Hi guys, me again, back to launch the annual NS injury discussion thread
We are in a period where i imagine a lot of us are having strong feelings after the recent tragic passing of an NSF firefighter as well as the announced minister pay increments with no mention of raising NSF allowances. With that in mind, let’s please keep this discussion civil and share how our nation’s greatest “privilege” has left you scarred or hurting after 2 years of cheap labour.
As usual, I’ll go first. Tore my left meniscus in SCS, became an admin clerk, was told i was C9L0 meaning i was field deployable, went for Rot 4b and ended up with ACL tears in both knees (80% left, 50% right). Meniscus tear service injury claim was denied by my scs OC on the bullshit grounds that it was related to my sporting history, and my admin work was in the manpower branch so i saw first hand how long and how shit the service injury process was. Went the private route for knee surgery at the height of the pandemic in 2020, till this day i play sports at a fraction of my former ability and wear knee guards on both knees during sports for stability.
Mentally, it left me in an incredibly dark place, full of bitterness and rage towards the government for stealing the brightest years of my life and leaving me crippled. It took me a long time to overcome this and become a happier and bubblier person, but every now and then i still get flashes of anger when news of nsfs getting hurt or dying while serving hits my feed, all while our servicemen continue to be treated as the lowest life-form by society at large.
If you’d like to read the past years’ editions of the injury threads, I’ll link them here.
https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/mlxda0/injuries_sustained_duringas_a_result_of_ns/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/uqp8ui/in_light_of_the_recent_discourse_over_ns_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/13myrs4/ns_injuries_discussion_thread_3rd_year_running/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/s/cfNhRMJ89Q
https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/s/Vr279oIcLt
And before i leave, a certain minister once said our contributions cannot be measured in dollars and cents. I think that while that has some truth, it doesn’t change the fact that there is a very real cost that all of us incur, be it financial, physical or mental, and if NS really is the exceptional contribution its supposed to be, shouldnt our servicemen be treated in a way that materially and societally reflects that?