NS Women - Envied by many or discriminated by men? (Individual Assignment 1)

Fire Rescue Specialist trainees carrying 20kg worth of gear and fire safety equipments

Female SCDF trainee, Hidayah Jaafar, showing off her strength

More women are considering National Service (NS) and experiencing the rite of passage. However, their sense of patriotism and loyalty towards defending their island may be deemed inadequate to some when it comes to strengthening the defense unit. 

Despite emphasis on promoting equality for all Singaporeans, women who are already serving the nation by self-enlisting in available vocations still do get ‘sexist’ comments on their physical capabilities.

A female officer who wishes to stay Anonymous stated that there were times she broke down emotionally because of the pressure of handling the tasks well enough or even better than the boys in order to make her stand. 

Hidayah Jaafar, a 20 year old Fire Rescue Specialist trainee said: "As a female officer, you need to have twice as much emotional, mental and physical strength as compared to the men." 

Hidayah Jaafar shares some of her experience in a four minute video:

Hidayah, among the men in the fire rescue team

These women have been respected and envied by many for their strength and passion. However there are those who do not have similar sentiments towards female masculinity and not forgetting those who have trouble wrapping the idea of females leading the nation. 

When asked if he had any friends who discriminate NS women, 19 year old student, Suryan Zaki said: "Yes. Most of the time they say things like the women shouldn’t be there and they should just let men do what they do best and stay out of it."

He also added: "They should be treated equally because it’s their choice to join in the first place so they shouldn't be given special treatment or get looked down upon."

A quantifiable number of men in NS forums and debates have been seeking and listing out reasons for females to pursue NS such as attainment of equal rights, promoting their national identity and to truly understand what Singaporean men are going through; so why the sense of superiority then? 

The training includes extinguishing fire with the correct procedures

"I think women should be part of the NS too because everyone living in Singapore should be responsible and have the chance to defend the nation. 

"Women contributing to the NS can help with administrative matters and doesn't necessarily be needed in the frontline." said 19 year old Tay Jiang Jie who had signed up for early enlistment in the Singapore Police Force. 

This one minute video featuring the youths of Singapore, will sum up the reasons why they think NS should or should not be made compulsory for women; with most of them saying no to NS for females:-

The issue on women being 'too much of a weakling for NS' has been a debatable one with more youths taking a stand for those who truly have a passion for it as compared to those who think they should be 'more feminine'.

Jasmin Yeo, a 17 year old student from Singapore Polytechnic said: "Why do Singaporeans get fixated on the cultural norms of women without truly having the confirmation that some women can contribute to military combat just the same as the male counterparts? If other countries can do it, why can't we?"