More often than not, the term 'National Service' here is associated with the boys in green (in the Singapore Armed Forces) rather than the lads in blue (the police, firefighters and paramedics in Home Team).
Even more prevailing is the sentiment that non-army folks have it easy in comparison to soldiers — boys sent to serve in the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Singapore Police Force for their National Service don't get as glorified as those sent to Tekong. As many would know, menfolk who went through army training seem to have a hard on for trading stories of tough training, tougher commanding officers and other nostalgic tales of yore — with some scoffing at friends who were sent to other uniformed vocations.