The issue of safety of our national servicemen is once again
in the news thanks to the death of Private Dave Lee Huan Xuan. Private Lee, a
young Guardsman (the second toughest group in the Singapore Army after the
Commandos) had completed an 8km fast march and had to be treated for signs of
heat stroke. He was pronounced dead on Monday 30 April 2018, a mere four months
after his enlistment in January of this year.
The family is understandably upset and they want answers.
The SAF is once again in a situation where it has to answer for the life of a
young man.
Coming from a batch of National Servicemen that lost two of
its members in a tragedy some 21-years ago, I feel obliged to comment on the
death of every young national serviceman because it says many things about our
society just as it did all those years ago when we lost Ronnie and Yin Tit.
Based on the available information, it seems that this case
is a tragic mishap. Even in the dark days of the late 1990s, it was always standard
practice for every trainee on every fast or route march to consume water. It
was always standard practice to ensure that was the trainees got plenty of rest
the night before and it was, even then, standard practice to ensure that such
marches did not take place during the hottest time of the day. Given the increased
knowledge in medical science and the pressure on the SAF to ensure safety of
its soldiers, I believe that the safety procedures should have become even more
stringent.
The commanders need to answer one basic question – did they
adhere to basic safety procedures. If the answer is no, then the chain of command
needs to answer for it. The organization needs to show that it did everything
humanly possible to ensure that Private Lee was fit enough to on this march.
As with the case of Private Dominique Sarron Lee, who passed
away coincidentally on the 9th of March 2014, the parents have the
internet. Unlike Ronnie’s parents, the parents of Private Dominique Lee and
Private Dave Lee have a venue to demand the adequacy of justice. What do I mean
by that?
Back when Swift Lion took place in 1997, the Ministry’s
first action was to convene a “Committee of Enquiry,” which was chaired by Tan
Ghee Paw (who would be PUB Chairman when I was working at BANG PR on the PUB
account). The job of the Committee is to look into the facts and to find out
what happened. If you look at the news article into the death of Private Lee ( https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/national-serviceman-19-dies-after-heat-stroke)
– you will note that this is standard practice.
The question is, what happens after the Committee has done
its job? In Ronnie and Yin Tit’s case, the answer was bugger shit all. In the
reservist trainings that I went to after the incident, we were always told – “Oh
live firing is perfectly safe – we found out that DSO (Defence Science
Organisation) had bought a faulty fuze from Island Ordnance Systems (http://www.islandordnance.com/cat.asp?sessid=31756635)
, an American Company that outsourced the manufacturing of the fuze that killed
Ronnie and Yin Tit to the Chinese. The action taken can be summed up as “we’ve
now found a new supplier so everything is OK.
Human beings have short memories. We allowed the families of
our fallen comrades to get over their grief. Time healed the wounds and that
was that.
I don’t know about you but I have difficulty with that and
reading reports like the report on Private Dominique Sarron Lee’s death (https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2016/04/18/pte-dominique-sarron-lees-brother-decries-inadequate-punishment/)
makes me all that more cynical about the system.
I don’t blame the SAF for existing. Singapore does need an
armed force to deter potential aggressors. I don’t dispute the fact that we
need the national service system because we don’t have the manpower to field a large
full-time army. I even see the non-military benefits of having national service
– I wrote my dissertation on the subject.
Having said that, the SAF must remember that it is a “people’s
force.” Like the rest of the government, the military exist to serve the people
and not the other way around. Commanders are responsible for the safety of their
men and I believe in what the Great American General George Patten says – “My
job isn’t to make sure my boys die for their country – I’m there to make the
other son of a bitch die for theirs.”
A military commander is given greater privileges than his
men (the military remains mostly men) and so should his responsibilities.
Holding back someone’s career and pay for being negligent over training
standards will never feel acceptable. Telling us that it was all bad commercial
practice isn’t enough.
We’re not mercenaries. We don’t fight for out country
because the pay is good. I remember my battery commander, Captain Lam Sheau Kai
(Now General Lam, Commander Combat Support Service) asking us if we’d be
willing to continue the mission right after the news of Ronnie and Yin Tit’s
passing. Our reply was simple – it this was war, we’d continue no questions
asked – but it wasn’t – it was a training fuck up and we didn’t see why we should
be happy (we were also asked if we would follow orders – our reply was that there
was no question about us following orders – the question was whether we would
be happy about it.)
As humans, its easy to die to protect those you love or for
the ideals that you can believe in. Asking someone to give you his or her life
when your track record suggests you have your material gains at heart is another
matter all together
No comments
Post a Comment