Canadian Infantryman looking at visiting Singapore Infantry
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Hi, I'm from Vancouver, and I've been in the Canadian army reserve for just over two years. For the past 6 months I've been training for Afghanistan. I've been seriously considering working in Singapore for a few years when I get back from Afghanistan. I don't know what kind of civilian work I'd like to do. However apparantly there is a sort of commonwealth 'posting' in which I can train in any commonwealth country just like I do at home, but in Singapore. So if this is a possibility I would like to do this on the side along with whatever civilian job I would get there. So I have come here to ask a few questions if anyone would be nice enough to answer :)
How does the reserve (or, 'part time') army work in Singapore? Or is there one? In Canada it is simply one weeknight every week, and one weekend every month for training in the field or on the shooting range, etc. And you can volunteer for longer periods of training or employment which I have done in order to go to Afghanistan.
And lastly, what are the names and locations of the reserve infantry regiments/armouries in Singapore and what is their training schedule? I have tried google searching but it is rather hard because at first glance it seems the Singapore army has a very different structure than that of Canada's.
If someone could answer my questions it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
- Swanny
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Hi Swanny, I believed you are asking whether u can work as a part time soldier in Singapore...Correct me if I am wrong. Anyway the answer is No. Military Service is strictly for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. These guys have to serve 2 years full time for National Service before they are eligible to be posted to reserve units. However, your invaluable operational experience can be used in other secruity fields such as Private Secruity Firms in Singapore where there are demands for these people.
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Originally posted by Swanny:
Hi, I'm from Vancouver, and I've been in the Canadian army reserve for just over two years. For the past 6 months I've been training for Afghanistan. I've been seriously considering working in Singapore for a few years when I get back from Afghanistan. I don't know what kind of civilian work I'd like to do. However apparantly there is a sort of commonwealth 'posting' in which I can train in any commonwealth country just like I do at home, but in Singapore. So if this is a possibility I would like to do this on the side along with whatever civilian job I would get there. So I have come here to ask a few questions if anyone would be nice enough to answer :)
How does the reserve (or, 'part time') army work in Singapore? Or is there one? In Canada it is simply one weeknight every week, and one weekend every month for training in the field or on the shooting range, etc. And you can volunteer for longer periods of training or employment which I have done in order to go to Afghanistan.
And lastly, what are the names and locations of the reserve infantry regiments/armouries in Singapore and what is their training schedule? I have tried google searching but it is rather hard because at first glance it seems the Singapore army has a very different structure than that of Canada's.
If someone could answer my questions it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
- Swanny
more info about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Service_in_Singapore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Army ,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MindefAnyway, Singapore is an independent country state (a Republic).
Official name in UN is the Republic of Singapore.if u r so interested in military, u can join the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Foreign_Legion
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I realise Singapore is an independant country
. And I know of the French Foreign Legion -- no thank you!But no, I'm not looking to join the Singapore army, I'm looking to be attached to a unit/regiment/armoury/camp (what do you call them?) in the Singapore army. Apparently there is a system in the commonwealth where you can work in any commonwealth country's army for a certain amount of time while staying in your army.
For example, for a year or so last year my unit (the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seaforth_Highlanders_of_Canada) had an infantryman from the Australian army attached to my unit. He wore his Australian uniform, and the Australian army paid him. However he trained at my unit, and went to the shooting ranges and the field training with us. He was an Australian reservist so he had a temporary civilian job as a teacher in Vancouver. He showed up every wednesday night (our parade night) and to the weekend training exercises once a month. According to him this can be done in any commonwealth country. I would not be doing military service for Singapore, I would be doing military service with Singapore. If this turns out to be impossible for me, I will find out through my chain of command. But to get this process started I need to pick the regiment I want to train at in Singapore.
So all I'm wondering is what the hours are like in the Singapore army reserve. And lastly what are my options in terms of reserve infantry regiments/armouries/units? Upon further investigation, it seems like what you call commandos, we call infantry. It doesn't sound correct to me but if that is the case I have been looking at the Hendon Camp -- what do you guys think?
I greatly appreciate the replies!
Thanks,
- Swanny
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My first question to you is.Are you really a Canuck or just some local guy trying to crack a serious joke so early in the morning?
