SMEs prepare for journey of pain

[minority]

PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 27, 2013
SMEs prepare for journey of pain
Despite help on offer, life will get harder, they say
BYFELDA CHAY

Some of the schemes that promise help may also have a limited impact. In particular, the business leaders pointed out that only a select group of firms will benefit from government help to enable SMEs to relocate some of their operations offshore - PHOTO: SPH
[SINGAPORE] It's going to get tougher for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the near term, and many may be forced to shut down, relocate or consolidate their business, said leaders of the SME community after the Budget was unveiled on Monday.

They say that the measures introduced focus strictly on raising productivity and pushing companies to restructure, but do not offer direct help with pressing issues such as escalating rentals.

Some of the schemes that promise help may also have a limited impact. In particular, the business leaders pointed out that only a select group of firms will benefit from government help to enable SMEs to relocate some of their operations offshore.

Meanwhile, the Wage Credit Scheme, a three-year government co-funding scheme for wage increases for Singaporean employees with a pay of up to $4,000, may put pressure on SMEs to raise workers' pay even though no productivity gains were made.

Said Lawrence Leow, head of the SME committee at the Singapore Business Federation: "Things will not get easier for SMEs going forward. This is a restructuring process and there will be a lot of pain. You are hearing things like how companies and restaurants are closing down, or cutting the number of outlets. It's a consolidation phase.

"I expect to see companies shutting down, or moving overseas because we just don't have the manpower. Without manpower you cannot do anything. Only companies that can attract employees will be able to continue running their business in Singapore."

Andrew Tjioe, president of the 300-member-strong Restaurant Association of Singapore, believes that more food and beverage (F&B) outlets will close down.

"They will have to pack up, especially the smaller ones," said Mr Tjioe, who is also executive chairman of TungLok Group.

"I don't feel good about the Budget at all. To put it bluntly I feel very bad, and I think my industry colleagues feel the same way. Many of us will be in trouble. The higher foreign worker levy for F&B is totally unnecessary, and hiring locals is not going to get any easier for us. And we have been paying more, and salaries have been increasing tremendously. But no matter how much we pay, we just cannot attract locals to be in this industry."

Apart from tougher foreign worker levies and cuts in dependency ratio ceiling, the budget has a scheme in which the government co-funds wage increases for some Singapore employees for three years.

Chan Chong Beng, president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, did not welcome the scheme, noting SMEs may end up feeling pressured to raise the wages of Singaporean employees.

"I think this is dangerous, because wage increases without productivity increases will put a lot of pressure on costs. They (the government) are hoping that employers pass on the productivity savings but there is nothing to link productivity to this wage subsidy."

But Mr Tjioe said that the co-funding scheme will help F&B operators.

"I think this is good, I like it. We have to increase the pay of the workers anyway and we have been doing it, so the 40 per cent from the government will help."

Another initiative announced by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam promised help to those who choose to relocate some operations offshore but retain their core functions in Singapore.

No further details were provided on this, though business leaders say they understand the scheme will involve SMEs having to swop some of the current space they are taking up here under JTC leases, in exchange for help to obtain space offshore.

Said Mr Chan: "You must give back the land and space to them, so there are probably very few companies that will benefit if they want to relocate. It is not meant for every SME. You have to be prepared to return earlier parts of the land and space you leased from JTC, in exchange for some grant for relocation. So not everyone who wants to relocate will be able to benefit from this."

He said that there are about 200 companies that take up leases with JTC, meaning only very few firms that will benefit.

Another initiative that may have little impact is the plan to have SMEs and large corporations - such as government-linked companies - collaborate with one another. Again, no details were provided on how this will work.

Said Mr Chan: "It is easier said than done. It is very difficult in Singapore because we don't have such a culture."

[minority]

Get Ready for people to loose jobs and inflation of prices. This is what the people ask for this is what the people get.

