On any weekend at Pasir Ris MRT, you will spot waves of army recruits.
These are mostly just your friendly NSFs who have either booked out or are getting ready to return to Pulau Tekong, where three Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC) schools are.
However, it seems their presence isn’t welcomed, at least according to a video by TikToker nisonchanmalichan.
The TikToker had earlier posted a video discussing NSFs on MRT trains, which sparked debates on how NSFs are treated in public. Among them was a comment in response to said video that revealed something unexpected.
The comment claims that recruits from Pulau Tekong were barred from dining at McDonald’s White Sands, located next to Pasir Ris MRT station, because someone allegedly complained to the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) that too many recruits in uniform were taking up seats.
Those who’ve experienced the blues before booking into camp would know it would be quite vexing to be told that we can’t dine in as a last bit of comfort.
8days.sg reached out to both the MINDEF and McDonald’s for comment.
In response, Mindef posted the following statement to Facebook:
“We are aware of online comments alleging that BMTC recruits are barred from visiting McDonald’s at White Sands Shopping Mall.
We wish to clarify that recruits are free to spend their personal time as they wish when they book-out, and they are expected to maintain good conduct at all times. There are no restrictions imposed by BMTC.”
Netizens seem appalled by the allegations with many outraged.
One claimed that this was nothing new and ranted: “NSFs are treated as the lowest caste of life for many years, MINDEF didn’t defend us but ‘rub salt into the injury’, experienced it many times during my NSF days. Kind of sad, as we are conscripted to defend the country but treated worse than construction workers”.
Another pointed out that there are other dining options, such as Pasir Ris Mall, while others were just relieved that “they didn’t ban the Yew Tee point outlet for those serving at School 5″.
BMTC School 5 is located at Kranji Camp II and was opened in 2018.