Kenneth takes on SAF's 2 recent cases of death of serviceman

Recently, 2 servicemen in the SAF died within a week and both died during training. As I read the news, I feel really sorry for them especially their family members. The 2 boys were punished for a crime they did not commit. They were innocent...

If you think that I am going to slam the SAF for these 2 cases of death here, well, actually not. Perhaps after the first case of the death of the recuit, I do feel that ah, SAF made a mistake again and thus, 1 man is down.. But after the second case whereby the OCT (now 2LT) died during training in Brunei, I know that SAF has done what it can do. U see, the OCT was a pilot trainee and being able to go to Brunei for training, it means that he is not new to the training style of the SAF. He is already not a civilian so to speak. Personally having gone through the pilot selection process of the RSAF, I know that they have checked all that needs to be checked to ensure that the pilots are all medically fit. The checks include ECG, blood pressure, cholesterol level, heart murmuring, hole in heart, BMI, and the list goes on.... If that personnel was able to pass all of these tests, then it should be really ok, or at least, medically, nothing wrong could be found.

The medical world is a ever evolving or ever changing one. In the past, who sould have heard of Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD)? Today, it is the main concern of most parents if not, of most day care centres. In the past, polio is a scary illness, today, it can be easily be prevented by vaccine. There are lots of stuff out there that is still waiting to be discovered that perhaps modern day medical procedures are unable to spot.

I do not know what the 3 day stoppage of all physical activities throughout SAF have brought about, but it sure brought cheers to many servicemen esp recruits.

So how to prevent such deaths from ever happening again. I think most pre-enlistees should be aware that 1 main guiding rule applies in the SAF. That is: If you don't take care of yourself, noone else will. Sometimes you maybe deemed as "chao keng". Well then, so be it. If your conscious is clear then it's ok. Why be bothered by what people say and push yourself over the line? You know your body best. Having said this, if you are unwilling to push yourself, you will never improve and your time in NS will be a total waste. I pushed myself to get IPPT silver but not IPPT gold. I know my body and I know what I can take. If you think that I am using this opportinity to hao lian that I got IPPT Silver before, YOU ARE RIGHT. If you think that I need to boost my own ego cos I cannot achieve IPPT Silver already, YOU ARE RIGHT AGAIN.

Moving along, the next point is that you've got to be very alert and sharp. Cantonese saying: "seng mok". Personal experience that I once had during my NS was that I went to see the doctor for fever and at the same time, I told him of a sprain that I have. So he gave me some medicine for my cold and also a all famous "rub-on". When the medic gave me that medicine, he saw the cold tablets and he assumed that the other bottle was cough syrup. (cos cough and cold always go together) then he said "these tablets for your fever and cold, 3 times a day. This syrup 3 times a day also." Good thing I know how to read and I checked that it was no cough syrup. In fact, on the bottle of the "rub-on" it states, not to be taken orally. What to say??? They are all but NSFs. I was a man in the army and so I understand the "man"tality. Just get a job done and go back to sleep. That medic popped a few more lozenges and then closed the window and got back to sleep... That is NS.