Singapore is a small country. It has a small population base and no natural resources. It is a multi-racial and multi-religious society, a young country whose roots are still being planted. All these make Singapore vulnerable not only to military attacks, but also to exploitation of our economic, social, political or psychological weaknesses by those who may wish to do us harm.
To ensure that we can deal adequately with these challenges, it is important that Singapore has a Total Defence capability that involves the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), as well as the entire civilian population.
In Total Defence, our people are organised to defend the country against all forms of attack, both military and non-military. Total Defence comprises Psychological Defence, Social Defence, Economic Defence, Civil Defence and Military defence. The concept of Total Defence was first introduced in 1984 to highlight the important role that every Singaporean plays in the defence of Singapore.
Five Aspects of Total Defence