Commentary: Kitefoiler Max Maeder’s NS deferment highlights the value all sports can bring to a country

SINGAPORE: When it was announced on Saturday (Jul 6) that Singapore world champion kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder had been granted a long-term deferment from National Service (NS) for about four years, it was very encouraging and welcome news.

The long-standing tension between the need to serve one’s country as a national serviceman and the demands of the finite sporting career of a high-performance athlete has been present and debated across multiple fora in Singapore for decades.

Whenever the issue is raised, the arguments for the obligation to serve NS to be applied universally, equally and without exception have centered around Singapore’s small population, which means a smaller demographic on which to tap for soldiers, and also the need for a completely fair and egalitarian approach to conscription.

These factors have historically always won out over arguments that national athletes are also doing a form of “national service” each time they fly the flag on the global sporting stage.

To analyse this debate would require a separate commentary of its own. Suffice to say, in Singapore, the need to serve NS regardless of one's medal tally persists to this day, and looks set to continue.

At the same time, the policymakers at the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) have clearly been exploring ways to work within the set parameters of NS obligations, while creating optimal conditions for athletes seeking to balance both NS and their sporting aspirations.

These include early enlistment and short postponements of enlistment dates should there be a clash with major competitions. 

There are also various provisions to support full-time national servicemen (NSFs) to train for and compete in major events, subject to their NS operational