The Institute of Policy Studies at the National University of Singapore, conducted some research to find out the following:

• What does National Service (NS) mean to Singaporeans and what impact does it have?
• Perceived recognition and support of NS, by employers, family members and the public.
• Amount of organisational support for servicemen and NS duration.

A representative sample of 1,251 people were interviewed from July to September this year. And here are some highlights from the results.

• Over nine out of 10 Singaporeans support National Service. Besides its importance for national defence, it has helped to instil discipline and values among the young as well as bring people from different backgrounds together.
• Nine out of 10 National Servicemen felt that their employers were supportive of NS, and more than three-quarters of employed servicemen said their employers would take their NS commitments into account and adjust their workload.
• Although about eight of 10 of Singaporeans said that women should not be made to go through two years full-time NS, they felt that women should be given the chance to volunteer in one way or another.
• More than half of the respondents also felt that first generation Permanent Residents (PR), who are currently exempted from NS, should be given the chance to volunteer or serve in a professional role in defence.
• The research also revealed that 2 out of 5 employed Singaporean National Servicemen, believe that employers tend to prefer to hire people who do not have national service commitments.

The videos below are of news coverage, discussing a few of these results/issues.