A proposed benefits package for Singapore National Servicemen in housing, education and health would be a step in the right direction for Singapore, despite opposition from the gender advocacy group Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE).

Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen recently indicated that The Committee to Strengthen National Service is considering a “meaningful package” of benefits, and suggested that these could be tied to housing, education and healthcare. In response, AWARE released a statement on its Facebook page stating that it “disagrees strongly with any link between support for fundamental needs and an individual’s status as a National Serviceman, especially when the military may not be suitable for many people, regardless of their gender. AWARE has long maintained that military service should not be held up as the single gold standard of citizen belonging.”

In a subsequent newspaper interview, AWARE’s Executive Director Corinna Lim added, “the solution to address this is not to provide substantial housing, health or education privileges, as those are fundamental needs central to social equity.”

… Dylan Loh is a research analyst with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.