Imagine yourself heading towards to be enlisted for National Service. Having 10 straight As in A level, you are entitled to a place in Harvard University and a prestigious scholarship recognised internationally undoubtedly goes to you. However, the unmerciful and unforgiving law states bluntly that all men who turn 18 must enlist for National Service. Moreover, your brother explicitly told you about the hardships. You cannot believe yourself, forgoing such a golden opportunity in life for a sick and taxing army life. Cursing the law, you take the courage and attempt to evade NS.

The above scenario may seem dramatic, but the gist of it generally applies to all NS evaders. Through the years since the introduction of NS in Singapore, dodgers have invented ingenious ways to turn against the law, including 'I have asthma' when the last time it happened was three years old, 'I broke my bone' etc. These cliche excuses is analogous to evading homework by reasoning 'my dog ate my homework'. Surprisingly, these excuses are still accepted, since the administrative staff who take charge of such matters do not have enough experience to differentiate between truth and lie.

Investigating further, this trend occurred simply because of three reasons. Firstly, society becoming more open leading to a globalised society. Secondly, maternal love for children shielding them away from the torments of NS. Thirdly, NSmen themselves having a NS phobia. These three reasons are interlinked and I shall begin with society.

Since the 90s, major inventions such as the computer in early 90s, internet in late 90s and the evolution of air travel have been introduced. With more communication between countries, the society has become exponentially competitive. To succeed in today's society, one must specialise in a wide array of disciplines. Needless to say, a university degree functions merely as an escape pass from the lowest strata of society. Singapore, being a small and open economy, demands even more than other societies. Blended with Confucian values, students in Singapore society compete since a young age, where parents force them to go for tuitions since kindergarten or even pre school. This instills a competitive spirit in the young children and they grow up losing their childhood innocence. In a nutshell, Singapore society has caused parents to be as competitive as the children which grow up to be competitive as well, leading to a viscious cycle.
Sadly, National Service has not changed much since its introduction when Singapore became independent, except minor alterations like shifting from Nee Soon to P. Tekong etc. It is opined that NS cannot keep up with today's society, since during the infant stages of National Service, society is much less competitive as it is today.

The implications of the ever-evolving competiveness in society and the stagnant nature of National Service stretches over a wide spectrum. For example, more international scholarships are available across oceans and seas, treading on Singapore grounds. Singaporean A level graduates are mostly much more competitive than their peers because they are considered the 'cream of the crop'. Being worthy candidates of these scholarship, they would have high aspirations in life since they feel that they should show to the world the products of their hardwork all these years, to prevent it from going in vain. Such a once-in-a-lifetime scholarship is unarguably the most precious element in their lives since it serves as the key to possible success in life. This scholarship is so important that National Service is seen as frail and minute and hinders them from success in life. They would believe that by taking up National Service, they are toyed around by the government. Since they were young they had worked hard to achieve today's result because the government shaped the society such that getting good grades is to sole and only way to succeed in life. On the other hand, when they have reached the turning point to success, the government imposes compulsory National Service to divert them from success. Feeling manipulated by the government and hoping to fulfill their dreams, these young men defy the law to skip National Service, compensating for possible loss. In addition, their strong ego prompts them that remaining in Singapore would not bring them success in the globalised economy. Thus, they flee to other countries, worsening the problem of 'brain drain'. Losing local talent equates to having to attract foreign talent to maintain its economic metabolism, increasing Singapore's vulnerability.

On the parents frontier, parents have already adapted to the competition in today's society and would stretch their children's fullest potential in order for them to succeed in society. Especially for parents whose children are the 'top notch' in the education system, they would shield their children from all types of distractions that would affect their progress. This greenhouse is impermeable to harms like other children weaker in studies, love relationships, camps, physical hardships and of course, National Service; while fully permeable to elements like assessment books, the person in class who gets an MSG of 1.0 every term without fail, professional tuition teachers etc. When their children possess thoughts of evading National Service, instead of persuading them to defend the country as a symbol of loyalty, the parents totally agree with the children and work out detailed plans to evade National Service. Some parents even go the extra mile and start sourcing for such information when their child is still in the mother's womb and confirmed a male, even without the child's consent! When the golden opportunity comes, parents would reach a state of hysteria and spontaneously pull their chidlren out from National Service, contributing to the number of NS dodgers. This coupled with the unwillingness of children to serve NS would lead to increased number of young men evading NS.

One interesting point to note is trepidation in young men towards National Service. Some of the enlisted NSmen have older male siblings who have gone through National Service and spread the dark side of NS to the younger siblings, sharing their experiences in NS. This biased viewpoint leads to phobia towards NS amongst these people. Sometimes, when these people observe their older sibling enduring hardship in National Service, they would start to generate a set of belief about National Service. Paranoid parents also encourage their children to think in this way in order to prevent enthusiasum in National Service which would lead to spontaneous but detrimental responces in their children.

Whatever the reason, we need to prescribe remedies to the situation perhaps by use of propaganda, which is one of the most direct ways. However, this method would only be effective if it is administered to children since young, perhaps in kindergarten. At that stage, the innocent young minds are open to all information and they will readily accept any ideas. As such, propaganda at such a stage should be based on shielding the children from criticism of National Service. Besides making sure that they do not have access to these information, the government should promote National Service to the children by inscribing nationalism in them and hence conditioning their minds such that enlisting for National Service when they turn 18 is an automatic event. Nevertheless, this is not totally feasible as it highly attracts major and harsh arrows of criticisms to the widely believed paternalistic and authoritarian government of Singapore.

To counter this, we should alter National Service by increasing its flexibility so that it is parallel to the globalised world. Propelling the nature of National Service would make it more modern. Two ways we can achieve this include rending the veils of restrictions of National Service. Since its introduction, National Service is the equivalent of the Army, causing stereotypes of National Service. It is believed that it is as harsh and gruelling as life as a soldier. I would propose that National Service be expanded beyond its barriers of limitations to accomodate the wide variety of Singaporean young men. All Singaporean men who turn 18 have different strengths and thus should contribute to society and the country in different ways. Unfortunately, National Service is generally wasting all these different talents by forcing almost all the young men to adhere to a common requirement which their strengths cannot complement to. Perhaps we could consider inviting people with great wits to serve National Service as battle strategy planners, instead of being the frontline warriors. This would bring their talents into good use, instead of straining them on the battlefield.

Another initiative could include postponing National Service for young men due for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. If these people had the opportunity to grab the golden opportunity, they would most likely succeed. Coupled with the Confucian belief to remember our providers, these people would contribute back to Singapore and all of us would benefit as a result. However, if we were to limit their capabilities, they would remain as insignificant people and we have lost the chance to gain significance internationally. Hence, we could allow these people to achieve their dreams first, then require them to contribute back to society and serve National Service. When National Service is expanded into different disciplines, these people can contribute the society in a way which complements with their strengths.

In conclusion, there is indeed a trend of National Service evaders. However, instead of condemning them to prison or fines, why not accomodate their trepidations and concerns about National Service and alter it accordingly? We need to bear in mind National Service is to contribute back to society for what is has given us, not to administer hardships and tears to innocent young men. We also need to bear in mind that National Service is to instill faith amongst young men to the country, but how is that possible by the harsh and cruel discipline in National Service, which only generates complete loyalty to the commander and not the nation and society?