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Swanny, Soldeiring is not like any other job whereby u can earn a few quck bucks here & there. It is loyalty to a country and its citizen. I seriourly doubt u continue to find what you are looking for in Singapore.
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I'm seriously a Canuck... Haha, what part is so hard to believe? If this commonwealth thing can't work, I may even consider doing the two years in the Singapore army full time to get citizenship/permanent residence. Singapore is a very attractive place for me. On/near the equator, warm year round. And to go somewhat off topic, I'm a big follower of austrian school economists such as Peter Schiff, John Browne, Jim Rogers, etc. who all say Asia is the place to be in the 21st century. Singapore is an asian country with the most spoken language being english, which is another attractive point for me. I also enjoy investing as a sort of hobby, but in Canada it is very hard to invest in foreign countries which is where I want my money -- another point for me. I plan on travelling to Singapore for my HLTA as a sort of testing the waters phase for what I want to do after my tour (Home Leave Travel Allowance, is basically a travel allowance the Canadian army gives you to travel almost anywhere in the world for a short time off during your tour in Afghanistan).
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Originally posted by Singmarine:
Swanny,
Soldeiring is not like any other job whereby u can earn a few quck bucks here & there. It is loyalty to a country and its citizen. I seriourly doubt u continue to find what you are looking for in Singapore.
I realise this. I hope you don't think of me as some aspiring mercenary, that is simply not me. I am a very proud Canadian, I don't understand what you see as unacceptable in my intentions?
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Originally posted by Swanny:
I realise this. I hope you don't think of me as some aspiring mercenary, that is simply not me. I am a very proud Canadian, I don't understand what you see as unacceptable in my intentions?
To join the SAF first you need to be a PR and that means you need to give up your Canadian Citizenship =>You won't be able to be a proud Canadian or play hockey anymore.By the way,how old are you? Cuz by the time you get through all these obstacles you prolly ole enough to offer your noble services only to the Salvation Army.
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I am 20 years old, and you? Judging from your piss poor attitude I'd say your about 13.
Where's this animosity coming from?
And I didn't know Singapore doesn't accept dual citizenship?
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to be a PR, you don't need to give up your canadian citizenship. but singapore is not like canada. a PR is not as easy to get. better go pick another country for this. it won't work in Singapore.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singaporean_nationality_law#Dual_citizenship
Ah, I see. Well I will continue to try and go to Singapore, whether it be a year or two working there, or just an extended visit due to me not being a citizen or PR. -
Nope, you can't do a Territorial style service due to your citizenship. Perhaps you might want to volunteer your service in non-military areas with NGOs etc.
Some advice.. you should travel around more before deciding if you want to settle down in any particular country. Reading about Asia is not exactly the same as living here, because you will experience a huge diversity of cultures and your expectations will shift accordingly..
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TO CANADIAN:
dont need to waste years in spore.as per spore legislation....all military matters are classified.commonwealth dont mean a thing now in spore...that term is very much an alien word because nothing ever comes up with that word in society here now,so if u tell peeps on streets bout commonwealth they would think ya from another planet.ive actually only heard about the commonwealth thing from my teachers back in the old days in 1989.what does commonwealth do n wat kinda stuff is it all about??im curious.....
things cant be dat bad to stay in north korea?is it????u can only be in the spore military if your country has a training agenda with spore.,,or if u are a permanent resident n sign on as a regular for more than 4 years.
spore isnt like the other commonwealth countries.....its more like a soviet union military might in the military.no citizen is allowed to step upon returning back to out of spore for more than 24hrs without informing the army....or there would be a fine and jail .citizens arent allowed out of spore without permission from spore army or get fine n jail too.only exception is job,studies and immigration overseas.
spore actually has more military aircrafts,tanks,submarines,weapons,missiles etc than such countries as australia,malaysia and new zealand all combined.and they actually for decades make their own tanks n tracked vehicles ,small arms,machineguns,antitank rockets,licensed weapons n kevlar helmets.
on the high tech industrial side they have some of the extremely high tech industries thats part of american no nonsense non-stop robotic production lines.they have many factories thats completely automatic that produces half a billion US dollars worth of goods per year.in factories needing 100 production workers...they have it replaced with less than 10 people and the entire production line jammed with robots and high tech machine visions,robot arms....everything from supply to assembly is done by robots.humans only needed when machines are spoilt or for startup n writing reports n areas not automated yet.some are so high tech and in a special enviroment that u are allowed into the production line in a anti static clothing that looks like a space suit to prevent contamination in their ultra high tech chemical process..
