Madam Chair, beyond military hardware, the strength of our defence and the SAF is founded on the support of our society and the fighting spirit of each and every Singaporean.

I chair the CSNS "Support for NS" working group. We take it as our starting point that societal support for NS, while very high now, should never be taken for granted. As Mr Sitoh Yih Pin said, support for NS has to be reinforced and continuously strengthened, especially in times of peace. For what we do today will determine what we can achieve tomorrow. The commitment of the previous generation defined the SAF of today. The commitment of this generation will define the SAF of the future.
Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence (ACCORD) and Total Defence Awards

To strengthen community support for NS, we will look into restructuring the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence, or ACCORD, as we call it. MINDEF intends to strengthen ACCORD’s outreach with various groups, especially with employers or businesses, schools, families, and the community at large. For partnership with employers and businesses, we desire to work closely with trade associations and business chambers in the different sectors to find specific ideas to better support NSmen in balancing their work commitments and their duties to our nation.

We will also review the Total Defence Awards to recognise organisations which have gone the extra mile to demonstrate their support for NS. These will include employers, businesses, schools and community organisations.
SAF Volunteer Corps

During the CSNS discussions, it was heartening to hear much feedback and many ideas on how MINDEF can provide more avenues for more Singaporeans to come forth and serve our defence needs. MINDEF is seriously working on the proposal for a new SAF Volunteer Corps. This will allow the broader community - in particular women, new citizens and first generation PRs - to better understand and contribute to our defence.

The proposed SAF Volunteer Corps should harness the different skills of the volunteers to complement our defence capabilities. Volunteers with expertise in specific areas, like healthcare, communications and psychology, could be given opportunities to serve in their respective specialist areas. Others who wish to serve in other military functions, like Protection of Installations or Access Control as part of our Island Defence, could be trained as necessary for these operations.

MINDEF will also look into developing basic modules to impart relevant basic military skills and values to all volunteers. Specific training will then be conducted according to operational needs. In order for meaningful contributions to be made, volunteers could commit to performing various operational duties for a certain period of time.
Opportunities to Contribute

Madam, when I speak to NSmen, they often tell me that they are not afraid of hard work or more work. They want, more than anything else, meaningful work. In fact, many of them would want their potential to be fully realised. We can take pride that we have come a long way since the early days of NS, where one might be advised by concerned parents to do the minimum necessary and never to volunteer for more.

MINDEF will look into this feedback to see how we can increase the leadership opportunities for our people to do more, in more meaningful ways, and to do justice to the potential of our people. Indeed, the operational demands of the SAF have evolved. Increasingly, operations are now much more decentralised, necessitating stronger small unit leadership. More advanced technology also requires better trained operators and leaders.

These are opportunities for us to better match each serviceman's background, potential and interests with the operational needs of the SAF. A system that allows us to build on the potential of our soldiers will certainly be stronger than a system that deconstructs and then reconstructs them. MINDEF will also want to strengthen our qualification system for employers to better appreciate the skills and leadership qualities of our NSmen. This will not only help NSmen in the job market, but also provide meaningful recognition for their efforts during NS.
Training System

Madam Chair, Mr Gerald Giam asked about the prudent use of our NSmen resources.

MINDEF appreciates that we are stewards of our nation's most important resources, and that is our NSmen. We have spoken about optimising the talent and contribution of our NSmen above. Let me now touch on optimisation of training time, which we recognise is a premium for all of us.

Take for example call-ups and in-processing for In-Camp Training (ICT). MINDEF has, over the years, refined the call-up system according to our operational needs. Only NSmen needed for a specific set of duties are called up for that specific time frame that they are needed, and no more. For example, for planning of In-Camp Trainings and Mobilisation Exercises, only relevant Commanders are called up prior to ensure the smooth planning and execution before the main body comes in for training. For Mr Giam's information, this system has been in place for many years.

