Women and national service: critically examining the government's stance on female conscription in Singapore

Abstract

Since its inception, the SAF has evolved into a strong defence force capable of protecting Singapore’s sovereignty and contributing to nation-building through the conscription of men through National Service (NS). Amidst growing international instability, decreasing birthrates and internal calls for gender equality, there have been increasing public discussion on whether women should be included in NS, and the government has maintained its stance against doing so since the beginning of NS. As such, this paper critically examines the government’s justifications through qualitative content and document analysis and has identified five key reasons for the exclusion of women from conscription: (1) women were considered a burden that would slow down military development, (2) there were limited facilities and trainer at the time of NS’ inception, (3) the negative effects of manpower shortages could be mitigated through technology and effective resource management, (4) the social cost of conscripting women would outweigh the social benefits of doing so and (5) conscription is based on necessity and social ideals are insufficient reasons to mandate the conscription of women. This study finds that while these justifications were valid in their contexts, the majority of them have weakened over time and concludes that conscription should be based on necessity, but the threshold for necessity may need to be reconsidered. This study highlights the lack of empirical research in this topic, and advocates for further research by serving as a foundation on which future research, such as assessing the feasibility and implications of female conscription, could be based upon to aid policymakers in informed and evidence-based decision making.