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DOMESTIC ROLES OF THE SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES

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Domestic Roles of the Singapore Armed Forces

Introduction

The esteemed Singapore Armed Forces, herein abbreviated as SAF, is the primary arm of the

Republic of Singapore’s Ministry of Defence. SAF’s central role is to execute the Total Defence

Strategy, which acknowledges the different ways in which enemies can attack the city-state using

social, moral, and civil platforms. The SAF, where one is always an active combatant, takes the

mandate of protecting her interest from local and alien threats (Squire 2019, p 8). Interestingly,

the domestic roles of the SAF contribute as much to the success, security, serenity, and safety of

its citizens as their foreign ones. Therefore, they maintain vigilance in protecting the society,

economy, military, psyche, and cyberspace in Singapore using surveillance, fast response,

intelligence, war machinery, and psychological tools. Singapore Armed Forces face a multitude

of social, economic, warfare-related, mental, and digital challenges in the right fronts that they

vigilantly protect.

Working in new territory

Prepared as they may be to set warships to sail and gunships to fly when dealing with military

threats that approach through the water or the air, SAF has recently encountered an unmatched

enemy in the form of the novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19 disease. Following the first

case of the disease on January 23 this year, SAF swiftly acted to reassure the public using

practical and psychological efforts (Ng 2020, par. 1 and 5). The military promptly started to

monitor movements in the state’s international airports and distribute face masks. This assured

the city residents that they were being protected from an unseen enemy and that the SAF cared

for their personal and communal welfare. 

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However, being a novel strain of a known virus, the members of SAF have been at the risk of

contracting COVID-19, since most of them do not have the specialised training that is required to

deal with the contagious disease. Although they are psychologically, tactically, and resource

prepared, few of the military personnel are aware of how to contain and assist a COVID-19

patient without exposing themselves to the illness. Also, the military response to the pandemic

on a local level is not globally unique. Militaries have been deployed along with their medical

facilities to help in the global problem that is causing national emergencies from Cairo to Buenos

Aires and New York to Tokyo. Critics state that military deployment is not a guaranteed solution

because of the handicaps that the personnel may have to deal with (Bender and Seligman 2020,

par. 2). Even with the numerous in-patient-friendly beds, navigable medical facilities, biological

laboratories and human resources that can provide humanitarian relief or enforce curfews,

militaries are limited in response to national medical emergencies. Their success in Singapore so

far is widely attributed to failures that were experienced in dealing with outbreaks of SARS and

H1N1 viruses in the past. 

The ever-changing tactics used by domestic terrorists

SAF has been forced to adapt to the nature of extremism using internal vigilance to complement

its international operations. More specifically, the military has taken deliberate measures to

improve their local counter-terrorism competencies during times of peace within her borders

(Nian 2015, 39). Some of these actions include legal and parliamentary interventions. The SAF

Act of 2007, for instance, was established to give the military more power over suspected

terrorists and their sympathisers. Two years later, the Special Operations Task Force came into

force with the mandate to include SAF in their multi-agency approach at local terrorism.
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The threat of extremism is real in Singapore, where radicalism is not an imaginary but real threat,

and previously patriotic citizens pose risks to their fellow humans under the influence of

religious excessiveness (Lai 2019, par. 1). However, regardless of their effort, there are legal

limits to how far the military can push suspects. Human rights restrictions and other international

statues do not allow Singapore to hold suspects in Guantanamo Bay fashion. One of the main

areas where the efforts of the SAF to deal with terrorism are thwarted is online. There is a high

rate of online radicalisation of Singapore’s residents using social media and other online

techniques (Lai 2019, par. 2). Without the help of the Home Affairs and other local players such

as citizens and whistle-blowers, SAF has a harder time when dealing with terrorism within

Singapore. 

Diverted Attention

Whenever SAF are part of local engagements, there are fears that they may be neglect their duty

to be vigilant of external threats. For instance, the military participation in organising the

national send-off of the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, included a significant

commitment by the SAF in terms of equipment, human resources and military focus (Chow

2015, par. 6). Similarly, when organising the South-east Asia Games, SAF committed about

10,000 personnel, reducing the number of people watching over the nation significantly. 

The external military threats are already overwhelming for SAF, and to add domestic duties to

their list of mandates can detract their capabilities. Moving into the next generation of warfare,

sophisticated biological, terrestrial, aeronautical and maritime weapons continue to emerge. The

SAF must spend time and money on new knowledge and equipment to stay competitive and

deter attacks. The cash that should be spent on new hardware, software and military supplies is

considered wasted when it is spent on events with glamorous ceremonies and extravagant
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budgets. Military critics suggest that the SAF should focus on more buying the best jets,

helicopters and computers and put its personnel through drills. Local ceremonies, they insist

must be left to the retired veterans and others that are out of the service for other reasons, under

the guidance of ceremonial superiors, if they must have military significance. The youthful,

brilliant and vital members of the service must never be diverted from their primary objective of

protecting the borders. 

Effectiveness of Training 

Most of the local obligations which the SAF becomes part of are more like police work than

military work. The activities of maintaining law and order within the borders of Singapore

should be the work of the police because they are better trained and equipped to deal with local

problems. In advanced nations, the military is used to escalate already tense situations. In war,

they cause havoc, death and destruction without ever having to answer for their actions. Their

training is therefore designed to enable them to follow a different chain of command compared

to police work. 

