ownership and wait for a top-down approach."

Entrepreneur and *scape advisory panel member Elim Chew is desperately
dreaming up ways to stir young people out of their apathy.

"We will be sending out emails to working youth above the age of 25," she
said. "The response should be (greater) than it has been."

One of the suggestions received so far is to include a rooftop garden, to
be linked to the nearby Orchard Cineleisure via an overhead bridge. "One
of the youth wanted this open rooftop to star-gaze and hang out with
friends," said Mr Saharom.

Other suggestions include a flea market where shops could be set up
rent-free and a swimming pool with see-through glass walls.

However, most ideas have been "quite tame", said Mr Saharom. "We're
waiting for that buzz that will shock."

But has the panel given enough publicity to the project in the first
place?

"It can be quite tricky because the panel, which is driving the project.
isn't full-time. But we're all very excited about it," said Ms Ee.

Now the panel is resorting to time-tested methods to get people talking. A
street-poll will be conducted next weekend along Orchard Road.

The top 20 ideas will be rewarded with iPod shuffles.

After the consultation exercise ends, the advisory panel will conduct
dialogue sessions before presenting its recommendations by the end of the
year.

Construction could start next year and *scape could be opened to the
public by 2008. More information is available at www.scape.youth.sg, the
project's official website.

Meanwhile, as she waits for fresh ideas, Ms Chew said: "Youths have asked
for this space - and now they have got this space.

"Moving forward, it's now about how they take ownership of their own
space."