S’porean says ‘like Denmark, SG should also call for mandatory military service for women’ while netizens say ‘Yes… Equality is equality’

SINGAPORE — After Denmark announced that military service is now required of women as well as men, one Reddit user said that “Singapore should do likewise.”

“National defense is important, then everyone should share the burden. why leave it only to the men while the women and foreigners are excused from it?” the Redditor wrote on r/SingaporeRaw on Sunday (Jan 29).

Denmark’s Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said on Jan 26 that the country was calling for compulsory military service for women amid tensions in the region due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year as well as criticism from the west about its defence shortcomings.

At present, Danish men called under a lottery system are mandated to serve in the military for four months, while such a service is voluntary for women.

Compulsory service for women will significantly boost Denmark’s armed forces, and Mr Ellemann-Jensen added that would be “beneficial” for its military for more women to join in.

u/alienchilli added in his post, “There are movements that want gender equality; from jobs, salary, benefits etc… but when it comes to gender-biased liability or burden such as NS, the women want no part in it. This is very unfair to the rest of the sg men that have to pick up the tab.”

The post sparked a lively discussion on Reddit, where many commenters appeared to agree.

“Other countries have been conscripting females for years,” one pointed out.

Another wrote, “Israel (the guys that shaped Singapore’s national service) have done female conscription for a long long time. Also NS isn’t just army, got all military branches and police and SCDF. Even if ladies are not drafted to the fighting force, there is no reason that they can’t be drafted into Medical services.”

One called it “really not a bad idea.”

“Yes women should do NS too. Equality is equality,” wrote another.

A commenter chimed in, “Females could look at filling combat roles that are less ‘front line’, e.g. combat support, drivers, logistics, signals, arty, engineers, MPs. Infantry, commandos, guards, NDU, the roles that are more likely to see direct combat remain male-only.”

Singapore’s Enlistment Act of 1970 says that conscription is compulsory for all “persons subject to [the] act”, which is defined as individuals who are no less than 16.5 old and not more than 40 old, with exemptions and with no specific bias to gender. /TISG

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