National Service - How can this be amended or improved further to alleviate the problem of dodging?

Recently, the problem of people dodging their National Service (NS) is getting more and more serious. These dodgers are able to come up with all kinds of methods and excuses to prevent themselves from having to serve NS. What I think is the main problem now is people do not understand the importance for us to serve the NS.

There is a need for schools and the government to inform its people about the importance of serving NS. Singapore is a small country, if unfortunately Singapore needs to be engaged in a war, we will need all the people that we can get. Singapore needs to get its people ready, and through the National Service, it achieves the objective of training. If we are able to include the importance of NS in our education, hopefully, teens will be able to understand the purpose and decrease the number of dodgers. The government also need to help to convey the correct picture of NS to the public. As most of the teens get to know more about NS through their seniors, this may not be accurate as some of these "seniors" can be biased and detest NS too. The government can depict NS as fun and adventurous to the public to increase the interest in it.

One reason why people dodge NS is because they feel that it is a waste of time when they can continue to have better educations. After going through NS, some will find that they couldn't find a decent job as they do not have the education level for certain jobs. They will instead need to spend a few more years in universities studying unlike some other friends that need not go through NS and is already enjoying a stable job. I think that the government can help to solve this problem. Singapore can award scholarships to some of its NS men to help them in their studies and life after NS, and the government can also provide certain jobs for NS men. This will help to ensure those that want to study after NS will be able to do so.

Giving harsher punishment to NS dodgers can be another method to prevent NS dodgers, though I discourage it. The government can cane and jail those that dodged NS to show that NS is not a joke and important. However, this may cause more to dislike NS as people feel forced to join NS. Those parents that helped their children escape NS need to be punished too for conveying the wrong idea to the children.

In conclusion, in order for the Singapore to guarantee her safety during war, a strong army is needed and dodging is a serious case that may cripple the army from within. We need to solve the root of the problem.