OVER 1,000 VIEWS!!! - Reflection on 'The Soldier'

Hey everyone it's me back in Term 3 and I'll be doing a reflection on the poem 'The Soldier'.

1) Occasionally, we need young men in Singapore to do National Service. Why do you think National Service is 

compulsory in Singapore and why is it important?

Ans: It's important to have National Service because National Servicemen have to defend their country and protect it from enemy invasion when the time comes. Thus we need a steady 'stream' of Operationally Ready NS-men. Without them is like without a layer of protection over Singapore, and it would be extremely vulnerable to foreign attacks. And moreover, the importance of National Service has been crucial after it fell to the Japanese, and we realised it the hard way. It had thus been important to Singapore's defence, and also bond people from different races together, promoting social cohesion.

2) In the above poem, the speaker expresses his love for his country, England.

Do you have the same patriotism towards Singapore? Why?

No, I don't think I have the same patriotism towards Singapore, because I'm still young and I don't think I have that kind of patriotism as the persona in the poem. Moreover, I was born in China, so I think I'm more towards China than Singapore. But definitely as a Singaporean, my love in Singapore will change in the future.