[minority]

PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 27, 2013
REACTIONS TO BUDGET
Retailers, F&B bosses fearing the worst in foreign-worker curbs
BYMALMINDERJIT SINGH

Mr Tjioe: Manpower crunch will lead to loss of chefs - PHOTO: TUNG LOK RESTAURANTS
[SINGAPORE] Moves to further curb the inflow of foreign manpower in Monday's Budget aren't sitting well with some retailers and food & beverage (F&B) operators who believe they will be hit hard.
With a dearth of Singaporeans willing to take up jobs in these sectors, retail and F&B firms say that a lack of manpower, resulting from the reduction in foreign worker dependency numbers and the increase in the foreign worker levy as announced in the Budget, would lead to a loss of business and decline in service standards and could force them to either wind down or move out of Singapore.
The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) acknowledged that this was a real problem for the service sector in general.
"It is clear the government is pursuing a targeted approach to the foreign manpower issue, and the announced measures favour companies that are committed to productivity-led growth with the emphasis on hiring locals. The service sector, long deemed a productivity laggard, has been delivered a resounding message to restructure with further reductions in work permits, increased foreign worker levies and tighter dependency caps," said Ho Meng Kit, CEO of SBF.
Mr Ho added that many of these services companies in the F&B, hotel and retail will have a hard time adjusting and some will fail.
Companies BT spoke to were pessimistic about their future, insisting that foreign manpower was integral to their operations.
The F&B industry, for instance, feels it needs foreign manpower because there simply aren't enough workers among locals for the sector.
"Singaporeans don't even turn up for interviews when we advertise for vacancies," said Karambeer Khanijou, director of Old Empire and TSA Wines, adding that even when Singaporeans are hired, they typically do not last more than a week or two, a phenomenon he has witnessed in other F&B establishments too.
Making it harder to hire foreigners will result in F&B outlets becoming understaffed, which would not only lead to falling business for these operations, but also result in a decline of service standards, F&B operators said.
Mr Khanijou told BT that he knew of two F&B outlets in Singapore that have closed down for these reasons and said he would not be surprised to see more suffer the same fate this year.
Others in the industry feel the tightening could lead to a loss of creativity and damage the industry's reputation.
Andrew Tjioe, president of the 300-member strong Restaurant Association of Singapore and executive chairman of the Tung Lok Group, reckons the manpower crunch will lead to a loss of chefs who are a source of creativity in the industry.
"Singapore used to be one of the cuisine capitals in the world and in Asia, but I think this glory is fading because now we don't have the service and soon we won't have the creativity. Those who do have creativity won't want to stay in Singapore, (as) they would rather go overseas and there are many countries that will be willing to take them," said Mr Tjioe.
Companies may also opt to relocate away from Singapore to save their operations.
Foodedge Gourmet, for one, is thinking of relocating segments of its food business to Malaysia because it feels the labour crunch will make it more difficult for it to operate here. A spokesman for the company told BT that automation to achieve productivity gains has its limitations, since widespread automation requires more land, which is a substantially higher business cost here and would require a large volume of production for economies of scale to be achieved.
The picture isn't rosy for the retail sector too, said R Dhinakaran, managing director of the Jay Gee Melwani Group and vice-president of the Singapore Retail Association.
Mr Dhinakaran said curtailing foreign labour may hurt retail companies more as the room to make productivity gains is more limited than other sectors because of the limitations of automation completely being able to replace the "human touch" of retail jobs.
Retailers not only stand to lose money if they are understaffed, but the drop in service standards compared with neighbouring countries could also hurt tourist spending, he warned.
Some retail businesses have become accustomed to the shortage of staff. Terence Yow, CEO of shoe retailer and distributor Enviably Me, said he has assembled a high-quality workforce that can multi-task to get around this problem, but he concedes that such an approach would not be able to overcome a severe reduction in headcount.

[byyboo]

Its either we adapt or we move out. The whole policy was not taken into considerations of the each specific industry.

[teddybear]

Industries that cannot be moved out of Singapore should be banned from employing foreign workers! We know very well that retail and Food&Beverage are 2 such industries, as is construction, & education.

All the talk about moving out threat by employers are just bull-shit in the above industries. If F&B and retail and construction and education companies want to move out, by all means! It just means somebody else will take over their pie locally! They mean they can move out of Singapore and then earn money from people living in Singapore? Singaporeans fly/ship overseas to eat, live etc every time they want to buy their products/services then come back?

But actually hor, the biggest problems SMEs faced are the escalating rentals and prices of commercial/retail/industrial property properties, in turn because of the GLCs and related REITs! They are the one causing high business costs!

So, the most effective and best solution is to rein in the REITs and their own GLCs from causing price escalation and super inflation! And the high escalation is partially also because the GLC CEOs are getting Millions $ of salary, trying all means to increase revenue and profits and hence their own pay. Go look at their CEO/average worker pay, Wow! Incredible multiples! Shouldn't their average worker pay go up with the prospects of the company? As it is now, the pay of the CEOs go up with the higher profits of the company but not the workers! The govt should do something about all these "FAT CATS" who are enriching themselves!