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Singapore is an asian country with the most spoken language being english, which is another attractive point for me. I also enjoy investing as a sort of hobby, but in Canada it is very hard to invest in foreign countries which is where I want my money -- another point for me. I plan on travelling to Singapore for my HLTA as a sort of testing the waters phase for what I want to do after my tour (Home Leave Travel Allowance, is basically a travel allowance the Canadian army gives you to travel almost anywhere in the world for a short time off during your tour in Afghanistan).
Take my advice Swanny, you can come here as a tourist and have a look see, but don't be fooled into living here.
You should be happy in your own country, there are a lot of Singaporeans in Canada, go and contact them on life here and the difference in Canada.
Don't be naive or harbour illusions about Singapore.
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hi swanny, i'm sorry you've had to encounter some unwarrented hostility. I've no idea why people react so harshly to the idea of a commonwealth attache to the SAF. I'll be glad to clarify some of your doubts.
1."it seems like what you call commandos, we call infantry" : I suspect that you're mistaken here. Commandos are elite soldiers, while infantry are the backbone of the army. Unless canadian elite forces are called infantry, there's no difference in terminology between our countries.
2.There is actually one way in which you can be attached to the Singapore army as a foreign/commonwealth soldier. Unfortunately, is it neither 'reserve' nor 'part time'. Singapore's officer cadet school (OCS) accepts foreign cadets who dont have to be singaporean or a singapore PR. However, to get into the school, you'll have to be an officer trainee in Canada, and then ask if your diplomatic branch can contact OCS for a sort of 'exchange programme' for the duration of the 9 month long course. As far as I know, that's the only forseeable way for you to be attached to the SAF.
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but as a canadian in singapore, i can tell you that singapore is better than canada in many ways.
so you, ah chia, dont be naive or harbour illusions about Canada.
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What you are canadian?
Okay that is interesting, come and tell me which areas Singapore is better than Canada.
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Originally posted by udontknowme:
but as a canadian in singapore, i can tell you that singapore is better than canada in many ways.
so you, ah chia, dont be naive or harbour illusions about Canada.
It would really be educational for some of us readers here if you could only list out a few examples on why or how Singapore is better than Canada from your perspective point of view.Thank You -
UDONTKNOWME:
ITS GOOD BECAUSE U ARE NOT SUBJECTED TO MILITARY LAW TILL AGE OF 45.THATS WHY IS SO GOOD FOR U!
U ARE PROTECTED BY YOUR CANADIAN GOV WHILE WE ARE ABUSED BY OUR OWN GOV IN MANY WAYS FROM EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ,RESERVIST ATHELETE TRAININGS THAN SPANS FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR!NOT THE 1 MONTH INCAMP TRAININGS(THOSE ARE LIKE A BREAK FROM WORK TO FOOD THAT TASTE WORSE THAN ARMY FOOD IN A FOODCOURT.
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WHAT DO U KNOW...JUST A TOURIST N IT WILL TAKE ABOUT A MONTH TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED IN 30 YEARS OF NATIONAL SLAVERY!
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Originally posted by Short Ninja:
It would really be educational for some of us readers here if you could only list out a few examples on why or how Singapore is better than Canada from your perspective point of view.Thank You
I have three reasons. 1. A serial killer/rapist only has 700km2 of space to hide in Singapore. Canada is about 14,000 times larger. 2. You can actually run non stop from one end of Singapore to the other. In Canada you'd be running straight to hell if you tried. 3. In Singapore you wont be randomly killed and eaten by a wild bear while on a cycling/hiking trip at bukit timah nature reserve. -
CANADA GOT NO JOBS...N ITS TOO COLD TO WORK
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TO HYPERION:
IS DAT SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY?
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Originally posted by tERMINATOR20000000:
TO HYPERION:
IS DAT SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY?
do you find it funny?