National Service and arms training

June 18 2006

Weapon training not the priority

The move to compel all National Service(NS) trainees to use M16 rifles is move in the wrong direction and should be reconsidered.

To my mind the aim of NS at the age of 17 is to instill good values and discipline in order to foster better understanding and tolerance among the various communities in our country. I for one am skeptical that a 3- month stint with school leavers after 11 years of segregation in schools would ever achieve this aim. On the contrary we had witnessed all forms ugly incidents in our NS camps since its inception, from racial fights, rape and even murder.

I fail to see how firearm training can foster these aims. In general firearms symbolize hatred and violence and should be kept away especially from youngsters. I have undergone military training before and it is the playing, eating, living and even praying together that brings about comradeship and goodwill among the young men and women not firearm training.

We are reassured that proper safety measures would be taken at all times during the training and that the majority of trainees wanted firearms training. Whatever safety measures are taken mishaps can and do occur and many parents are not convinced by these reassurances, as grievous hurt and even deaths have taken place in our NS camps. Moreover it is ridiculous to introduce firearms training just because these youngsters want that, instead parents should be given a choice to decide not their under aged children.

Training to use weapons certainly should not be a priority in NS and definitely not at an impressionable age of 17. This could be done at a later age in the armed forces. I am sure there are many youngsters who are keen to join the forces if only given the chance.

No doubt firearms training are a useful additional skill but it is being taught to the wrong people at the wrong place. Instead we should channel all our energy and resources to actively promote and inculcate ethnic and religious integration in our national schools.

If we succeed in promoting this in schools, there would never be a need for the controversial and hazardous national service for our school leavers.

Dr.Chris Anthony