Its either we adapt or we move out. The whole policy was not taken into considerations of the each specific industry.

[teddybear]

I thought they should have severe cooling measures to rein in the commercial/retail/industry property prices and rentals but there isn't!

SMEs employ like >2/3 of all employed in Singapore! They typically employ 1 to 50 workers. Just assume a small shop rental costs $10k pm, the proprietor employs just 1 worker $1k pm, so rental/pay is 10x!
Isn't it clear that shop rental is out of proportion?

Will cutting foreign workers solve the problem of employers employ more singaporeans? No. Because I foresee how they will do it:
1) Retrench 2 foreign workers (save 2 x$1000 (include levy) = $2000 pm)
1) Employ 1 singaporeans to do 2 FWs' job (pay $1400 pm! Bravo! Save $600 pm and govt say they helped raised pay of singaporean?! Govt help SMEs to exploit Singaporean instead by making them increase "productivity"?! Whole load of rubbish isn't it? No wonder singaporeans keep complaining about increasing work load, too tired when go home, no family time, no time to make baby, let alone raise a child!)

Industries that cannot be moved out of Singapore should be banned from employing foreign workers! We know very well that retail and Food&Beverage are 2 such industries, as is construction, & education.

All the talk about moving out threat by employers are just bull-shit in the above industries. If F&B and retail and construction and education companies want to move out, by all means! It just means somebody else will take over their pie locally! They mean they can move out of Singapore and then earn money from people living in Singapore? Singaporeans fly/ship overseas to eat, live etc every time they want to buy their products/services then come back?

But actually hor, the biggest problems SMEs faced are the escalating rentals and prices of commercial/retail/industrial property properties, in turn because of the GLCs and related REITs! They are the one causing high business costs!

So, the most effective and best solution is to rein in the REITs and their own GLCs from causing price escalation and super inflation! And the high escalation is partially also because the GLC CEOs are getting Millions $ of salary, trying all means to increase revenue and profits and hence their own pay. Go look at their CEO/average worker pay, Wow! Incredible multiples! Shouldn't their average worker pay go up with the prospects of the company? As it is now, the pay of the CEOs go up with the higher profits of the company but not the workers! The govt should do something about all these "FAT CATS" who are enriching themselves!

[minority]

I thought they should have severe cooling measures to rein in the commercial/retail/industry property prices and rentals but there isn't!

SMEs employ like >2/3 of all employed in Singapore! They typically employ 1 to 50 workers. Just assume a small shop rental costs $10k pm, the proprietor employs just 1 worker $1k pm, so rental/pay is 10x!
Isn't it clear that shop rental is out of proportion?

Will cutting foreign workers solve the problem of employers employ more singaporeans? No. Because I foresee how they will do it:
1) Retrench 2 foreign workers (save 2 x$1000 (include levy) = $2000 pm)
1) Employ 1 singaporeans to do 2 FWs' job (pay $1400 pm! Bravo! Save $600 pm and govt say they helped raised pay of singaporean?! Govt help SMEs to exploit Singaporean instead by making them increase "productivity"?! Whole load of rubbish isn't it? No wonder singaporeans keep complaining about increasing work load, too tired when go home, no family time, no time to make baby, let alone raise a child!)

Well that could also means the SME business are not what Singapore wants. Coz to support the wage increment Singaporean wants. Coz it too low tech or low revenue to support singapore growth. Those will eventually move out.

So what that rent is cut down too much? it would not change the singaporean pay in the long run if the SME biz is low tech.

[FamilyGuy72]

Not really SME but if Kopitiam wants to move out, I'll help them pack

[smellyfish]

the whole point of this exercise, which they cannot say out loud, is to make some SMEs go out of business, so that the foreign workers they hire will go back where they come from and the local workers (and the boss(es)) can go work for other SMEs that are able to survive, therefore alleviating the labour crunch of those surviving SMEs

[minority]

the whole point of this exercise, which they cannot say out loud, is to make some SMEs go out of business, so that the foreign workers they hire will go back where they come from and the local workers (and the boss(es)) can go work for other SMEs that are able to survive, therefore alleviating the labour crunch of those surviving SMEs

Yes it will be painful. Also dont expect cost to come down coz over all cost structure is increased.