On the day of the in-processing, what used to take half a day or more, will now require less than an hour to complete. Many NSmen have given feedback that in the past, they would come in and have about half a day to adjust to the new environment before training commences. Nowadays, they would have in-processed, completed their unit route march with full battle order before lunch time. I am not sure if this is a compliment or complaint.

Last year at the Committee of Supply 2013, I shared with Members of the House how we used to conduct mobilisation and equipping over the entire day or night. Now we take the same time to do everything that was done previously, plus many more things like refresher training. All within the same time budget. MINDEF will continue to refine our processes and leverage on IT to optimise the use of our NSmen's time, without compromising safety and operational effectiveness.
Training Technology

The Multi-Mission Range Complex (MMRC) that Minister talked about is another investment that MINDEF has made to maximise our NSmen's training time and also to optimise our land use as suggested by Dr Lim Wee Kiak. We combined seven ranges into one single complex. What used to take almost two days and two nights for a 500-man unit can now be done in just slightly under a day. In addition, new training proficiencies like shooting under different environment conditions - day or night, urban or jungle terrain, or different operational scenarios, can now all be done faster and with better and more immediate feedback.

MINDEF will soon launch the Murai Urban Live Firing Facility to strengthen our units' live fire competencies in an urban environment. Previously, we could only allow up to a section of seven men to conduct urban live fire training. In the future, we will be able to train a company size force of more than 100 men in an urban live firing environment, operating in an integrated manner with support fires from tanks and armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles. And all these done with facilities to provide immediate feedback to help our soldiers and units improve their performance.
Outsourcing

Ms Sylvia Lim asked about the benefits of outsourcing and security controls. MINDEF outsources certain non-operational roles selectively to free up manpower for critical operational roles. For example, basic driver training is outsourced because we can tap on the civilian learner driver market. However, vocational and combat driving is maintained under the core competencies of the SAF.

All sub-contractors are subject to the necessary security and safety requirements. For example, the contractors working at the MMRC, where weapons and live munitions are involved, would be subject to an even higher level of security clearance. All contracts have their respective series of performance indicators that contractors must meet.
Training Safety System

Madam Chair, let me now update Members of the House on the SAF's training safety system. Last year, Dr Ng announced the formation of the Safety and Systems Review Directorate to conduct safety and systemic reviews on MINDEF and the SAF. This Directorate has been established since June last year with a mix of ex-military and civilian officers. The Directorate has also convened an External Review Panel for SAF Safety since Oct 2013, comprising experts from and outside the SAF. The panel has since reviewed the safety practices at the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC), Officer Cadet School (OCS) and Specialist Cadet School (SCS). They have found the SAF safety system to be robust. They have also made useful recommendations to help check our blind spots. For example, they have recommended that as much attention be paid to the psychological well-being of our soldiers as to their physical safety. They will continue to review the safety systems and practices of more units in the coming year. We will constantly and continually ensure that we stay vigilant and make sure that we continue to check our blind spots.

We have also commenced the deployment of Unit Safety Officers in every unit. As ex-Regulars with experience, they will help strengthen our system by imparting their knowledge and experiences to new and junior commanders. They will also complement the "external pair of eyes" from the inspectors beyond the unit.

Madam, safety depends as much on robust systems as our people's constant vigilance. There are inherent risks in all military operations and training. We can never eliminate all risks but we must certainly reduce everything to a minimum possible. We have to get it right, first time, every time, all the time. A momentary slip of concentration or ill-discipline can have fatal consequences on one’s life and one's buddy's life. There were no training-related fatalities in 2013. This is not a sign that we have arrived. But this is a sign of how much we need to do and how intensely we need to focus our efforts to get things right and stay that way. In response to Mr Alex Yam's question, the number of training incidents is about the same between 2012 and 2013. The number of near-misses reporting has increased by about 60 per cent.
Conclusion

May I now invite Dr Maliki to speak on the CSNS efforts and initiatives arising from the "Recognition and Benefits for NS" Work Group and the Total Defence Campaign.