On Saturday, about 150 family and friends, as well as 700 military personnel, attended the funeral service of Corporal First Class Dave Lee, the late full-time national serviceman (NSF) who died in hospital last month. The 19-year-old Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Guardsman trainee had spent about two weeks in intensive care for heat-related injuries sustained after completing an 8km fast march at Bedok Camp on April 18.
The pain and anguish of Lee’s mother, Jasmine Yeo, is unimaginable. Having already made her thoughts clear on Facebook, the mother once again called for “tekan sessions” — grueling bouts of punishment dished upon recruits to build mental and physical endurance — to be abolished.
Her remarks are in reference to a post by an individual who claimed to be a battalion mate of Lee’s. According to the claims, Lee had been subjected to a “tekan session” hours before the fast march, and his superiors failed to discern his heat exhaustion. Independent investigations are currently being conducted into the circumstances of the teen’s death.
“Outdated traditional ‘tekan’ or punishment sessions should be put to an immediate stop,” Yeo said in her eulogy for her son, reminding military officers of their responsibility to return training soldiers home safe to their loved ones.
“If I have to sacrifice my only son to bring this message across, make sure it is one that brings forth solid changes to the seemingly perfect training systems.”
In the wake of the young man’s death, other Guardsmen and former SAF NSFs have spoken out either against or in defense of the way they were treated while training to be soldiers. In a post on Reddit entitled “Dear SAF, it’s time for change”, u/Kiasu_K one-ups everything else by providing constructive criticism of the force’s alleged toxic culture of power abuse.
“Regardless of the investigation outcome, there are definitely ways for the SAF to improve on its work processes. This is most evident in any online army-related comment section where servicemen (current and ex) often share how protocols are not followed properly, and collectively expressing doubt if the true cause of CFC Dave’s death would be revealed to the public.”
Check out the illuminating Reddit post below.
