National Service : more good than harm ?

I read this on the blog of a youth named Nor Amira. It went something like this (grammar corrected by troisnyx*, of course) :

...To me, whoever has been chosen to join this National Service is evidently not getting any profit because the trainees cannot apply for a part-time job before SPM results come out. They lack experience in the working world, and they don't get any sort of valuable experience in the training camps. They also can’t feel the happiness when get their first paycheck.

NS also does more harm than good because the trainees' safety isn't guaranteed. The facilitators also have no say over the trainees' needs and emotions. If trainees cannot undertake the flying fox and jungle trekking activities due to safety reasons, for example, they get severely punished by the facilitators, and for what reason ? Facilitators are meant to facilitate, not do otherwise ! Sometimes certain facilitators force the poor trainees to do things that they aren't capable of doing.

As it is National Service, the government must give the best to help the youth through this programme, yes, they even have to choose the best caterers to prepare the best food rich in carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins to the competitors. I've always heard many complaints from the ex-trainees, and many of them say that all aspects of the programme are horrible, especially the food.

...To me, National Service is naught but a waste of time and money.

Thank you, Nor Amira, for posting this. This has come at a rather timely moment.

I have been called for Group 3, National Service 2009, and that'll take place between June and September. I know that before I checked my name in the registry I was with DK, recording my voice, lamenting about how rotten National Service has been to many trainees (oh, and not to mention the number of deaths and how the families of the deceased trainees reacted to them). I remember that the .wav file was about 9 minutes long, it was 30-something MB, and I had sent it to a few people, who were not only impressed by the way I spoke French, but they were also awakened by the home truths I mentioned in that file.

Sadly enough, by a certain slip of fate, mom got to know, on the hospital bed, somewhere in late July, that I was bound to go for National Service. Her heart was broken.

If this happens, it'll happen right after my A2 exams are over.

If this happens, I'll be missing mom's first death anniversary.

If this happens, the government seriously doesn't understand what we're going through. Not very long ago mom passed away in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. The only people left in my family are dad and me. I've already lost my mom, my brother and my sister. If he loses me in the NS camp, that's the end !

I'm not willing to waste my time and energy dying under the hot sun with red pelts, fever and a very rapid heartbeat.

I'm not willing to spend my free time idly when at home, I can do a lot more beneficial things (including my new plan to raise funds for the poor and the purchase of my LLB books).

And I'm absolutely not willing to give up my mom's first death anniversary, which'll take place on the 27th of August 2009.

And if you government officials still want me to go for National Service, then motherf***, you guys seriously don't have a heart in you. I advise you to go for confession, pronto. Because if you're reading this, let me tell you to your faces right now : loyalty and sacrifice for the country need not be defined by all this bull crap.

Our definition of sacrifice for the country is going the extra mile for our loved ones, who are also children of Malaysia. We sacrifice for the country by helping the poor in our country, who need much more than we do - we sacrifice our material possessions just to make them live better. We sacrifice for the country by going the extra mile to stay united when, conversely, in the Parliament House, all you do is hurl chairs and insults at one another. And you think we aren't patriotic and you're even imposing this deadly programme on us helpless young people, all in the name of patriotism ?

Non, merci, je ne veux surtout pas y aller, et dites, qu'est-ce que vous voudriez me faire ?