I would like to share my personal experiences about NS. So far, most I have read are other people's reactions based on reports they have read about the deaths and horrors at NScamps and rightfully so. Parents are now horrified to send their kids to this programme.

I want to be objective here. Personally, I have had young cousins and nephews/nieces who have attended NS. I have visited them during their stay in NS camps here in Peninsula Malaysia (Machap) and in Sabah and Sarawak (Tawau, Miri). My visits were out of concern as a relative, as well as to check out the rumoured ‘brainwashing’ going on there.

My personal experiences have been good. No strong trace of any ‘brainwashing’. In fact, I will go as far as saying that the short period the kids were there, they experienced:

Toughening up and independence, especially for the spoilt over-sheltered city kids - the ‘urban bumpkins’

Met new friends from different parts of the country and from the different races

Learnt new things (like water-rafting, mountain-climbing, light military activities etc)

For the poorer students, a chance to visit a new area of the country

The kids had a good mix of fun, physical activities and disciplinary training. Honestly, our kids are all a little spoilt and lembek these days.

Yes, I did witness some fights on the football field during their recreational games but hey, what do you expect when you place a couple of hundred of 18-year-olds in one place?

For every camp, safety and discipline (of the kids and the staff) are the responsibilities of the camp operator and the assigned Camp Commander from the defence ministry.

They follow (apparently) strict guidelines for the programme, buildings, equipment, food and lodging and the camp commander reports directly to Mindef on these. So it seems a good check and balance are in place.

Now, regarding the tragic deaths and rape incidents at NS camps. My view of the problem is this.

Why do Najib Razak and Mindef just report only the statistics? These are people's children. One death is one too many and one rape is one rape too many. Get it?

They need two simple things:

1. A NS Camp Discipline Committee that must be decisive and strict. Sack the camp commander and suspend the camps at which such incidents occur. No dillydallying, no mucking around.

2) Set up a good and competent NS public relations department to write better reports for the public. Show compassion, not just tell people, ‘Oh it's only one in a million....’

Tell the public that it is only a few badly managed camps with these problems. Reveal the names of the operators and commanders. Then see if the rest of the NS camps dare to be slack. Show testimonials from successful and good camps and from parents and kids who have benefitted from them.

Write better speeches for your leaders when they talk about NS and rate the camps independently and make them public.

I just want to say that I believe NS has brought some good to the kids. Just ask those who have been to the good camps. The few rotten ones should be shut down and this made known to the public. For goodness sake, sack the bad officers and shut down the bad camps. Stop the deaths and rape cases by using some common sense and brain power.