i am more concern that certain group of ppl might use "poll" to lobby gov policy for their oown interests and agenda... that will not going to be good for sg...

lke will nvr get the majority blessing from the public.. u try run a poll in sammyboy kopitiam where prodominately male forumer there... u will see some interesting result...

should we be sad abt it? No... it just shown that we view things from different angle...

what gov need to do now ... its to rethink our NS policy... what direction should we be heading?? so that our young male remain competitive in the global job market...

NS policy contradict with their "foreign talent" policy... they have to choose which policy and abolish the other now... cos last few yrs have shown that both policy cannot coexist together... sg male losing out in job market big time.. with 2 yr lost and disruption of reservist and IPPT RT... hiding employment data is not going to help to solve the problem...

if u just look at lke case indivitualy only... i would say.. we should look at the broader picture based on his case... the solution has to impact all....

p.s i still fuming over why religion or son of pastor got to do with this issue...

The FT policy has its flaws, so does NS. But its the combination of both that has led to the employment problems seen today. The FT policy is probably here to stay, and perhaps Ike is not going to get his deferment, but we should continue to seek better solutions. Its impractical to seek to compete with other economies by being the cheapest, nor is it sustainable to open the floodgates and replace the local populace with foreigners who do not have a vested interest in the continuity of the nation. If nothing else, I hope that this will spark a healthy debate that could bring us closer to a feasible and optimal solution.
I dont think religion has anything to do with it. Nor does it benefit anyone to bring religion into the subject
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I as a Singaporean do not wish to see the abortion of a potential musician who can contribute to the nation's glory and honour

Cool it lah, Anonymous Monkey. I hope you are not objecting because Ike is a christian. I see your point and perhaps we could explore as many alternatives as possible and come up with workable solutions for the government to consider and act positively.

Someone once said that MINDEF's hands are tied because of Mervyn Tan's case. I tend to agree. So, we have to help the government to give us what we want. We should not wait for the government to act without doing anything. It may not happen. It would be great if you would come up with an initiative to prompt the government to rethink NS policy :)