Little India Riot:

The 2013 Little India riot took place on 8 December 2013 after a fatal accident occurred at SST 21:23 at the junction of Race Course Road and Hampshire Road in Little India, Singapore, causing angry mobs of passersby to attack the bus involved and emergency vehicles that had by then arrived at the location. About 300 migrant labourers were involved in the riot which lasted for around two hours. This was the second riot in post-independence Singapore and the first in 44 years since the 1969 race riots.

 

Chinese University of Hong Kong Conflict:

As the number of allegations against the Hong Kong Police Force during the 2019 Hong Kong protests continued to increase and the government continued to ignore the protestors’ five core demands, violence from both the protestors and the police has escalated significantly. The death of Chow Tsz Lok, who died after falling one floor in a car park in Sheung Tak Estate, Tseung Kwan O, led to widespread anger in Hong Kong. While the cause of his death is unknown, protestors accused the police of obstructing paramedics from attending to him, resulting in a delay in treatment. Netizens began calling for a general strike, which would be facilitated by the obstruction of traffic during rush hours. Protestors dubbed the strategy as “Operation Dawn”. Protestors inside the Chinese University of Hong Kong were also involved in paralysing traffic.

Personal Mobility Devices (PMD) Protest:

On 4 November 2019, the authorities declared that electric scooters - which have become a fixture of Singapore’s streets in recent years - would be barred from footpaths the next day. Even as pedestrians cheered, the news set off a furore among many users of the ubiquitous “e-scooters”, as they are known in the city-state. The loudest protests came from 7,000 or so food-delivery riders whose jobs depended on these vehicles.

 

CUHK Democracy Wall Standoff:

In September 2017, tensions arose between different parties over the content of posters put up on Democracy wall in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. This has led to increased tensions in Hong Kong society, due to interpretations of freedom of speech of certain content of the posters. This has also led to copycats incidents occurring in other universities in Hong Kong as well reigniting Hong Kong Independence debate within Hong Kong society. The standoff, which has manifested in a series of protests and counterprotests on campuses, is reflective of the wider disconnect between mainlanders and Hong Kong people, fanned by a host of reasons from politics and language barriers to state-fuelled propaganda and competition for scarce resources.

National Service in Singapore:

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In Singapore, National Service is mandatory conscription and duty that every male citizen and PR must undertake upon attaining the age of 18. NS can be served in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) or Singapore Police Force (SPF).

 

To date, more than 900,000 male Singaporeans have served NS and journeyed through this rite of passage. For many, this defining experience bonds servicemen from different backgrounds and across generations.

 

In recent years, however, there has been a constant debate about whether National Service in Singapore should be made compulsory for everyone. Some felt that National Service should be abolished and made into a volunteer service while others felt that it should be made compulsory as it helps to evoke a sense of identity to Singaporeans. 

 

Hence, an article is produced about the importance of NS, stating that it is vital to S'pore's ability to defend itself. It is imperative that Mindef is alert to issues that might shake the nation's commitment to NS. 

 

National Service in Hong Kong:

However, in Hong Kong, it never had its own military forces because it has never been a sovereign state, except voluntary auxiliary force like The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers). 

 

After the Hong Kong government’s controversial extradition bill left plans to make it easier for local residents to join the Chinese military and government in limbo (Kinling Lo and Minnie Chan, 2019), there have been constant controversial that mandatory military conscription will be a very positive move for Hong Kong because it will promote national unity, raise people’s political awareness and help them gain new knowledge and skills. (Pang, 2017)