PUBLISHED ONApril 13, 2026 7:18 AMBYKhoo Yi-HangDiagnosed with Pes Planus, also known as flat feet, Braden Phua was disappointed — he originally had plans to enter Officer Cadet School (OCS), but failed to do so due to his Pes C9 grade.
A Pes C9 grade, per the current medical classification system (MCS), means that Phua is only suitable for some combat support and combat service support vocations and does not allow him to join OCS.
"My father was already pushing me to go to OCS to become an officer," he told AsiaOne last Wednesday (April 8).
"I felt very heavy-hearted to tell him that I couldn't go to a combat-fit vocation and do a normal BMT (Basic Military Training) to enter command school."
Phua, 21, comes from a family of officers — his brother and uncle are both pilots.
His father wanted to become an officer during his service but was unable to, ultimately leaving that dream to his sons.
"He wanted me to challenge myself, to go through command school, (experience) what I can, and see what kind of a person I can grow into," Phua added.
His first appeal was unsuccessful and was later deployed as a driver, where he sought a second medical review.
He managed to recourse in January 2026 and has successfully entered Officer Cadet School (OCS).
Phua was among the three in four pre-enlistees who had requested for a Pes status upgrade — also known as an 'up-Pes' — after his Pes status was confirmed.
He was only able to enter OCS after his appeal to up-Pes brought him within the bracket of Pes A or B1, which would mean he is suitable for frontline vocations.
In order to do so, he needed to get a specialist memo from an external doctor indicating that his condition has improved, and return to the medical centre to request an up-Pes.
Only around one per cent of pre-enlistees request Pes reviews, Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Monday (April 13).
He was speaking with the media during a doorstop at the Central Manpower Base along Hillview Link where he shared how the refreshed MCS allows Singapore to adapt to the changing nature of warfare.
The concept of combat-fit and non-combat-fit or front- and back-line have been superseded by technologies and war fighting concepts, he said.
"Today, there are many forms of what we will call combat fitness," Chan said. "It's not just the usual muscular activities that you can do in the past that matters today.
"There are many other things that technology has enabled many of our people to do more, and to do better."
Refreshing the MCS allows enlistees to fulfil their potential, giving them the opportunity to do what they are "most suited for" — Phua, for instance, may have been able to achieve his ambition sooner of entering OCS.
The refreshed MCS will take effect in end-June 2026, affecting the October 2027 batch of Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and November 2027 batch of Home Team (HT) pre-enlistees undergoing medical screening.
All regulars, existing and future, will be affected by the refreshed MCS from 2028.
Explaining the decision to announce the MCS five years after the concept was first introduced in 2021, Minister Chan said it takes time to map through the various vocations in the SAF and HT and conduct tests.
"This system is much more able to allow our NSmen to make a better contribution," he highlighted.
Addressing the pre-enlistees like Phua who have requested for Pes status upgrades, Minister Chan said: "This speaks well of the fighting spirit of our people… they have come back, they have asked to be re-evaluated because they want to go to command school.
"They want to make a contribution in the area that they desire."
Under the refreshed MCS, pre-enlistees will no longer be assigned a Pes status, and will be classified as being medically fit or unfit for service — the latter being an exemption from National Service (NS).
Approximately 1,200 servicemen are expected to be deployed to vocations and roles that they would previously have been ineligible for, according to the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and Ministry of Home Affairs.
Pre-enlistees will also receive information about their medical exemptions based on their specific medical conditions and functional abilities.
Should they attain 61 or more points in their pre-enlistee Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT), they will be eligible for an eight-week reduction in full-time NS duration two months after their medical screening.
The SAF, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) will also have their basic training split into three separate programmes based on their medical exemptions.
Programme 1 will be for pre-enlistees with no training or activity-related medical exemptions and will last 17 weeks for the SAF's BMT, 12 weeks for the SCDF's Basic Rescue Training (BRT) and 22 weeks for the SPF's Police Officers Basic Course (POBC).
Programme 2, for pre-enlistees with one or more training or activity-related medical exemptions will last nine weeks for BMT, four weeks for BRT and eight weeks for POBC.
Programme 3 for pre-enlistees with multiple or significant training or activity-related medical exemptions will last nine weeks for BMT, five days for BRT and 10 days for POBC.
Emphasising his confidence in the revised MCS, Minister Chan also addressed questions on Mindef's manpower requirement.
He stressed that the MCS is not a means to meet current or future manpower requirements, but for NS men to fulfil their potential.
"We know the number of people that will come in to serve 18 years before their time," he revealed, also sharing a saying in the SAF.
"We cut our coat according to the cloth that we have 18 years in advance, and with the numbers that we know 18 years in advance, we will design our fighting systems," he said.
"So it's not about the meeting the here and now requirements… It is actually about planning forward on how we best deploy our people."
@asiaone Pre-enlistees who enlist after October 2027 will receive three sets of information on their medical fitness. Existing NSFs and NSmen will retain their PES status. #sgnews #Singapore #Military #Medical ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
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khooyihang@asiaone.com
