There isn't much chance for me to don that green uniform, but I guess majority of the Singapore male population ain't so keen about wearing that anyway.
Two years in the army really allow you to observe a lot..good and bad stuff.
Some of the goods:
1) Learn how to tolerate with a terrible boss. This is always on my top list. You can't escape from your boss for two years in the army. So learn to live with it.
2) Make quite a number of friends (though I have a feeling that there won't be much chances to meet up with then in the future)
3) Free food and free lodging. This doesn't really apply to me. I am a "stay-out personnel". I get to go home everyday! The travel and meal expenses is really high in Singapore. But for freedom and getting to stay home, worth it.
4) Outings! Ya this sound kindergarten-like, but going for almost-all-expenses-paid leisure outing on a working day to "cohere" with your colleagues and superiors is something everyone looks forward to.
5) I wanna go back to study! This is true (at least for me). After spending over 700 days doing things you don't really want to, you start to ponder if you can do something more productive. I seldom read in the past. Now, I read an average of 3 novels a month.
Some of the bads:
1) You are two years behind those of your age. Two years of your prime time of your life is lost. Your ex-school mates are flying on airplanes made of metal yet you are still flying on one made of paper and soft wood.
2) You don't really serve your actual purpose in the army (A supply assistant managing clerical work instead of managing the supplies etc)
3) Elitism. Rank means everything. Even if someone of a lower rank foresee some error in work, he dare not raise the issue. If you have nice direct superiors, lucky you! Otherwise there is absolutely nothing you can do.
4) Rank means everything, but sad to say, we have to do stuff that is beyond your rank is capable of. Recruit to Coporal soldiers managing work that are supposed to be done by Sergeants and above is quite a common sight. You just have to bear a greater responsibility than what you can answer for. This may be a good thing considering the fact that it allows you to push the limits.
5) Bootlickers exist! Alright, I know about this before I enlist to army. It's all over the world! The more you boot-lick, the better you life might be! Watching them push the limits to be liked by superiors can be an entertainment at times, but be careful! They will go all out and harm anyone just to be liked!
6) A good thing about being a soldier, you get to enjoy welfare like discounts at eateries, free medical consultation and medicine at the polyclinic and A&E etc. However, the public stereotyped soldiers as invincible beings who cannot fall ill and they must sacrifice everything in hand to the civilians. Otherwise you will be labeled as "Chao Keng" (kinda means you are just pretending to be ill so you can get the easy way out), or "shameless weaklings" if you take a seat on a public transport. Soldiers don't get much respect in Singapore. Many times when I walk into the polyclinic and the doctor knows that I am a NSF, the first thing that comes to their mind is I am faking the illness.
What I have pointed out may be subjective. Everyone serve in a different camp, unit, office under a sorts of superiors, and doing different nature of work. It is definitely easier to write on the bads than the other (it's always the case, isn't it?). But this doesn't really mean that serving National Service isn't that all bad. Life sure isn't the same after spending two years in green. Ultimately, my point towards serving NS is rather neutral. We can totally eliminate it, but there should be re-consideration on the path and purpose of NS to be more efficient and meaningful.
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