Conflating Duty With Transaction – the difference between NS, NSF and Ministers’ Compensation

During the 27 February 2026 Committee of Supply debate, Workers’ Party MP Kenneth Tiong urged the government to raise second-year NSF allowances to S$1,800 with CPF. Not surprisingly, Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing rejected pegging pay to labour benchmarks, warning against conflating national duty with employment. So when or how does work become duty and vice versa?

Besides a monthly allowance, Singapore takes care of its full-time national servicemen (NSFs) in other ways, such as through cash top-ups and tax incentives, Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Feb 27. Where there is budgetary space, MINDEF will do more, added Mr Chan, who cautioned against “reducing” national service to a transaction. Yao mo gao chor ah? By the same token, we can also say that “bribing” couples to have more babies also reduces the “privilege” of parenthood.

Mr Chan was responding to a suggestion by Workers’ Party MP Kenneth Tiong (Aljunied GRC) to raise the allowance of second-year NSFs to at least $1,800, which is the local qualifying salary that firms have to pay their Singaporean workers to be allowed to hire foreign workers.

The Defence Minister said Singapore recognises the contributions of NSFs and NSmen not just for their two years of full-time service, but also the 10 years of operationally ready NS after that.

“While we acknowledge that serving NS involves opportunity cost, we should not erode our social compact and the ethos of service by casting it as an employer-employee relationship,” he added. Who says it’s an employer and employee relationship just because it involves money? Give them an electronic ang pow every month. That won’t look like an employer and employee relationship, right? Why not?

I can’t agree completely with Jonathan. There are some; not many but some generous folks out there who contribute selflessly and indirectly to our national defence. Some time ago, an NSF wrote on social media about this chicken rice uncle who gave him a larger portion without asking for more money. When I was a recruit and I was short of change to pay for my bus fare while booking out in uniform, an uncle offered to pay for me. Sure, our society is highly transactional in nature. But some (not many) of our citizens are capable of kindness, compassion and a sense of duty. Why are so few of us being kind, generous and supportive of our NSF? Because our highest paid ministers in the world aren’t setting a good example. Why worry when they are too young to vote?