Total Defence

Singapore is a small country. It has a small population base and no natural resources. It is a multi-racial and multi-religious society, a young country whose roots are still being planted. All these make Singapore vulnerable not only to military attacks, but also to exploitation of our economic, social, political or psychological weaknesses by those who may wish to do us harm.
To ensure that we can deal adequately with these challenges, it is important that Singapore has a Total Defence capability that involves the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), as well as the entire civilian population.