Ex-NSman recalls carrying metal cupboard down stairs as punishment when he was at Tekong

Poong Qi Tao
TNP
Feb 21, 2025

If you're at a family gathering and mention national service (NS), chances are your dad and all your uncles will start reminiscing: "Back in my day…"

They often compare their NS training back then to the current generation's, claiming that the training now is much less demanding.

So is it fair for this generation's soldiers to be labelled as "strawberries"?

Mr Dickson Feng, 56, told The New Paper that he strongly believed it's fair.

"I feel this generation's training is lame and I'm not confident that they are combat-fit as well as mentally tough," said Mr Feng, who enlisted in 1989 and was sent to Pulau Tekong.

He insisted his generation had it worse in the army back then, describing the "tekan" from the enciks as "mental and physical torture".

"There was once when my buddy and I got punished just because our mugs weren't facing the right direction in the cupboard during standby bed," recalled Mr Feng.

"It was in the middle of the night. We were made to carry the metal cupboard from the fourth storey to the parade square and back. We struggled with the stairs while lugging the cupboard."

It's an incident Mr Feng still fumes about to this day and always shares at family functions when the conversation turns to NS.

However, times have changed, and so has NS training and experience for the current generation.

Mr Caellan Goh, 20, who is one year into his NS, said there's a greater emphasis placed on the well-being and safety of NSFs.

"It surprised me when I experienced more reasonable treatment and progressive training. Much focus is placed on the training safety and the mental health of soldiers," said the platoon commander.

"I had expected harsher treatment, like unreasonable punishment and verbal insults."

Mr Tan Hong Yi, whose operationally-ready date fell in 2022, echoed the sentiment.

"For example, there are now many procedures in place to prevent heat stroke, like taking the temperature of the ambient environment to make sure it's not too hot before outdoor training."

The 24-year-old undergraduate added: "Some of these NS procedures weren't present during my parents' generation."

Mr Goh agreed NS training now is nothing compared to his parents' generation.

"It's true because the environment in which we grew up in is different from that of the previous generation, so the way we were disciplined and motivated was different as well."

Mr Tan, who was a transport officer for the Air Force, felt his NS training was relevant.

"I learnt valuable skills like housekeeping and organisation. Teamwork and communication were key, especially from working and living together as a section," he said.

"I also got my driving licence as a TO and the driving skills turned out to be very useful after my ORD.

"I feel like I became a tidier and more organised person after NS."

For Mr Jonathan Tan, who will be enlisting soon, NS represents a good opportunity to forge strong bonds with others through shared hardship.

"Based on what I heard from my peers who have already enlisted, I expect the training to be less physically demanding," the 19-year-old said.

Although he acknowledged that NS training had definitely changed since the previous generation, Mr Tan disagreed with it being easier now.

"I don't think it's fair to say that NS has got easier. The battlefield landscape has changed with new technology and Singapore's NS training has changed in accordance," he explained.

"So, while there's less emphasis on on-the-ground combat now, we, as NS men, will have to learn new ways to protect the country."

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