Since the death of 19-year-old full-time national serviceman Dave Lee Han Xuan, discussion about the toxic culture that exists within the nationally mandated conscription system was raised yet again — especially regarding the nature of power and youngsters who could easily abuse it. Just read this fascinating thread on Reddit, where users have been sharing their own national service experiences with abusive men in power.
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Guardsman trainee died on Monday after being warded for heatstroke two weeks ago following an alleged series of mistreatment and lapses in safety. While the highly publicized case is currently being probed by both the police and an independent investigative body, Lee’s aunt called out for the truth to be told, while Lee’s mother has railed against the prevalent habit of roughing up recruits and trainees in “tekan sessions”.
In the wake of public outrage regarding a viral post that accused Lee’s commanders and superiors of incompetence, insensitivity, and sadism, one former Guardsman has spoken out about his own experiences in the service. The thing is, the man completely believes the allegations.
You can read the whole post on Facebook, but we’ll just put out some highlights below.
On boys getting drunk with power
It’s been many years since my stint in the army, and I’ve refrained from talking about this publicly. But reading the post makes me so angry because, while my own experience never reached such an unfortunate result, I had the same experience in Guards. I know there are many good people in Guards, especially at the higher echelons, but it seems like things on the ground have not changed.
The thing about Guards and perhaps other formations is that they are ruled on the ground by kids — 19/20-year-old sergeants who are barely a year older than the men they command. Give these boys a little power, and they get drunk with it. Without proper supervision and discipline, things will get out of hand. These are the people I once overheard saying among themselves, ‘Honestly ah, I hope we can have war soon. We already train so hard ah, I really hope got war, so we can put what we learn to use leh’.
On being forced to undergo “tekan sessions” while injured
During the period I had a meniscus tear, I continued to be required to do most of the things the rest of the platoon did. My superiors said that this was because my PES status was under review and hadn’t changed yet. With a torn meniscus, I had to participate in change parades (which we understood to be illegal in the SAF) — “tekan” sessions in which we had to run up and down the stairs repeatedly to change into different attires in quick succession. I had to do a 1km march in the jungle in full battle order, which means trekking through uneven ground while carrying a huge heavy bag, rifle, etc. I had to participate in an enplaning and deplaning exercise on a helicopter, which involved running through the jungle to board and disembark from a helicopter. I had to “help out” everyday BEFORE AND AFTER these exercises because I was part of the “chao keng” gang who were the resources the army uses to do all the “sai kang” (shit work). Among other things, I had to climb steep hills in the Western Catchment Area to plant target boards for a live firing exercise. This meant waking up way earlier than the rest of the platoon to set up those targets, attending the entire live firing exercise with them, and then staying back to remove those target boards long after the rest of the platoon had gone back to sleep. The people who are unwell in Guards are the people who end up getting the least rest.
On the toxic culture within national service
Of course, if all this happened to me now, I would say a big Fuck Off to those people. But when you are 18 years old, compelled by the force of the State to serve, and repeatedly reminded that you will be sent to the Detention Barracks for insubordination if you even tried, the only thing you do is bite your tongue and say “Yes, Sergeant”.
In our alpha male culture engendered by NS, complaining about NS is often derided as an inadequacy of some sort. I have no doubt that those friends of mine had a positive experience in NS, especially if they were officers. I’ve attended commission parades before and was amazed at how much pomp is involved and how much resources are expended just to dignify their status. It’s ridiculous how different our experiences have to be — at the end of the day, aren’t we all just here to serve our country?
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