MINDEF mulling fitness training for NS pre-enlistees, says Chan Chun Sing: reports

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) is reportedly considering structured fitness training for National Service pre-enlistees who fail to achieve a silver standard for their National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) a year before enlistment.
 
This was mentioned by the Second Minister for Defence, Chan Chun Sing, who was speaking to the press on Monday after chairing the fourth “Support for NS” Working Group meeting at Paya Lebar Air Base. He added that the training will be similar to the existing Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) for reservists.
 
Chan had said that the training would help boost physical fitness standards among pre-enlistees, reducing the amount of time needed to improve their fitness levels while undergoing National Service (NS), Today reported.
 
According to Today, he also added that students from polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) are currently lagging behind those in Junior Colleges in terms of NAPFA test results.
 
The local media also reported that such trainings for NS pre-enlistees were among the suggestions raised by the Committee to Strengthen National Service (CSNS), who have reportedly collected feedback from over 10,000 members of the public since May on ways to strengthen NS.
 
If MINDEF implements the move, it would require the Singapore Army to increase its current pool of army regulars by 15 per cent.
 
The Straits Times reported that the additional regulars will have to take up instructional roles so as to free up full-time national servicemen, who are currently taking on instructional roles, to be deployed to more combat-related ones. The report added that the new hires for the training institutes may include retired officers and more civilian contractors.
 
Yahoo Singapore  spoke to a few NSmen who gave mixed comments about the possible move.
 
National Serviceman Azahar Zainuddin, 24, said, “I think that the structured fitness trainings will only be fair if it is non-mandatory and on a voluntary basis with some incentives -- just like the IPPT training for NSmen. Incentives like money, which they [MINDEF] can pay per session (S$20 to attend one session, for example). That way, for pre-enlistees who have aspirations of going far in their coming National Service stint but are not physically cut out for it, can get some help beforehand. Some enlistees go in with aspirations of joining the command schools or certain vocations that are physically demanding, but they do not know if they are up to it until they are actually in it. “
 
Meanwhile, 24-year-old allied educator Isa Nuruddin said, “I personally feel that it is a good move because NAPFA’s fitness standards are way different from the ones in the army and a lot of time will be spent on getting us acclimatized to the army’s fitness standards. It will definitely benefit those who do not want to suffer while they’re in the army."
 
Business executive Jefrey Priyadass, 25, said, “Asking them [pre-enlistees] to commit extra training time is not going to make anyone happy unless they get a period of time shaved off their two years in NS after attending those pre-NS training sessions. If not, that’s extra time wasted because they’ll be whipped into shape during basic military training itself.”