Also Some of the low end industry will go to JB which is also quietly what this exercise is about. Coz low end industry cannot pay the workers high too as margin is low. Which essentially cannot support the higher wage Singaporean want.

Well moving forward the way I look at it Singaporean better be ready to increase their skill set. Coz eventually the lower end skilled singaporean will be less skilled then the skilled FW that are being preferred .

[phantom_opera]

Only high end F&B can survive, there will be more choice for middle and upper middle class, for the poor they always can rely on garmen hawker centers

And I can tell you our middle class F&B really cannot make it right now ... use of palm oil, lousy ingredients, unhealthy cooking blah

Yet it is not cheap e.g. you compare Subway breakfast (one sub + coffee is 3.50 ... very healthy / decent) to those super palm oil $2.50 nasi lemak at Kopitiam

It is time for such stalls to go out of biz and let the higher quality F&B survive

[minority]

Only high end F&B can survive, there will be more choice for middle and upper middle class, for the poor they always can rely on garmen hawker centers

And I can tell you our middle class F&B really cannot make it right now ... use of palm oil, lousy ingredients, unhealthy cooking blah

Yet it is not cheap e.g. you compare Subway breakfast (one sub + coffee is 3.50 ... very healthy / decent) to those super palm oil $2.50 nasi lemak at Kopitiam

It is time for such stalls to go out of biz and let the higher quality F&B survive

$2.5 is cheap

[star]

Businesses are moving out here thats why STI no power. Thanks to those opposing.

[teddybear]

Well that could also means the SME business are not what Singapore wants. Coz to support the wage increment Singaporean wants. Coz it too low tech or low revenue to support singapore growth. Those will eventually move out.

So what that rent is cut down too much? it would not change the singaporean pay in the long run if the SME biz is low tech.

U must kidding. Already said 2/3 workforces. If doesn't want such jobs, what's Singaporean going to work? Jobless.

[minority]

U must kidding. Already said 2/3 workforces. If doesn't want such jobs, what's Singaporean going to work? Jobless.

yeah Singaporean all want high pay job. low paying SME can packup and go. Coz they wont survive. Cannot afford to pay singaporean also.

So I guess these are the SME we dont want. Coz we also dont want to see the FW working at such SME too!. so only way is out for them.

[alamak]

Industries that cannot be moved out of Singapore should be banned from employing foreign workers! We know very well that retail and Food&Beverage are 2 such industries, as is construction, & education.

All the talk about moving out threat by employers are just bull-shit in the above industries. If F&B and retail and construction and education companies want to move out, by all means! It just means somebody else will take over their pie locally! They mean they can move out of Singapore and then earn money from people living in Singapore? Singaporeans fly/ship overseas to eat, live etc every time they want to buy their products/services then come back?

But actually hor, the biggest problems SMEs faced are the escalating rentals and prices of commercial/retail/industrial property properties, in turn because of the GLCs and related REITs! They are the one causing high business costs!

So, the most effective and best solution is to rein in the REITs and their own GLCs from causing price escalation and super inflation! And the high escalation is partially also because the GLC CEOs are getting Millions $ of salary, trying all means to increase revenue and profits and hence their own pay. Go look at their CEO/average worker pay, Wow! Incredible multiples! Shouldn't their average worker pay go up with the prospects of the company? As it is now, the pay of the CEOs go up with the higher profits of the company but not the workers! The govt should do something about all these "FAT CATS" who are enriching themselves!

You forget Gahment is the FAT CAT themselves (peg pay to top earners in pte sector ) so they are enriching themselves.

[teddybear]

yeah Singaporean all want high pay job. low paying SME can packup and go. Coz they wont survive. Cannot afford to pay singaporean also.

So I guess these are the SME we dont want. Coz we also dont want to see the FW working at such SME too!. so only way is out for them.

We want SME, didn't I say SME cant survive because the rental costs are way too high here. Gov has to do something on lower down the rental cost.

[smellyfish]

We want SME, didn't I say SME cant survive because the rental costs are way too high here. Gov has to do something on lower down the rental cost.

exactly land and rent reform is what we need, more than all these labour reform

[teddybear]

How can any one expect costs to come down and inflation to come down when
There is NO severe COOLING MEASURES to rein in the commercial/retail/industry property prices and rentals
?
It is obvious isn't it?

Yes it will be painful. Also dont expect cost to come down coz over all cost structure is increased.

