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# Building a Defence Force ## Introducing National Service You learnt in chapter 7 that the British introduced the National Service Ordinance in 1954, which allowed the government to conscript young men to serve in the military. The unpopularity of and resistance towards the 1954 National Service O...

# Building a Defence Force ## Introducing National Service You learnt in chapter 7 that the British introduced the National Service Ordinance in 1954, which allowed the government to conscript young men to serve in the military. The unpopularity of and resistance towards the 1954 National Service Ordinance highlighted the difficulty of introducing conscription in Singapore. As a result, this was never carried out while the British ruled Singapore. Despite this, the Singapore government deemed that conscription was the only way Singapore could raise a credible defence force after independence. It therefore introduced National Service (NS) in 1967, which rapidly expanded the defence force, known as the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Thousands of men were conscripted for at least two years of full-time NS. Upon completing NS, they would be liable for reservist duties, which meant they would continue to receive occasional military training and they would take up arms in times of emergency. ## Source 2 Our army is to be engaged in the defence of the country and our people against external aggression. This is something we are unable to do today by ourselves. It is of no use pretending that without the British military presence in Singapore, our island cannot be easily over-run by any neighbouring country within a radius of 1,000 miles, if any of them so... British military protection today has made quite a number of citizens complacent about the need to conduct defence preparations. These people assume that this protection will be a permanent fixture. I regard it as the height of folly to plan our future on this assumption. Nobody, neither we nor the British, can say when this will be. It may last for fifteen years; maybe more, maybe less. Whatever the time may be, it would be useless then to think about building your defence forces. The time to do so is now. - Adapted from a speech by Dr Goh Keng Swee to Parliament, 23 June 1967. If something is the height of folly, it is extremely foolish. "This" refers to the British withdrawal of their defence forces. 1. According to Source 2, why did Singapore's leaders feel it was important to build up our defence forces?