I’ve always had a soft spot for projects related to nation building and national education.

So when a project on National Service (NS) came along, I was excited.

Yet when my teammates asked if I’d be willing to send my son to NS, I couldn’t give a straight answer.

It wasn’t that I didn’t support NS. If you had asked me this same question seven years ago, my answer would have been a resounding ‘yes’.

But I was now the mother of a seven-year-old son. I knew the importance of NS to my country. I just wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of my son experiencing its hardships. 

I thought about excusing myself from the team. I have always felt that I need to be fully convinced about my client’s purpose before taking on any assignment. This way, whatever messages that I help craft will be genuine. They won’t be just empty catchphrases.

Before joining the team, I read up on NS – books, articles and what netizens said about it. It wasn’t fruitful. I didn’t relate to the facts and figures. I couldn’t find the voices of mothers online.

I asked my husband. His answer, to my surprise, was an immediate ‘yes’. His NS experience had been a good one. He felt that our son would benefit from it. I couldn’t relate to his experience: all that military jargon simply went over my head.

Then, I met my 19-year-old cousin. He was about two months into his NS. He talked happily about his time in Pulau Tekong and daily routine. He was at an all-time “high” when he told me that he was able to complete all the exercises with super good times. He even joked about not having any more muscle aches as he exercised every day.

My greatest surprise actually came from my aunty. Like many mums, she had been apprehensive about her son serving NS. But this time around, she didn’t voice out her worries. Instead, she told us how her son had managed to accomplish certain things in NS that she hadn’t thought possible in the past. She was beaming with pride. Like me, my aunty could see the changes in my cousin.

The advertisements, movies, documentaries and my uncle’s positive opinions over the years had barely assured my aunty about NS. What worked now was the transformation in her son. He, and not anyone else, was the best person to convince his mum.

This gave me an insight: When the sons find meaning in whatever that they are doing, their mums will be their greatest cheerleaders.

This is a universal truth, and I’m intrigued by it. And it was where I began for my project.

Angeline Tong is an architect of narratives and Chief Curator at HOL, an experience strategy and curation consultancy. Angeline has a Master of Education (Human Development & Psychology) from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies from Harvard University. She currently resides in Singapore.

To contact Angeline, email atong@hol.sg.