Also Some of the low end industry will go to JB which is also quietly what this exercise is about. Coz low end industry cannot pay the workers high too as margin is low. Which essentially cannot support the higher wage Singaporean want.

Well moving forward the way I look at it Singaporean better be ready to increase their skill set. Coz eventually the lower end skilled singaporean will be less skilled then the skilled FW that are being preferred .

[teddybear]

Please see my example, $10k rental per month, $1k worker salary pm.
Just need to cut rental by 10% to $9k rental pm, employer can increase worker's salary to $2k pm or 100% increase without incurring extra costs! So simple! But GOVT is not doing it! Why?
You think nobody want $2k pm salesgirl job if it is 8 hours a day and only 5 day week? The truth is, because of super high rental, the employer has to make his staff work for 12 hours a day and 7 days a week! Who will do this kind of job? Definitely not Singaporeans! Only FWs!

Remember that somebody who say $3k pm dish-washer no Singaporean want to do? REALLY?
Well, I read from internet that the truth has been revealed! It is true he paid $3k pm, but not to a dish-washer, but a outsourcing company that provides his company with several dish-washers rotating to work >12 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! You think a single human being can work that long hours with no rest?!

Well that could also means the SME business are not what Singapore wants. Coz to support the wage increment Singaporean wants. Coz it too low tech or low revenue to support singapore growth. Those will eventually move out.

So what that rent is cut down too much? it would not change the singaporean pay in the long run if the SME biz is low tech.

Originally Posted by teddybear
I thought they should have severe cooling measures to rein in the commercial/retail/industry property prices and rentals but there isn't!

SMEs employ like >2/3 of all employed in Singapore! They typically employ 1 to 50 workers. Just assume a small shop rental costs $10k pm, the proprietor employs just 1 worker $1k pm, so rental/pay is 10x!
Isn't it clear that shop rental is out of proportion?

Will cutting foreign workers solve the problem of employers employ more singaporeans? No. Because I foresee how they will do it:
1) Retrench 2 foreign workers (save 2 x$1000 (include levy) = $2000 pm)
1) Employ 1 singaporeans to do 2 FWs' job (pay $1400 pm! Bravo! Save $600 pm and govt say they helped raised pay of singaporean?! Govt help SMEs to exploit Singaporean instead by making them increase "productivity"?! Whole load of rubbish isn't it? No wonder singaporeans keep complaining about increasing work load, too tired when go home, no family time, no time to make baby, let alone raise a child!)

[proud owner]

yeah Singaporean all want high pay job. low paying SME can packup and go. Coz they wont survive. Cannot afford to pay singaporean also.

So I guess these are the SME we dont want. Coz we also dont want to see the FW working at such SME too!. so only way is out for them.

is construction considered SME spore doesnt want ?

its workforce are mainly FW ...

by cutting FW ...who is going to do the job ?

so how ? raise the salary and employ local .... that wud mean much much higher cost ... eventually translated to psf ...

[PN]

is construction considered SME spore doesnt want ?

its workforce are mainly FW ...

by cutting FW ...who is going to do the job ?

so how ? raise the salary and employ local .... that wud mean much much higher cost ... eventually translated to psf ...

Local? Nobody want to do lah.

If no more FW in construction, never mind.
In future you want a house, you got to build your own. DIY.
Or maybe get all the NS man to go do construction as part of the NS training.

[tivoli]

Actually Worker's Party's proposal is good.

WP suggested implementing levy based on sectors.
eg. Construction poor pay tough job, we will allow more foreigners.
Banking higher pay jobs, give companies some rebate for hiring locals to give local guys an advantage.

But Tharma implemented a broad-based sledge hammer approach without considering the industry ....

Local? Nobody want to do lah.

If no more FW in construction, never mind.
In future you want a house, you got to build your own. DIY.
Or maybe get all the NS man to go do construction as part of the NS training.

[Shanhz]

Actually Worker's Party's proposal is good.

WP suggested implementing levy based on sectors.
eg. Construction poor pay tough job, we will allow more foreigners.
Banking higher pay jobs, give companies some rebate for hiring locals to give local guys an advantage.

But Tharma implemented a broad-based sledge hammer approach without considering the industry ....

without being partisan, WP's suggestion is the common sense suggestoin. we also know this. just ask around - who is against having more construction workers to build houses? every body knows no singaporeans will do this work. same for marine, things like welding - where got s'porean doing? this one is pure common sense.

PAP dun have common sense? surely not. there are greater agendas.

