-_-;; Singapore is not in danger of being invaded by anyone. At most they might get into a small scuffle over some tiny islands with Malaysia, but realistically they're not going to invade each other.
Most people know the Gurkhas served in British army and even had a brigade in Hong Kong. But few know that they also serve India and Singapore today. Here's some info and few photos of the Gurkha Contingent in SG:
And their recruitment requirements:
Formed in 1949 with 142 men, the contingent has since grown to over 2,000 in size in 2003 [1]. Young men are recruited in Nepal at the British Gurkha camp in Pokhara. About 370 are selected annually in December out of a pool of over 20,000 applications [2], with about 140 eventually joining the GC while the rest will go to the British Army.
Some of the basic physical admission criteria in the recruitment camp include:
* Aged 17½ to 21
* Minimum height of 160 centimetres
* Minimum weight of 50 kilogrammes
* Chest circumference of 79 centimetres with minimum 5 centimetres expansion
* No applicants needing eyesight aids will be accepted.
* Generally good oral hygiene, with up to two filling, false teeth or a single gap.
Applicants are expected to possess a minimum education level of SLC 3rd Division. Upon registration, they have to go through a battery of physical and mental assessments prior to selection, including oral and written tests in the English language, a mathematics test, a board interview and medical examination. The annual selection process, which normally takes 17 days but is spread over four months due to conditions in Nepal, will then assign recruits to either the GC or the British Army.
Upon successful selection, GC trainees are flown to Singapore, and housed at the permanent base of the GC at Mount Vernon Camp where they will receive a ten-month long training before being subsequently deployed for duties. The training phase of GC officers is relatively unknown, although they have been noted to utilise the jungles in Pulau Tekong for training. Arrangements with the Brunei police has allowed Gurkha officers to conduct jungle training in Brunei for several years. Training from external agencies were also received from the Singapore Armed Forces' School of Military Medicine for medical courses [3], and the Aikido Shinju-kai Singapore for lessons in Aikido [4], amongst others.
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Less publicly known, is the GC's role in helping to train fellow officers in the police force, as well as other agencies including that of the military. Their excellent fitness, combat and survival skills were imparted through various courses, in return for the help they have similarly received from other agencies in training GC troopers. Gurkhas occasionally lead police Senior Officer trainees in runs and other physical training.
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As you can see since they're only taking 370 recruits out of 20,000 applicants, they can afford to be very choosy. You can get disqualified for needing eye glasses or have bad teeth. >_<
