Dear friends,
In this week’s Budget debate, the Workers’ Party proposed that NSFs should receive a minimum monthly allowance pegged to the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS).
That is a step in the right direction.
It was already one of the SDA’s key proposals in our 2025 Manifesto.
We proposed this because the current system is plainly unfair – almost to the point of hypocrisy.
Today, many NSFs receive less each month than a factory cleaner or even a fast-food service worker.
And when a son serves National Service, it is not only he who carries the financial burden – his family carries it too.
That is why we proposed the increase in NSF monthly compensation to the LQS, with any combat allowance paid on top as an additional recognition of tougher duties.
We also proposed free local university education for those who qualify.
Together, these measures would give Common Singaporean families a stronger financial cushion.
It would also give our young men more room to take bold steps in life after service — whether in further studies, work, or building something of their own.
This can be funded through the revenue collected from our proposed staggered levy on Employment Pass-holders.
Unlike the President, ministers and MPs, NSFs are not allowed to take on side appointments during service.
So the government must be fair to our NSFs.
Stop hiding behind cheap phrases like “we must not conflate duty with transaction” or “service cannot be measured in dollars and cents”.
Nobody is saying duty should be reduced to money.
But if the government expects our boys to take care of the nation, then the government must do what is right and take care of them too.
Desmond Lim
Chairman
Singapore Democratic Alliance