[minority]

is construction considered SME spore doesnt want ?

its workforce are mainly FW ...

by cutting FW ...who is going to do the job ?

so how ? raise the salary and employ local .... that wud mean much much higher cost ... eventually translated to psf ...

Well I am all for having FW coz we need them to keep cost low. So many people here are crying foul. hate to take MRT n c big bunch of FW. well here u go scheme take out all of them and cost increase.

like I say many time cost will not go down. if even u take the FW out. infact it will go up more. The people have spoken yeah... and they should get ready for wat they ask for.

[minority]

Actually Worker's Party's proposal is good.

WP suggested implementing levy based on sectors.
eg. Construction poor pay tough job, we will allow more foreigners.
Banking higher pay jobs, give companies some rebate for hiring locals to give local guys an advantage.

But Tharma implemented a broad-based sledge hammer approach without considering the industry ....

Good? hah haha freeze FW for next 7yrs! good by foot.. impact will be far worst then the current levy.

levying base on sectors will mean some sectors continue to be low on productivity. and create a very unfair playing field. increase leavy across and let the system balance itself out.

but it will be painful. and yes local jobs will also be lost. thats the fact. and cost will soar too. been mention many times. but people all say I DONT CARE. I DONT WANT GDP. I WANT SINGAPORE CHEAP coz FW fault!!!! Ya dah ya dah....

[PN]

This morning I was woke up by a loud thunder and saw the lightning bright flash while still lying down on my bed. The windows starts shaking as the shock waves hit them.

While I was wondering if an asteroid has hit Singapore, I felt an electric shock passing through my body. I was motionless. I thought to myself, it's the end of the world.

A few seconds later, I ask myself where am I? In heaven or underneath?
I moved my eyes from left to right and right to left.... the place looks familiar and I confirmed I'm still alive and still lying down on my lovely bed.

Suddenly my laptop powered on by itself and I saw three words appearing
"National Construction Force"

It faded away very quickly and the laptop goes into Powerpoint slide show mode. More wording appeared after that. I've to read them at lightning speed as the sentences started to scroll up.
.........
.........
.........
Slow down. slow down please.

I estimated at least 10 pages.

[Shanhz]

This morning I was woke up by a loud thunder and saw the lightning bright flash while still lying down on my bed. The windows starts shaking as the shock waves hit them.

While I was wondering if an asteroid has hit Singapore, I felt an electric shock passing through my body. I was motionless. I thought to myself, it's the end of the world.

A few seconds later, I ask myself where am I? In heaven or underneath?
I moved my eyes from left to right and right to left.... the place looks familiar and I confirmed I'm still alive and still lying down on my lovely bed.

Suddenly my laptop powered on by itself and I saw three words appearing
"National Construction Force"

It faded away very quickly and the laptop goes into Powerpoint slide show mode. More wording appeared after that. I've to read them at lightning speed as the sentences started to scroll up.
.........
.........
.........
Slow down. slow down please.

I estimated at least 10 pages.

is your other name BJ21?

[PN]

is your other name BJ21?

Of course "NO".
He say he Siao Nan. I'm not.

[PN]

Here is a summary from what I can recall from the stupid laptop screen.

What Singaporean want and don't like/want to have
1. Want to have cheap and good propoerty (hdb, condo)
2. Don't like FW. All balik kampong better
3. Don't like to do NS.

What can be done to help these poor souls?
All strong and healthy Singapore male citizen when reaches NS age has one more choices besides Army, Police and Civil Defense force. This is the "National Construction Force" in short call NCF. But there is a catch. Normal NS is 2 yrs but the NCF is 3 yrs and there is quota for NCF. Not everybody are eligible to get in.
You can opt-in to join NCF voluntarily but if too many people apply, it has to go into balloting. If nobody apply, you will still be drafted in based on your education background. Those with building services engineering study background has higher priority. Those who can stand under the hot sun for more than 1 hour has higher priority.

What the hell is this NCF?
NCF has similar rank structure as Arm forces.
You'll need to go through 3 months training as a construction worker starting from the very basics. Recruit of course.
The team leader and supervisors are the Corporals ad Sergeants.
The Engineers are Captain and so on.

What do they do?
Since nobody want to do construction and all want the FW to balik kampong, so somebody got to do their work right?
The private will be the construction workers and the Corporals/Sergeants will supervise them. Captain of course do Engineers work lah.

Long time never write long story. Type too much my fingers very tired. Need to take a break.