---
id: sgtest.ns.swearing-in-officer-1967
kind: testimony
title: "National service experience: Sikhs in Singapore's new soldiers in 1967"
url: https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/testimony/sgtest.ns.swearing-in-officer-1967
language: en
evidence_status: self-reported-unverified
collection_as_of: 2026-10-16
---

# National service experience: Sikhs in Singapore's new soldiers in 1967

> Self-reported and unverified. This is one person’s account, attributed to the narrator. It is not a statement of fact or of current rules; check official sources before relying on any detail.

The narrator, interviewed decades later, recalls conducting swearing-in ceremonies for Singapore's first National Service recruits in 1967 amid public opposition to conscription. The narrator remembers worrying that recruits influenced by Barisan Sosialis's campaign against conscription might fight in camp and says staff at the Central Manpower Base were braced for trouble, but that swearing in about 5,000 recruits a year went smoothly.

## Record details

- **Consistency checks:** Detail checked: National Service began with a first intake in 1967; Result: pass; Checked against: [National Service System](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.defense-national-service.national-service-system); Notes: NLB records a first full-time intake of 900 of 9,000 eligible men; an annual figure across later intakes is not directly comparable.; Detail checked: About 5,000 recruits sworn in per year; Result: inconclusive; Checked against: [National Service System](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.defense-national-service.national-service-system)
- **All domains:** defense-national-service
- **Period described:** 1967 –
- **In their words:** I was very worried if the recruits would get into fights in camp because they opposed conscription.
- **Themes:** first-intake; conscription-opposition; swearing-in; 1960s
- **Caveats:** Recollection given about 48 years after the events.; Read through a republication; the original New Paper article was not consulted.
- **Entities:** [Singapore Armed Forces](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/entity/sg.institution.saf)
- **Narrator:** Voice: first-person; Population: citizen; Role at time: SAF officer who conducted swearing-in ceremonies for the first National Service intakes
- **Published:** 2015-08-10
- **Publisher:** Asia Samachar (republishing The New Paper, 10 Aug 2015)
- **Topic ids:** [National Service](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/topic/sgtopic.defence.national-service)
- **Source type:** press-interview
- **Verification:** plausible
- **Self reported:** Rank: Major (retired, at time of interview); Unit: Central Manpower Base; Service: SAF; Vocation: swearing-in officer; Service status: regular
- **Testimony type:** national-service

## Sources

- [Sikhs in Singapore's new soldiers in 1967](https://asiasamachar.com/2015/08/10/sikhs-in-singapores-new-soldiers-in-1967/) — Accessed 2026-10-11

## Explore connections

- Articles: [National Service System](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.defense-national-service.national-service-system)
- Topics: [National Service](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/topic/sgtopic.defence.national-service)
- People & organisations: [Singapore Armed Forces](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/entity/sg.institution.saf)

Dates describe this record’s own period and applicability. A verification date does not mean a rule is currently in force. An expanding collection. Published counts show available knowledge, not complete coverage of Singapore.