The Little RED dot.

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Article 2

In the early days, where most people in Singapore had felt this " little red dot" to be indefensible, the country's founding fathers had insisted on the contrary. Singapore's deterrence strategy was implemented comprising of the citizen armed force.
PRO: The NS system was perceived as the best option in the creation of an effective armed force, given constraints posed by Singapore's limited manpower and economic resources.
CON: While initial fears that conscripting male school-leavers, who otherwise would have constituted employable resources, would create adverse economic impact emerged. Complaints abounded from both NS men and their parents, with many who tried ways to dodge the system.

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http://libguides.nl.sg/content.php?pid=120134&sid=1034480

Reflection

As discussed in the article, deterrence is achieved through three major ways, namely: the Citizen Armed Forces, the defence industries and the Total Defence Framework. In my personal opinion, I find that Citizen Armed Forces is the best way to achieve deterrence in Singapore. Through compulsory National Service for all Singaporean men, it has allowed Singapore to establish itself as capable of defending itself despite it being just a "little red dot". I think that the Citizen Armed Forces is essential to Singapore as it is mentioned in the article that "populace of missed economic opportunities endured by those who had to be conscripted". This shows that the implementation of Citizen Armed Forces has made more available economic opportunities for the population. Another way of achieving deterrence would be the defence industries. The defence industries are an important part of maintaining the Citizen Armed Forces since it supplies nearly all the weapons that is used by the soldiers in the Citizen Armed Forces. All in all, I find that deterrence in Singapore is mainly achieved by these measures taken by the government and they are indeed very successful. This shows us that deterrence is very important as it has brought about safety in the country which in turns increases the stability of life in Singapore. Deterrence is supposed to prevent potential external attacks by increasing security within the country. Overall, I think that deterrence is not just important but almost a necessity in this present day world as one need to protect oneself from the threats in the closely inter-connected world.

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