Why Lucasfilm wants to have a base in Singapore

[Anhaga]

[quote="Xisiqomelir] Have you ever been conscripted, yes or no?

Of course, I enjoyed NS. Not that I would eagerly do it again if I had to relive my life, but certainly no regrets and some good memories. After all, few BA (Hons) grads can claim that they have an NTC-2 cert (equivalent) in Automotive and Diesel Plant Mechanics. Something worth more to me than even my yoonie degrees.[/quote]

I personally don't agree with the principle of conscription but I'm glad that I went through NS- there were good times as well as bad. Of course I suppose it depends what vocation you get- I was a combat medic sergeant which does give you some handy training. If I had just been posted to be an infantry sergeant I can imagine it would have sucked.

Having said that, while I don't like Singapore, calling it a shithole is a bit over the top.

[Danny Bhoy]

With out going into details about the costs/benifits of conscription, just when does NZ rely on anyone for its defence? and defence from what? Fiji perhaps? or Western Samoan dole bludgers?
Btw, NZ and Canada have not been Dominions for quite some time: Canada since about 1937 and NZ, formally, since 1947.

I was referring to NZ's demobilisation of its Air Force or at least it's Skyhawk squadrons. Losing your main strike arm seems like reliance on someone else for defence to me.

As to defence from what, that was the point I was making. I would hesitate to compare NZ's situation with Singapore. Even so, I'm inclined to think that a country should have a viable/credible military (and yes, I happen to think an air force would be necessary for an island nation). Who knows, the Aussies might want to invade NZ to acquire decent rugby and cricket players...

Point taken about the Dominion status.

[PainRack]

Die.

Conscription is a vile form of governmental coercion, and a waste of the most promising years of a young man's life. My time was unmitigated suffering, and it is the No 1. reason why I have left that shithole (you are spot-on, Primus), though not the only one.

Dozens of young Singaporeans have lost their lives needlessly as a result of it, and you list it as a "redeeming factor". Brilliant.

Hundreds of people die every year in car accidents, and every week, one person is struck by lightning. Are you going to say that's sucks too?

Its what you put and take out of it that matters. I don't know what you went through during your NS days, but I'm willing to bet that you tried your best to shirk, and then got whacked badly with it. Hell, I was an incompetent fool and I still didn't get tekan badly.

Actually, comparing the life of a conscript to actual soldiers like the US and British soldiers who transit through here regularly, much less looking at how other conscript armies like Isreal and co, we have it easy. We will never be called upon to scarifice our lives, unlike Taiwan. Operational readiness for us is a test, not something of life and death. No matter how harsh training is, we know that it will end and when it will end. Training is a matter of completing the syllabus, not making sure we don't die when the shit hits the fan.

[Xisiqomelir]

Before anything else, I apologize for the jack, and understand if any/all of this needs to be split to Politics/Offtopic/HOS.

Of course I suppose it depends what vocation you get- I was a combat medic sergeant

Hi there, when did you finish SPEC II?

Die.

Conscription is a vile form of governmental coercion, and a waste of the most promising years of a young man's life. My time was unmitigated suffering, and it is the No 1. reason why I have left that shithole (you are spot-on, Primus), though not the only one.

Dozens of young Singaporeans have lost their lives needlessly as a result of it, and you list it as a "redeeming factor". Brilliant.

Hundreds of people die every year in car accidents, and every week, one person is struck by lightning. Are you going to say that's sucks too?

Of course it does. I consider most human death tragic.

The critical distinction that you are evading is that no laws exist coercing one into cars or onto hills.

As an aside, are you aware that Singapore has a disproportionately high number of yearly lightning casualties, and that most of these casualties are from Army training that goes on during storms against Training Safety Regulations?

Its what you put and take out of it that matters. I don't know what you went through during your NS days, but I'm willing to bet that you tried your best to shirk, and then got whacked badly with it. Hell, I was an incompetent fool and I still didn't get tekan badly.

Good job positing nonsense about me when you have zero information.

I never received a formal punishment in the army (This doesn't count informal "Drop 20" etc). No charges, detentions, confinements or extras. My service record is exemplary.

I suffered because:

-I lost 2.5 years of the best and most productive time of my life for nothing particularly meaningful
-I suffered a monetary loss far in excess of the laughable monthly conscript stipend from missed earnings
-As a Libertarian, suffering maximum state coercion was horrendously unpleasant for me

Actually, comparing the life of a conscript to actual soldiers like the US and British soldiers who transit through here regularly,

Who are all VOLUNTEERS and receive APPROPRIATE COMPENSATION.

much less looking at how other conscript armies

Which are equally immoral.

we have it easy.

If you don't count loss of time, money and potential loss of life, no.

We will never be called upon to scarifice our lives, unlike Taiwan.

Except many already have.

[Rommie2006]

Die.

Conscription is a vile form of governmental coercion, and a waste of the most promising years of a young man's life. My time was unmitigated suffering, and it is the No 1. reason why I have left that shithole (you are spot-on, Primus), though not the only one.

Dozens of young Singaporeans have lost their lives needlessly as a result of it, and you list it as a "redeeming factor". Brilliant.

Hundreds of people die every year in car accidents, and every week, one person is struck by lightning. Are you going to say that's sucks too?

As a person still serving his slavery in this shithole as some have pointed out, I feel that I have to make some points clear.

The events you mentioned are purely random and nobody has any control over them. Lightning doesnt choose 18-yr old boys to strike at all the time, and neither do traffic accidents occur to only 18-yr old boys. But conscription is enacted by the government, condoned and even supported through years of propaganda and brainwashing. So I don't really see the fucking point in bringing up your lame examples.

