On Ben Davis and NS Deferment

The recent news of Ben Davis and his NS Deferment has brought some controversy among Singaporeans. For the uninformed, Ben Davis is an up-and-coming footballer who was given a 2-year contract by Fulham Football Club, a newly-promoted club to the English Premier League in England. However, accepting the contract means that he will have to defer his NS due to his contract obligations. His deferment application to MINDEF was subsequently rejected, and the controversy arose. Some Singaporeans argued against MINDEF's decision, stating that it was too narrow minded to limit Davis' potential from being fulfilled (since he could go on to be a superstar). Others agreed with MINDEF, stating it was only fair that he serves his National Service with the rest of those who have served.

In this post, I will write about my views on the matter.

The issue of National Service is a very sensitive one to Singaporeans. Every Singaporean Son has to go through the service when they are due for it, unless of course they have medical reasons to PES F. There must be very solid reasons for deferment or non-service, which have been detailed in MINDEF directives.

Ben Davis is no doubt a talent Singapore needs, in view of our declining football scene. It would be a pity if NS impedes his development, especially if he gets injured during the 2 years of service. But we cannot just let him go fulfill his dreams of being a footballer just like that, as he does not fulfill the criteria set out by MINDEF directives.

We have to know that Ben Davis is going to play for a football club, not for Singapore yet. Sportsmen/women who have had NS deferred (Quah Zheng Wen, Joseph Schooling, Maximillian Soh) before are potential medal winners for Singapore at the Olympics. These people can directly bring glory to Singapore through their good performance in international competitions. Ben Davis, as proficient as he might get, as many goals as he may score, will just be credited to Fulham FC and whichever club he plays for. If we are talking about him leading Singapore to a good performance in football at the World Cup or Olympics, we have to consider the full state of the Singapore team. We also have to be honest with ourselves, can Ben Davis really carry our Singapore football team that far? (Not saying he is bad, just that Singapore football's status is suboptimal). Will he even want to return to Singapore to play? Remember that even the great Fandi Ahmad served his NS when he was due.

If Ben Davis is going overseas with no intentions nor any direct path to bring glory to Singapore, MINDEF is warranted in their decision to not grant deferment. Because doing so would mean they are endorsing him to achieve his own personal gains, which countless Singaporeans have given up to serve our 2 years, myself included.

Also, if we grant Ben Davis deferment, 2 years down the road he could be performing well in Fulham and sign another contract, where MINDEF is bound to allow him to continue deferment. He will continue deferring while bringing glory to Fulham and not Singapore. What if he chooses to never come back? Wouldn't the joke be on MINDEF? Surely MINDEF will not take such a risk.

Furthermore, should Ben Davis be granted deferment, this will set a precedent for future cases to have deferment granted. More and more people will find reasons, sports, academics, or otherwise, to get deferred. In fact, I myself can argue that I can be deferred to study Law since I will give back by promoting a safe and fair society and legal system, which sounds ridiculous at best at this time. MINDEF has a tight policy on granting deferment. Very few cases of deferment are granted per year. This is because Singapore still needs a sizable army. If we allow people to disrupt for personal pursuits, we will have times where Singapore's army is too small, and times when more logistics and money has to be expended. 

Some have pushed for Singapore's army to be flexible and allow people to enlist within a certain time frame instead of when they are due (as per the South Korean model). While it would be ideal, Singapore's army is too small to have such arrangements, and disaster might strike when the army is low on personnel, made worse by our limited numbers due to the declining birth rates. We cannot simply compare to South Korea as though we are both the same kind. In fact, we are a small longan compared to their bigger banana.

Trust me, I don't like it that my (and my peers') educations have been disrupted by NS obligations. If I had it my way I would study first too. But if this is Singapore's rule to serve NS before university, I have to do it. Same for Ben Davis. If he has NS obligations despite his football aspirations, he has to serve NS first.

This is not to say Ben Davis cannot do football while in NS though. There are opportunities such as playing for SAF in the Singapore Premier League or training with the national team. Such arrangements can be made. Fandi Ahmad's NS was made lighter to prevent injuries, and so that he has time to train for the Singapore team too, and went on to become Singapore's most decorated footballer to date.

If all else fails though, he can always SAF.

Serve And "Fly" off. 😉😉😉