It's been what, three years since my brother had his lucky escape from the chaotic mutiny that is National Service - and three years since its notorious beginnings the ministries (note plural!!) still haven't come to a consensus on the use of firearms?
No, seriously! Which parent said that? Welfare and Child abuse organisations ought check in on them.NS Training Council chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the proposal to include the firearms module would be put on hold until approved by the Defence Ministry.
“I received a lot of queries from parents regarding this issue this morning when they sent their children here. In fact, they are very eager to let their children participate in the basic firearms training.
“But all I can say now is there will be no firearms module until we get approval from the ministry,''
I remain steadfast in support of NO FIREARMS for NS. If they were training to be soldiers or in voluntary military service - by all means, please learn to use firearms for the sake of defending our country. BUT National Service has never been (and this has been quoted time after time by the great defence minister himself) a military conscription. We CANNOT compare ourselves to Singapore's NS and ask that we hold guns because they do (and do NOT argue this point with me, you will end up sounding ridiculous). They are training an army. We are not.
Learning to use firearms doesn't build character and doesn't instill discipline. So what is the point of it being brought into National Service besides a being a great waste of the RM 4.4bil we're saving by increasing the price of petrol?
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