As Xisiqomelir has pointed out in his previous post, countless of lives has been wasted away because of his fucking conscription. How do you think your kid would feel, if you pluck him out from society at his fucking prime, and force him to do something that is totally unrelated to his future, and even perhaps doing stuff that he hates???

Did you know that fucking conscription in Army robs every guy of almost $100,000. This approximated figure is calculated from what fresh male grads will be earning in their first 2.5yrs of working in society.

Its what you put and take out of it that matters. I don't know what you went through during your NS days, but I'm willing to bet that you tried your best to shirk, and then got whacked badly with it. Hell, I was an incompetent fool and I still didn't get tekan badly.

And you're just a good example of the results of Singapore propaganda then.

Actually, comparing the life of a conscript to actual soldiers like the US and British soldiers who transit through here regularly, much less looking at how other conscript armies like Isreal and co, we have it easy. We will never be called upon to scarifice our lives, unlike Taiwan. Operational readiness for us is a test, not something of life and death. No matter how harsh training is, we know that it will end and when it will end. Training is a matter of completing the syllabus, not making sure we don't die when the shit hits the fan.

Fucktard if you read your own post... you mentioned "actual soldiers" vs our "conscripts".

The soldiers in US and UK you mentioned are regulars.
1) They get paid FULL SALARY plus allowances.
2) They VOLUNTEERED to be soldiers. Hell, maybe some of then even like their occupation.
3) Others may not have a great passion, but they do it because it is a way to EARN A LIVING.

Our fucking conscripts here
1) Get paid worse than what you get at the local fast-food restaurants, despite working like 2 to 3 times more working hours.
2) Were FORCED into serving the nation, and most are probably just wasting the fucking prime of their lives.
3) Many also dislike the army life.

As for your other points on other conscripts in other countries, have you actually considered their environment, culture, society? Isreal is probably the closest thing you can get on Earth that is a warzone (no offence to those living there). The kids there grew up in a different environment from Singapore, so please stop your one-sided justifications.

You wanna quote examples, I can name even more countries that have outlawed conscription. The US and most European countries have already outlawed or will soon be ending any form of conscription.

Yeah yeah ops readiness etc... Please we dont need no Singapore propaganda bullshit in this forum. You're starting to remind me of what Palpatine told the Senate when the turned the Republic into an Empire... for a safe and secure society eh?

EDIT: Excuse my language, but it really sickens me to see this kind of crap appearing in an international sci-fi forums, under "Pure Star Wars" section no less.

[Stuart Mackey]

With out going into details about the costs/benifits of conscription, just when does NZ rely on anyone for its defence? and defence from what? Fiji perhaps? or Western Samoan dole bludgers?
Btw, NZ and Canada have not been Dominions for quite some time: Canada since about 1937 and NZ, formally, since 1947.

I was referring to NZ's demobilisation of its Air Force or at least it's Skyhawk squadrons. Losing your main strike arm seems like reliance on someone else for defence to me.

What would require its retention? our A4 squadrons were never sent overseas except on exercize. They were never used in combat. As such its hardly correct to say that their retention would have altered anything with regards to reliance, or lack thereof, on anyone.

As to defence from what, that was the point I was making. I would hesitate to compare NZ's situation with Singapore. Even so, I'm inclined to think that a country should have a viable/credible military (and yes, I happen to think an air force would be necessary for an island nation). Who knows, the Aussies might want to invade NZ to acquire decent rugby and cricket players...

Point taken about the Dominion status.

Singapores situation is vastly different to NZ's, which is, one reason, why we had a battalion stationed there for so long. A nation must defend itself according to its own needs and resources. Fact of the matter is that NZ faces no serious threats to our, physical, self. Our interests overseas are another matter {see our battaltion in Singapore}, and while we are reasonably active overseas there is no way that we, at 4 million, can provide the full panalopy of defence forces that larger, and richer, nations can provide.

Allthough I have some issues with NZ's defence policy, including the disbandment of our air strike squadrons, broadly speaking the policy is ok but underfunded.

[Lonestar]

I didn't think Singapore was a Shithole when I visited during my deployment. I thought it was clean, everyone spoke (more or less) English, and the people Friendly.*



Now Bahrain, Muscat, Those are Shitholes. Even Townsville in comparision.



*Especially the Four Floors of Whores

[Danny Bhoy]

I didn't think Singapore was a Shithole when I visited during my deployment. I thought it was clean, everyone spoke (more or less) English, and the people Friendly.*

Now Bahrain, Muscat, Those are Shitholes. Even Townsville in comparision.

*Especially the Four Floors of Whores

I remember herding schools of staggering semi-legless squids across Orchard Road from HRC to Orchard Towers way back when the battle groups were cycling through during the Desert Shield/Storm buildup. OT caters more to the tourist trade tho. Us heartlanders prefer the KTVs and Geylang.

Bahrain does look a bit like a dump, but at least it's fairly civilised. But Dubai's the best whorehouse west of GMT+8.

[Lonestar]

I remember herding schools of staggering semi-legless squids across Orchard Road from HRC to Orchard Towers way back when the battle groups were cycling through during the Desert Shield/Storm buildup. OT caters more to the tourist trade tho. Us heartlanders prefer the KTVs and Geylang.

Bahrain does look a bit like a dump, but at least it's fairly civilised. But Dubai's the best whorehouse west of GMT+8.

Don't get me started on Dubai. A trio of retarded shipmates screwed that port up for us (and my division specifically).

Which isn't to say that Jebel Ali/Dubai isn't the best port in 5th Fleet, but it isn't like there's a lot of competition. Bahrain and Muscat were crapholes. If I had to give the world an enema, it would be in Bahrain.