I have to disagree with Lim Kit Siang's knee-jerk call for the voluntary exclusion of girls from national service.

Today's equal opportunity world must be made just that equal opportunity. Excluding girls from national service gives them a year's head start in the workforce with the ultimate consequence of more rapid promotions and job access for them since they would have accumulated at least a year of experience ahead.

This is already happening in Singapore. Please let us all have a level-playing field if this national service programme is to be retained.

Any exclusion of females runs counter to the principles of female emancipation and empowerment. They are as capable as males in today's society as seen by the many competent women managers they certainly do not need this unfair advantage at all.