Aristocracy of Armed Talent: The Military Elite in Singapore.

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Date: 01 December 2019
• Author: Bradford, John

Aristocracy of Armed Talent: The Military Elite in Singapore. By Samuel Ling Wei Chan. Singapore: NUS Press, 2019. Softcover: 495pp.

Singapore's military is exceptional in many ways. Although the Singapore Armed Forces are relatively small and has never fought in a large-scale conflict, the nation's Total Defence doctrine, hightech edge, and deliberate decisions to gain operational experience by involving the force in complex international operations such as those in Afghanistan and the Gulf of Aden have earned it a reputation as being highly capable. Among the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF) most unusual traits is its system for recruiting and retaining its military officers. Despite stiff competition with opportunities in the private sector and well-paid civil service, the incentives associated with military service has enabled the SAF to attract some of the nations' brightest and most ambitious leaders during both the initial build-up period and in the current era. This system has created a military officer corps institutionalized as a highly-educated professional cadre that leads the military and feeds the nations' top civil service and political posts while avoiding the civil-military tensions found in other Southeast Asian countries.

Central to the military's leaders is a cadre of "scholars", young capable officers who are enticed by scholarships to the world's top schools for undergraduate education and are commonly seen as standing a better chance to rise through the ranks more quickly and with greater institutional support than the other officers (sometimes called "farmers", p. 3) whom they serve alongside. Although unusual, perhaps even unique, the foundation and functionality of this system had not...