The hasty preparation and implementation of the national service programme have resulted in various shortcomings. Last Tuesday, it was the SMS and Khidmat Negara website debacle , where we had such a trying time finding out who were chosen.

Today those 85,000 chosen youth are faced with even more dilemmas. Education Minister Musa Mohamad announced that those chosen second and third batches will face adjusted entry dates for pre-university programmes, to accommodate the training.

However, trainees in the second and third batches entering Lower Six and matriculation classes would not be able to complete the three-month programme in one stretch. These youth will have to do one part of their 12 weeks training in 2004 and the remainder in 2005.

Obviously there is little or no coordination between the Education Ministry and the Defence Ministry which oversees the national service training department. Affected youth are further required to appeal to the Defence Ministry, not Musa's Ministry.

I was informed that the guidelines for exemption on medical and disability grounds are still not available. Designated government hospitals for these medical examinations have also not been revealed. Already, there are anxious parents bringing their children for such examinations.

As the programme is not on a voluntary basis, shouldn't the onus be on the national service training department to choose from those it had declared as medically fit, rather than the other way around where those chosen will have to obtain medical certification to say that they are unfit for the programme? Are parents required to sign release forms when their children undergo this non-voluntary training?

Those who have signed up for further studies, especially Australian matriculation programmes, now face problems. Will they get a refund on the tuition fees paid? On this matter, the Education Ministry is passing the buck to the Ministry of Defence. If they are not allowed to appeal and postpone their national service training stint, they may not be able to apply for a refund, which will cost losses aplenty.

Some 650 ethnic Chinese trainers are needed to make up the racial balance. So far, only 350 have volunteered. Will they be found in the near future, early enough that they can still undergo required training before they can function as trainers? I wonder what other problems will crop up over this hastily and poorly planned programme to burden our youth.