Above all else

I wonder how many of you remember squatting with your primary school friends by a little drain, with a red mug and toothbrush in your hands, diligently following the teacher’s instructions, flick-flick-flicking our teeth and carefully spitting into the drain, dental mission accomplished! (Image credit: National Archives of Singapore) The Singapore dental health campaign began in 1969. Dental hygiene standards then were poor, and it is reported (courtesy of the National Library Board archives) that half the population did not know how to brush their teeth properly and half of schoolchildren didn’t even own a toothbrush. So toothbrushing was introduced as part of the curriculum from Primary 1-3, and each child was provided with a toothbrush and mug. Thousands of teachers were trained, and more than 1.5 million toothbrushes were provided. Singapore was the first country in the region to carry out toothbrushing instruction on such a massive scale. This was quite a commitment – remember...

It is a rite of passage, so they say, for every Singaporean son to turn up at one of the remoter ends of our island home, sometime from 19 years old onwards, minus most of their hair, and run around in green (or possibly blue or grey) for 2 years. As the old marching song goes:  Training to be soldiers! Fight for our land Once in our lives, two years of our time Have you ever wondered? Why must we serve? Because we love our land. And want it to be free, to be free, yah! It's difficult to say that National Service ("NS") is enjoyable, especially in those moments when you're deep in the mud, mosquitoes swirling, eyes drooping from lack of sleep (or let's face it, occasionally, from boredom due to some inexplicable delay or other).  But it's fair to say that for a reasonably large proportion of Singaporeans, including myself, NS was very satisfying. So why is it that some end up complaining that it's a waste of time? My son is going through NS right now. And ...