Live and Die Singapore Style (With NS)

Today, someone I know from my social circle passed away in hospital. He had suffered a heart attack, was resuscitated but unconscious and never regained consciousness. He was in his late 40s and leaves a wife and a 7 year-old son.

Death is something you do not usually think about (too much) until you are confronted by it through the passing of someone you know. He or she could be a relative, a friend, an acquaintance or a colleague.

Life and Death in SG
We know that death is inevitable. Most would want to live a long and fruitful life. But at times, life doesn't play out that way. And life plays out even more cruelly when you are a conscript in the Lion City because it can happen to you or someone you know well while you are serving your 2 years (previously was 2.5 years) full-time national service in the Singapore Armed Forces as well as your 10 years reservist cycle for duty, honour and country.

If you are a follower of my blog, you would know of the two cases I tend to quote. One was the death of a regular sergeant who was the vehicle commander of an SM-1 tank that overturned during skill-at-arms competition training. The other was a reservist from my people's defence force unit who collapsed during his 2.4km IPPT run and subsequently died.

This post doesn't talk about the injustice, the sadness and (maybe) the futility of their deaths. It talks about how Mr. DEATH is on the verge of our awareness every-day when we are in the SAF. One is probably as likely to can die in a car accident than to be killed during NS but it can occur.

You can DIE in NS
I was commenting in a forum that discusses NS issues and remarked that some of the young people (teens) there didn't seem to grasp that you can possibly lose your life if some stupid training accident occurs. Accidental discharge during live-firing. Faulty ammunition. Vehicle accidents, overturning. Drowning during river crossing. Very rare ill-treatment (Ranger dunking case that led to a death) or very unfortunate case of aircraft crashing into you (Taiwan aircrash case).

It can happen. It has happened. Unfortunately, it will happen again as that's the nature of accidents. I've seen the SAF improve its safety standards and methods but when you are in an environment where you are trained to kill people and shoot up or blow sh** up, death is always a possibility since you deal in weapons, ammunition and equipment that is meant to destroy and kill men and material.

Looking back at my own NS experience, I thank God that I made it in one piece. I remember being at live-firing exercises where the person next to be only barely knew how to operate his M16 as a reservist. I recall mortar bombs dropping on the objective and staying back before following the troops to assault the objective. If the mortars had not hit the objective and been miscued in terms of trajectory. I wouldn't be here.

I have been in M113 running across Australian terrain and the driver going for 3 hours without much rest. It's a blessing that the terrain was relatively flat but accidents of M113 knocking into trees with the trees crashing onto the vehicle commander have been floated around before.

When you are young, you don't think about death. When you become older and complete your NS cycle, you shudder to think of the risks you took for the country, only to see the country change beyond your wildest imagination.

Singapura is not what it was when I was cheonging up pengkang hill.

Majullah Singapura.

Mumbai Terrorism Attack: Thoughts of an ex-People's Defence Force Reservist

The Mumbai terrorist attacks reminds us again of the dangers of living in a world where terrible random things can happen. Of course, the attacks were of a scale that demonstrated careful planning and ruthless execution but it was random to those of us who are not used to a world that has changed since 911.

This post will not dwell on the passing of one of Singapore's own citizens who perished in this terrible attack but rather my thoughts on doing two tours of duty that were ostensible for the deterrence and defence of our motherland, Singapura, should the unmentionable occur in Singapore. My condolences to the family of the departed. Unfortunately, she just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. What-ifs navel gazing would not bring her back.

Protection of Installations (POI)
The term, POI or protection of installations was the mission that our unit was tasked to perform. It was at a time a few years after 911 and our unit was the very first reservist battalion to be given this responsibility. Before that, it was active units, i.e. 18-21 year old men who did this duty. From a reservist perspective, doing operational duty was better than going through training running around in the jungle responding to simulated enemy attacks and what-nots.

Firstly, operational duty was REAL. No-more wayang in the jungle with blanks and thunderflashes plus the deployment of inordinately large number of stores and communications equipment for I was a signal (local) sergeant in an infantry unit. Operational duties for POI required far less stuff than normal training exercises because we were not in the jungle. We were patrolling a very civilised piece of real estate that had telephones and you could use walkie-talkies.

Secondly, operational duty, if you were at the plum spots were in places with air-conditioning. I was fortunate enough to be at one of those locations! Being able to go on duty for 24 hours and stand-down without breaking too much of a sweat and still smelling decent was a huge bonus!


This Sh**'s REAL
I fairly enjoyed operational duties also because we were treated slightly better than in training. The camp routine is generally the worst part of reservist experience due to the excessive regimentation in-camp. Operational duties also saw the first part being spent in camp preparing for the actual duty. However, when it came to operational duties, the training was more targetted at providing you with the necessary know-how and skills to actually shoot people who threaten the lives, property and friendly forces at the gazetted protected place or area.

We also picked up some unarmed combat (close combat) lessons along the way to refresh our knowledge of having a one-to-one with the potential terrorist of aggressor. However, this is more a backup as your rifle with the live rounds and the authority to fire to stop a terrorism act from occurring are more effective techniques than trying to takedown using an arm-lock.

During the start of operations, we carried out roles seriously. We made sure we checked our weapons when we drew them out for armoury, checked our ammunition issued as well as our personal dress for neat turnout and bearing. When patrolling, we also took it seriously and looked people up and down not to ogle at them but really to see if they posed a threat and looked suspicious. We carried our weapons properly pointing them downwards but ready to swing up if we intended to shoot at someone. The rulebook says never to point a weapon at anyone unless your intention is to shoot or engage the person with live rounds.

Those of you who read my earlier posts will know that I dislike being a conscript in the Lion City but I do my duty as a male citizen conscientious. You can't make me "like it" but I "do it" to the best of my abilities and to discharge my duty to my country.

Generally, the regulars didn't hassle us too much for this operational duties. I guess they were aware that too much chickenshit would affect morale and having reservists who collectively have quite a fair number of live rounds and who are pissed off is not exactly a good combination.

Reflections from 2 x POI Duties
I have mixed feelings about the POI duties performed for duty, honour and country in my 7 high-key reservist In-camp Trainings (ICT). From a personal comfort perspective, doing operational duties beat feeding mosquitoes with your blood in the jungle of Lim Chu Kang or SAFTI. There is this sense that finally, your contributions as an NSmen is tangibly helping to enhance to deterrence to terrorists who would attempt to attack those key installations. There is also this part of your mind that prays, hopes and wishes that deterrence is the main objective and not lethal response. Under the rules of engagement and pursuant to the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act (Chapter 256), response to an "incident" may necessitate the discharge of 5.56mm ammunition towards a human target, causing death or serious injury. The following section in the above-mentioned act provides for use of lethal force.

Special powers in protected areas and protected places.
9. Any person who attempts to enter or who is in a protected area or a protected place and who fails to stop after being challenged 3 times by an authorised officer to do so may be arrested by force, which force may, if necessary to effect the arrest, extend to the voluntary causing of death.

Global terrorism is not something that can be eliminated overnight. So long as there are groups of people who feel that violence is the only means for them to get their message out to the world, to fight for their rights for their way of life and to whom living in peace with your neighbour is not the preferred option, there would be disgruntled folks who see this as the only means to their ends. I salute my brothers-in-arms who are out there patrolling the installations be it within the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force or auxiliary police officers in AETOS or CISCO.

I hope that deterrence is sufficiently strong to stop those who are thinking of inflicting harm to Singapore and Singaporean residents and visitors and to keep us safe during these troubled times. If it isn't, then we have to rely on the training and ability of the men and women at the front-line of public safety to do their duty.

Majullah Singapura.