Within Singapore, the police are trained to make the situations that they encounter less tense and

disorderly. In events where there are riots and demonstrations, the police would contain the case

more effectively than the military. They seldom resort to using weapons against the citizens

unlike the military. The effective use of non-lethal force is a skill that the police are equipped

with and the military challenged in when maintaining law and order. Uniquely, while the police

are trained to work in the urban terrains, the military is adapted to mountainous hills and other

perilous circumstances. Generally, instances of police brutality are unheard of in Singapore, and

the military is rarely deployed to contain residents actively. 

Geopolitical Challenges in the Region

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The SAF works in a unique environment where it is a sovereign military in a city-state which

China asserts influence over. Even as the USA continues to get involved in the issues between

China and Singapore, the SAF must continue to act as the chief military power with the interests

of Singapore. Therefore, given the repetitive joint operations between the SAF and the Chinese

forces, the military plays a critical role in making the relationships between the USA and China

stable (Nian 2015, 46).

This is considered to be ongoing regional military work because ensuring that the USA and

China have a stable relationship is critical for the region (Ng 2019, par. 4). The challenge that

SAF may face in this mandates is its limited influence in the face of two of the most powerful

militaries, and inadequate training in the specific area of mediation. Peacekeeping missions in

weaker states may be more comfortable because of the authority that the SAF could have in such

a situation. When dealing with the USA and China, SAF finds itself working overtime to

moderate giants. Only the highest-ranked members of the SAF can be involved in these

interventions because of the relative hugeness of the US and Chinese militaries compared to

theirs. They must also take a very mild and strictly diplomatic approach with limited demands,

making their work in this regional responsibility harder. 

Hindrances to forging national interests 

SAF is partially responsible for forming the preferred national value-system, identity and self-

concept (Tan 2017, par. 1). As Singapore continues to adapt international perspectives because

the state is becoming increasingly metropolitan, the SAF faces challenges in propagating the

desired ethical, moral and patriotic allegiance among residents. The shared national values in

Singapore as published by the government in 1991 include sacrifice, family, communal cohesion

and respect, consensus over conflict and, and racial and religious. However, some perceptions,
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such as sexism compromise on the SAF’s ability to ensure that these are upheld throughout the

nation.

When Singapore’s entertainment scene launched a military show with a female playing the

leading role, sexist attitudes about the military came to light. Although the SAF preaches the

principles of equality, its citizenry still has prejudice about females in military gear. Instead of

comment about their valour and competence, most residents take the shallow point of view and

discuss their body shapes, features such as breast sizes, and openly question the suitability of

women in service (Lui 2017, par. 1). 

Civilian life and military influence

Western media have changed the role of the military in society. With movies and music, military

personnel have been sold as role models, characters of interest, and useful community

personalities. However, in Singapore, like in the West, the reality of military action in local

civilian jurisdictions causes some frictions. Increased military presence in localities causes an

erosion of the amount of control that civilians have over militaries (Kalkman 2019, 3). For

instance, when deployed to control movement, the general population feels their rights to be

mobile, assemble and associate with other civilians. Overall, the attitude is slightly different

when the police are used to deal with crowds.

When the university students in Singapore protest, the difference between the military and police

is evident. Whereas the police act with knowledge of their responsibility for how they act,

military deployment may be characterised by recklessness. Additionally, from a professional

policing point of view, taking an aggressive approach to police activities undermines the roles of

the police in times of peace. Militaries are deployed with reluctance to act on local soil in

developed states such as the USA and Britain. Navy Seals or Delta Force in the earlier and MI6
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or British Special Forces would eliminate regional threats to national security with absolute

preciseness. However, the conflict of interest in involving militaries in sovereign territories

makes their politicians deliberate and debate regularly and consistently before justifying such

interventions. 

Thereby, the military may also have negative attitudes towards acting within Singapore.

Knowing that they are limited in the extent of their reach and that they have to practice restraint

that is uncharacteristic of their training, they may be less eager to act on commands made at

home. 

Conclusion

In summary, the challenges that SAF face in operating within domestic borders are not unique to

Singapore’s military. The same problems exist in all the different corners of the earth. Therefore,

the political and administrative authorities in Singapore must make considerations before

allowing the military to help in case of disasters, emergencies or loss of order. The consensus is

that such activities should be the preserve of the police. Regardless of written laws, there have

been adjustments to contain how the SAF has gaps in its human resource endowments (Zhang

2019, par. 5). Given that they have fewer servicemen and women than are needed, it is a wonder

why the military heads would allow their personnel to be deployed to non-military and social

obligations. 

Apart from being irrational, there are some contradictions between civilian life and military

influence that hinder SAF action in Singapore. There are also hindrances to forging national

interests because of geopolitical challenges in the region. Critics are vocal about the

effectiveness of the SAF’s training to work in civilian territories. Even so, the most pressing

concern is that with the efforts of the SAF being diverted from military action, trends and
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development, the land and its people continues to be exposed to risk. As a solution,

commentators suggest that the roles of the SAF should focus on external threats as police and

specialised forces promote a keen sense of security, safety and order within Singapore’s borders

and her water bodies.

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