Post-reflection on The Soldier

National Service is generally compulsory for all males regardless of skin color and religion except for those who have special conditions. Singaporean male citizens will be going through bone-breaking training in a year. However NS has significant importance. This trace back to the past history in the post-independence years. During that period, people were separated into various locations and people have no sense of belonging, they regarded themselves as a race rather than a nation. In order to promote national identity, the government implemented ways like pledge-taking, flag raising ceremony and also National Service. Besides, NS also served to promote social cohesion among races. People from different backgrounds will come together and share the same experiences in NS, they will learn to step in other people’s shoes and understand each other better.

Unlike other big countries like China which has millions of people, Singapore is only a small country that is barely visible on the map, hence people have to be shaped and prepared to defend for their country in times of needs. In NS, teenagers were provided with frequent trainings to build up their physical and mental strength. Proper skills and techniques were taught to prepare teenagers for future needs. In Malaysia, there is NS too but there are slight differences. Not everyone in Malaysia are called to NS, instead they choose people randomly. Besides NS in Malaysia is shorter in period about a few months unlike Singapore which is a year-full training.

Although being a Malaysian, I don’t feel the strong spirit of patriotism in my heart. There are maybe several reasons contributing to it. Partly is perhaps because of the severe racism in Malaysia. Almost everywhere has racist slurs and jokes. People always regarded themselves as a race despite the effort the government put in to encourage racial peace. Even in gaming platforms, there are racist people cursing each other in foul words. The scenes in Malaysia are really sad, very disappointing. Maybe this cause me to lose confident in my country, and make me wondering what for to defend the country when everyone is apart, not united as one? Well, but I do admit that I have love for my country, I respect the national anthem and I certainly will not step on Malaysia flag. No matter how Malaysia recurs as a bad image In my mind, I will still show respect and love to it, because it is my homeland where I was born and nurtured as who I am today. My families and relatives are there, I could not just simply dump them and care less about them. If I was given the opportunity to serve for my country, no doubt I will treasure that opportunity and consider it seriously despite I studied in Singapore as there is one thing that will never change – Malaysia is my forever home.