Chan Chun Sing on defence: 'We are not at war, but neither are we at peace', Singapore News

AsiaOne

12 hours ago

While Singapore may not be fighting a war now, that doesn't mean we should be complacent, Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said in an interview with the media at the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) headquarters at Bukit Gombak on Wednesday (June 25).
Chan, 55, highlighted some new developments in the global security order ahead of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Day on July 1, stating that there are more conflicts today — not just conventional, but also in cyberspace.
"Today we are not at war, but neither are we at peace," he said. "Today — and every day — the SAF is operating somewhere in-between.
"On the cyberspace, the number of threat incidents that we have to deal with every day with other government agencies is not a small number."
Chan, previously Education Minister, was appointed Defence Minister following Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's cabinet reshuffle on May 21.
The defence minister added that these "information operations" that are conducted on Singapore or when Singapore becomes a collateral are not something that Mindef will take lightly. Hundreds of threats every year: RSAF
But threats in cyberspace aren't the only dangers that the SAF face.
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) deals with hundreds of threats every year to ensure the safety of our airspace, while the Republic of Singapore Navy keeps our seas clear amid the thousands of ships that the Maritime Security Task Force must deal with.
Meanwhile, the SAF works behind the scenes with numerous operations to make sure "nothing appears in your news cycle", Chan said, explaining that this may mean many Singaporeans may not appreciate what the SAF is doing to keep the country safe.
"There are many day-to-day activities that the SAF has to be on alert for in order to keep Singapore safe, and that our way of life, at least, won't be disrupted."
Although some of the threats that we face in the present may be new, the concepts behind them are not, the minister said.
"Frankly, even when I was in the SAF, we were talking about these kinds of threats 20, 30 years ago… I was dealing with these kinds of issues even when I was a major in the force in the 1990s.
"But the volume and the intensity — these have changed."
Chan served with the SAF between 1987 and 2011 where he became Chief of Army before leaving to run in the 2011 General Election. He was the Chief of Army from 2010 to 2011. Conflicts elsewhere can affect Singapore
Chan also explained that conflicts across the globe may not directly involve our country, but can impact us.
"A more uncertain global security environment will certainly lead to or reinforce the uncertainties in the economic environment," he said, explaining that job opportunities, wages and commodity prices here would all be impacted.
"What is happening on the security front is closely intertwined with what is happening on the economic front," he added.
He was referring to multiple conflicts around the world such as the Israel-Iran war which went on for 12 days before a ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday (June 25).
Aside from the heightened security concerns, Chan also looked at the economic impact of the Iran conflict — among other conflicts — has had on the world.
He explained risks of uncertainty in the global economic system and the global supply chain.
"Once you start to break up the global supply chain, everybody is working on what we call the local optimum, rather than the global optimum.
"Prices are likely to go up rather than down, so the impact is not to be underestimated," he said.
"If prices go up, jobs go down, wages don't grow — it's a very tricky situation." Tokenism an 'injustice' to both individual and system
Chan also dealt with questions raised by reporters about tokenism within the SAF and how individuals are promoted.
Tokenism in this context refers to the hiring or promotion of an SAF employee who is also part of a minority in order to make the SAF appear more inclusive.
He emphasised that selection in the SAF is based on merit, explaining that there are two fundamental considerations when selecting people.
The organisation looks at a person's capacity to carry out his duty, which is based on merit, as well as how this person's abilities can be best applied when deployed, Chan stated.
"We will never apply tokenism to any deployment," he said. "It does injustice to the individual, it does injustice to the system.
"The SAF will continue to broaden our recruitment of people from diverse pools and walks of life." NS for women?
On the topic of women serving National Service (NS), Chan said that even though the constitution says that "all able-bodied Singaporeans can be conscripted", women may not be needed to enlist, yet.
"Whether it is men or women, if we want to do conscription, there must be a real operational need for it — that must always drive it," he explained.
But even without full conscription, there are calls for more women to be given the chance to experience NS.
"I think many of them want to experience, see and also contribute, that's why I think we have such strong support for the SAF Volunteer Corps."
The SAF Volunteer Corps is a uniformed volunteer scheme to give Singaporeans and Permanent Residents a chance to contribute to national defence.
"It's very heartening to see the support for the SAF Volunteer Corps," Chan added. "More and more women are coming forward not just to serve in the Volunteer Corps, but also in the regular corps."
Mindef has also continued to expand deployment of female officers across the four services of the SAF, which has given them more opportunities to make contributions, he said.
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