Drafting a Nation: Memories of Conscription in Singapore
History
7 July 2011
Ordinary Singaporeans share their memories and recollections of National Service.

Courtesy of Hong Tuck Chuen. Donated at the Heritage Roadshow 2009. All rights reserved.
The third batch of Officer Cadets from the first batch [of full-time National Servicemen] was of different races and from different backgrounds. Some were seconded policemen, others were teachers, graduates and even illegal taxi drivers. Some spoke Hokkien, and others, English. I was slightly older than the rest.
The barracks at Pasir Labar SAFTI [pictured] had a tin roof and no fans. Training was hard. Cadets had to march with 20 kg field packs around the island [Singapore], and sandbags were added in cases of punishment. We did knuckle push-ups, and if it was as a punishment, with one or two claps in between each push-up. There was also the change parade [which has been since banned].
— Hong Tuck Chuen

Courtesy of Ho Fook Cheong. Donated at the Heritage Roadshow 2009. All rights reserved.
I registered to be in the first batch of National Service enlistees in 1954 [the first call-up by the British under the National Service Ordinance], at Beach Road [the site opposite the current Hai Nan Clan Association]. However, I was not accepted as the Singapore economy was doing badly at that time and there was a limit to the number of servicemen they could take in!
— Ho Fook Cheong

Courtesy of Ho Fook Cheong. Donated at the Heritage Roadshow 2009. All rights reserved.
