Monthly allowance for NSFs to be increased by $35-$75 from July 1

SINGAPORE - New military training areas in Pulau Tekong and higher allowance for full-time national servicemen (NSFs) were among several announcements made during the debate on the Ministry of Defence's (Mindef) budget.

Here are six key announcements Mindef made in Parliament on March 3.

NSFs' monthly allowance will be raised

Mindef will raise the monthly allowance for NSFs by between $35 and $75 from July 1, according to Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How. This is an increase of about 4 per cent to 5 per cent for most NSFs. It is the fourth adjustment in the last 10 years.

The allowance is periodically reviewed to ensure that it remains adequate. The last revision came in July 2023.

Following the increase, recruits in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), and trainee special constables in the Singapore Police Force (SPF) will see their allowance rise from $755 to $790.

At the other end of the scale, an NSF SAF or SCDF lieutenant and an inspector in the SPF will have his monthly allowance increased from $1,455 to a minimum of $1,530 and up to $1,955, depending on his vocation.

Expanded training areas in Pulau Tekong and Safti City

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said that the SAF training area in Pulau Tekong will be expanded, with a 10km-long section set aside for manoeuvre training using vehicles.

Dr Ng added that the increased manoeuvre training areas is important as the Singapore Army becomes increasingly "platform-based" - meaning soldiers will be moving around more in vehicles, rather than on foot.

The SAF will also be able to carry out helicopter-borne and amphibious training on the island.

Training has also commenced since last October at the new Safti City urban training facility. Mindef says that this is part of the SAF's Manoeuvre Training Area (West), which also includes Instrumented Battle Circuits (iBACs) containing static and mobile interactive targets in the Ama Keng and Pasir Laba training areas, and the Murai Urban battle circuit.

New training, joint patrols in Indonesia

Dr Ng also announced that Singapore and Indonesia will conduct the inaugural bilateral air patrol under the Singapore-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol initiative in 2025.

In effect since March 2024, the defence cooperation agreement promotes closer interactions between the two countries' respective defence establishments, especially in new areas of cooperation, Dr Ng said.

He also noted that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia expressed support for more military engagement between the SAF and Indonesian armed forces, including joint training in Kalimantan, during their meeting in November 2024.

Solar farm in Sembawang Air Base

A solar farm will be built at Sembawang Air Base as part of Mindef's efforts to meet its sustainability commitments, said Senior Minister of State for Defence Zaqy Mohamad.

The solar farm will generate 18-megawatt peak (MWp) of energy, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 4,700 four-room HDB flats. This will save the SAF approximately $1.9 million per year.

Other sustainability initiatives announced included a super low-energy flight simulator built by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) in Tengah Air Base, which consumes up to 40 per cent less energy than previous designs, and a wash shed for Chinook helicopters, which uses up to 60 per cent less water per wash.

In 2021, Mindef had committed itself to deploy more solar panels in SAF camps and bases to achieve a target of 50 MWp of solar capacity by 2025, or equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 13,000 four-room HDB flats.

Safra Bayshore in the east

A new Safra clubhouse, the largest yet, will be built in the Bayshore area, to better serve servicemen and their families in the east. It will replace its oldest clubhouse in Tampines, which was built in 1988.

"Safra Bayshore will be Safra's largest clubhouse and will offer unique family, entertainment and recreational facilities," added Mr Zaqy, who was responding to a query from Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC).

There are currently seven Safra clubhouses across Singapore providing activities for servicemen and their families.

Biosafety Level-4 lab

The Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory, announced in 2021, will be completed in 2026, Dr Ng said in an update.

It will be certified as a maximum containment facility (MCF) in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines, enabling it to handle bio-agents that are deemed highly contagious and lethal, such as the Ebola virus.

BSL-4 labs require more stringent levels of air separation, and must have the ability to quickly shut down and isolate the facility when needed. This will provide Singapore with the capability to assess the nature of an outbreak, isolate and identify the bio-agent, and develop early disease control measures, Dr Ng added.