Written Reply by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen to Parliamentary Questions on Career Scheme and Racial Breakdown across Services and Vocations for Full-time National Servicemen, Operationally Ready National Servicemen and Regular Servicemen

Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for Defence if he can provide (i) the racial breakdown (Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Others), in percentages, of full-time national servicemen and regulars who are currently serving in the Air Force, Navy and Army respectively; and (ii) the racial breakdown (Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Others), in percentages, of NSmen in the Air Force, Navy and Army respectively.

Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for Defence if he can provide (i) the racial breakdown (Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Others), in percentages, of full-time national servicemen and regulars who are currently trained in the artillery, signals and armour vocations of the Army respectively; and (ii) the racial breakdown (Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Others), in percentages, of NSmen in the aforesaid vocations.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Minister for Defence of the full-time national servicemen and regulars currently serving in the Air Force, Navy and Army (a) what is the breakdown in percentages of those who are (i) commissioned officers (ii) warrant officers (iii) specialists (iv) enlistees, respectively; and (b) for each group, what is the racial breakdown in percentages for (i) Chinese (ii) Malay (iii) Indian (iv) Others, respectively.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap: To ask the Minister for Defence of the NSmen currently serving in the Air Force, Navy and Army (a) what is the breakdown in percentages of those who are (i) commissioned officers (ii) warrant officers (iii) specialists (iv) enlistees, respectively; and (b) for each group, what is the racial breakdown in percentages for (i) Chinese (ii) Malay (iii) Indian (iv) Others, respectively.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: National Servicemen are deployed to various vocations based on the SAF's operational needs and the individual's factors such as educational qualifications, skills, physical attributes and aptitude to adequately perform the requisite tasks and responsibilities. All vocations within the SAF contribute to and collectively strengthen the defence and security of Singapore.

The ethnic composition of servicemen in the SAF corresponds broadly to the ethnic profile of our population, with major ethnic groups represented in each Service. In the Army, where the bulk of full-time national servicemen are deployed, the ethnic compositions of the combat vocations (which include Infantry, Guards and Armour) and the support vocations (which include Signals, Engineers and Logistics) are again similar to that in the general population. Due to operational security considerations, MINDEF does not release detailed data within each specific vocation.

The selection of commanders (which include Officers, Warrant Officers, Specialists, and Military Experts) is based on similar criteria for deployment into vocations and merit. The ethnic composition of commanders is similar to that in the general population.