An NS recruit has complained about low allowances for full-time National Servicemen (NSFs), saying it is insufficient and that NSFs do not learn any skills that can help their future careers.
TikTok user @ruggerbud47 declared in a Dec 24 post that “NSFs do not get paid enough”, and was adamant that buying power has decreased, especially with the rising cost of living.
He was also conscious that not every NSF has parents that are able to support them. “If it’s (up to) the NSF to support their family and like their siblings, then that two years is very much vital … time that they can be using to upgrade themselves and to get into the workforce and start making a liveable wage to support their family.”
He added that after spending more than a year in NS, he has not learnt any new skills beyond vocational training, making him an “underpaid intern” for two years of his life – time which could have been spent in university or on advancing one’s career.
Conceding that NS is not “entirely useless”, given that enlisted men learn about discipline and reponsibility, he nevertheless added: “The fact is after your BMT and after like your vocational training, you’re really not learning much during NS.”
“I’ll probably get a lot of backlash for this, but I think it needs to be said, to be honest,” he concluded.
