nsfs are under appreciated ... government need to incentivise more businesses and establishments to provide discounts to 11B holders, even if it needs to come in the form of subsidies since duty cannot be measured in dollar and cents

Hi, due to medical reasons my PES status was changed from A to F. However I am still being called up for duty in December. Does PES F mean medical exemption for service still?

It’s for an SPF call up if that matters. Thanks

Hi guys, I got posted to Tekong as a Supply Assistant. Just wondering, for those who have served in this vocation before, will I most likely be staying in or out of camp?

Would appreciate it if anyone could share their experience. Thanks!

Our intern is en/listing in the coming months and i'm just wondering if there's any useful/practical gift we can gift him. SCDF if it matters.

Thank you!

Next year, Singapore marks 60 years of national service (NS), and it is time for us to reconsider nlisting women. The proposal to nlist women into NS is not new, but circumstances have changed with an increasingly hostile and uncertain world. It warrants a fresh look and debate.

While the Singapore Armed Forces has so far been able to successfully maintain operational readiness with reduced manpower through using technology and optimising resources, the key question is how much longer it can do so with a fast-declining birth rate and an ageing population. 

NS is part of nation-building. Regardless of race, language or religion, or social status, we serve together. Every young man who has served has a story to tell and has built a bond that lasts. Young women should share that experience too. 

One of the key concerns raised by then Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen in May 2022 was that the societal cost of nlisting women into NS would far outweigh the benefits. Women will be delayed in their entry into the workforce, and that will affect household incomes, for instance.  

Perhaps a modified basic military training course of one month and a reduced service period of 12 months could be considered. Could we conduct a survey or referendum on the issue, and let Singaporeans decide if women should serve NS? I would vote “yes”. 

Patrick Tan Siong Kuan

Source : Forum: Time to relook topic of women serving NS
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-time-to-relook-topic-of-women-serving-in-ns

Lost my green passion card at the start of bmt and have been using DBS debit card since then to travel. MRT stations have said the fare with an adult concession card is the same as using a debit card. What’s the fare like for the passion card? ORD next December, does the passion card expire then too?

READ THIS PART FOR CONTEXT: i already went for a normal extraction of top two wisdom teeth last year because they were causing a lot of issues and i had no choice. went to NUH through polyclinic referral, and so all my x-ray and records are at NUH. during the initial x-ray, the doctor also talked abut my bottom two teeth and that while they werent impacting at that point, they were growing sideways into my other teeth so they would need surgery for removal

currently my bottom two are beginning to grow more, and since i ORD in feb next year, i think its best to start now and just get rid of the issue. since i already went to NUH to extract the top two last year, do i need to get another referral for the bottom two? if not, then how should i book? appreciate any help!

I'm currently in my first official week of Pes BP. When do bunk inspections usually start? And what do they check for etc?

hello! if you're clicking into this i assume you are the latest batch of pes BP recruits who went into bmt on 22/10/2026 (01/27 batch), or just some of my pes BP brothers from previous batches

it's been almost a week since y'all enlisted and trust me i know exactly how every single one of you are feeling right now, i was there last year around this time so believe me when i say this

i know one of the first thoughts that popped up in your head when you stepped foot into tekong was probably "wah i have to spend the next 19 weeks/5 months here in this god forsaken island", and that's completely normal :)

your 19 weeks in tekong may seem long, but trust me it'll pass by fast if you focus on training and keeping yourself busy — how? occupy yourself with things especially during your admin time (which you will realise becomes a luxury towards the end of your 19 weeks here), you can bring a book in, play games with your bunkmates, watch videos on youtube, or simply workout

one of the aspects that i really appreciated about bp bmt is that your commanders tend to end up becoming closer to you due to the time that you spend with them, so if you have any queries or questions, do approach them because they are there as your first point of contact in NS life

a small tip that helped the time pass by was counting down to every bookout instead of counting down to POP day, because every bookout is a small accomplishment and one step closer to the end of bmt

it's been about a year since i enlisted into pes BP bmt but i am still extremely close to all of my bunkmates — we go out almost every 2-3 months and talk cock the whole night! (and some of my platoonmates as well); go talk to other people and interact with them, NS is the time where you will have to work with people from different backgrounds so don't be afraid to take the first step to say hi because you never know if your buddy will become the next Elon Musk or your future PC

trust me you're doing fine and you will look better than ever at the end of the 19 weeks, one of my FIs used to always say "now you're fat and ugly guys, but at the end of your bmt you'll just be ugly guys" — and quoting from my own experience if i could lose close to 30kg in 19 weeks, what's stopping you from losing 35, 40, or even 50?

if you have any questions or more sensitive things to ask, feel free to pm me! jiayous all my bp brothers, you got this! :)

Yo so I ord-ed 2 years ago, was called for a few high keys but had to differ, first mob manning which I got notification of in June. It is in December which is somewhat soon, and I haven’t been called down for a briefing yet (fyi I am a supply spec/CQMS). Am I supposed to do something? Would like some advice/info from those who have done mob manning before as to what to expect. Thank you :)

I know we have to clear our existing leaves in Y1 before Y1 ends, but when does it end. Is it 1 year after i enter NS? Someone told me it was 1 year from the start of entering unit.

Hi guys, I have a question regarding deferring a NS call-up for 1 day in Dec. Situation is that I have already booked flight tickets and would be overseas on the day this call-up would happen and I just received this notification recently (after tickets were alr booked a month ago).
There was no pre-warning whatsoever, so how would you defer this as such?

FYI, my NS was from SPF MHA.

Thanks in advance.

I'm currently Pes E9 with SCDF, just enlisted not too long ago. I have severe glaucoma in one eye, can't see anything at all, only see vvvv little light. Only depending on my other eye now. Have talked to my eye specialist, sgts/sir/ encik during BIC and all agreed that i shouldn't be serving NS, since it's a valid reason, not bc iw keng.

Now i'm just about recovering from conjunctivitis (one week mc + A&E visit) in both eyes, and this scared me about my vision through my one (somewhat good) eye. I also have asthma, so that's 2 chronic illnesses that i have, which makes me wonder why was i enlisted in the first place and i've been sharing my intent to be excused since. I've been out for almost 2 weeks now bc of the pink eye infection. My sir said that it's a long process (up to 6 months) and that i'd be given extended leave while the medical board decides, but it's not an issue to me.

Just wanted to share and seek advice from u guys too, regarding further downpes to F. Thanks.

Like the title has mentioned, what are some things that can make a guy look boring and not fun in general or when it comes to dating. Im a guy who’s quite on the introverted side and does not really know a lot of things but I slowly want to come out of my comfort zone and try different things but ik it can’t happen overnight but just hoping to get some insights from you guys on these.

In my office, a lot of my colleagues have similar interests with one another and I don’t have any which kind of makes me feel left out at times so I’m hoping to try as many things as possible to see what I like and don’t?

We're year 3 banking and finance students from SP and our final year project is to understand the banking behaviours and needs of NSFs. It's hard for us to come down to your camp and bother y'all. So, please please please help us take this 5 mins survey. It will mean a lot to my FYP and really appreciate it 😭🙏

Here is the survey link

For context am currently a B1 3 SIR recruit at Tekong - am experiencing 2-3 severe panic attacks a day (cannot breathe, see, everything goes numb) , in a constant state of anxiety, and struggle to sleep more than 3 hours a night. this has never happend to me before and im really suffering. I reported to my PC and he referred me to OO but not much action was taken. Am currently thinking of going to a private psychiatrist to get a memo - how would that process work to downpes once in unit and is it possible it just gets denied even though it’s genuine - this possibility is giving me a lot of stress. Also concerned about the implications on my employability after. Any advice on how to approach this would be much appreciated. i think if i push myself i can complete bmt but definitely cannot survive 2 years like this as i feel it would have a long term impact on my well being

i admit we were still talking when we already fall in. Then other coy PS saw it and knocked us down. After he complained to our PS, who knocked us down again.

Can other coy PS knocked us down.. is it allowed?

not only enciks, maybe even some highflyer higher ups who implement haircut regimentation, even to clerks and non-combat personnel.

every time haircut is enforced where it serves no functional purpose, oftentimes the justification given (if any) is, that it is for the sake of regimentation and discipline.

yet, i can't help but notice, these people who continuously harp about discipline, may be lacking in discipline within themselves, at least where it "mattered" in the real world.

the fact that so many of them (enciks) are uneducated, or did badly in school, yet blabber about discipline and regimentation when it comes to haircut, uniform, and other meagre aspects that don't really amount to anything truly productive, is extremely ironic to say the least. officers or higher ups are not exempt from this observation as well, look at ex-SAF generals and current generals too..

ex-SAF generals/officers go on to hold governmental roles yet perform questionable actions and display egoistic attitudes at times, failing to address key issues regarding their area of responsibility, and even mocking things related to their job at times (you know who i'm talking about). Current officers too, many of them sign on because they simply cannot make it outside.

though i have given a generalization of these groups, i would like to caveat that not all of them are like this. i have met reasonable enciks and officers. the fact is, many of them are simply just doing their jobs and listening to their higher ups. and for those who sign on because of family needs or passion, you can't really blame them also. really, i am only referring to those individuals who have internalized this absurd idea that cutting your hair short as an ASA exudes "discipline", while unable to apply said "discipline" in their own personal lives before they enlisted.....

well, just for the fun of it, this is what claude told me:
You've got a real point buried in this, but a couple of the links in your argument are weaker than the rest.

Where you're on solid ground: enforcing form over function is a well-documented institutional habit, and it's not unique to the SAF. Haircuts, uniform creases, and bunk inspections are easy to see, easy to measure, and easy to punish, so they become proxies for "discipline" because the real thing (judgment, initiative, competence) is harder to assess. For clerks and other non-combat personnel, the operational justification is thin, and "it's for discipline" is often a thought-terminating answer rather than a reasoned one. Asking what a rule is actually for is a fair question.

Where I'd push back:

1. The rules aren't really about self-discipline. The theory behind trivial grooming standards is compliance conditioning: if you follow petty orders without argument, you're more likely to follow important ones under stress. That's imposed discipline, not a claim about the enforcer's personal virtue. So catching an encik being undisciplined in his own life doesn't refute the rule's logic. Whether the theory actually works for non-combat roles is a separate and better criticism.
2. Doing badly in school isn't the same as lacking discipline. Plenty of people struggle academically because of learning styles, family circumstances, or a system that rewards a narrow skill set. Many of the same people can handle early mornings, physical hardship, and rigid routines better than high scorers can. Some do sign on because options were limited, but that's an inference about motive, not proof of character.
3. Hypocrisy and bad rules are separate issues. Even if an enforcer is a hypocrite, a rule can still be justified or not on its own merits. If you attack the person, the other side can dismiss the whole critique as personal.
4. Ex-military people in government is a legitimate area for scrutiny, but it's best judged individual by individual, on their actual record and conduct, rather than as a product of military training. A career path doesn't reliably predict either competence or ego.

Your caveat at the end is the most defensible version of your position: the problem isn't the people, it's the subset who treat visible conformity as a substitute for substance, plus an institutional culture that rewards that. A sharper way to put it might be: "Regimentation is justified when it serves a function. Where it doesn't, calling it discipline is just habit dressed up as principle."

Is your frustration mainly about the ASA haircut rules specifically, or the broader culture of enforcing things for their own sake?

but does this even make things better? i'll let you decide :)

so I’m 18F and I’m thinking to join army as a regular after o levels. so what do u guys think?would there be career progression and how wld the route be like with an edu qualification of o level .hows the environment and how stable is it? Share opinions and experiences plss

i got hear ppl say "the doctor will ask you to pull down your pants and cough" and I was like whaaaaaaa. like why u need to see my kkj for? to see its in working order ah? so I mentally prepare myself to pull my pants down on that day. i do pp exercise to increase its length so that the doctor will be impressed one. 😎

then on that day right, the doctor stare at me. stare at the computer screen. stare at me again. I smile. then he say "ok you good to go". mfking cb. I prepare for you to check my kkb then end up you nvr check at all. knn 🤬🤬🤬

then when my fren go for checkup after me he get to pull his pants down. wah I jealous sia. he didnt even prepare for it he said he was so shocked. like pass the ball bro. 🙄

But in all seriousness, what is the criteria for the need to pull down your pants? Is it just because the doctor want to see or?? The only thing differentiating me from my friend was that he was PR and I was singaporean. 🤔

Hi all, just got the offer for SPF DES entering in Jan 2027. Besides the essential belongings we're required to bring, are we allowed to bring a regular phone charger, or are only portable chargers/power banks allowed?

I couldn't seem to find any information about this online, so I'd really appreciate it if anyone who has gone through training could share their experience. Thanks in advance!

hi, just a question for the regulars in navy, im planning to sign on as a ME1, just wanted to know if the wifi or my data would be able to support voice calls when out at sea or when going for long missions is there any signal? because i heard that sometimes communication or signal might get cut.

I randomly got topped up 275$ after only getting 100$ in BMT. I have all the uniforms I need. So what do yall do with the credit? Am in SCS found term, will they give out magnum boots in pro term/unit? I haven’t worn my WPs at all since theyre a size too small, is it worth getting a pair? been just using altamas for everything.

Currently doing BMT and wondering what vocations are there for infantry support coy. Also considering scs/ocs but no high hopes. Any tips are greatly welcomed 🙏🏻