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Collateral Damage
It all started with an MINDEF Intranet email (Click Here if you can get to it before the invisible hand of Gahmen takes it down) written by the son of our current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 2LT Li Hongyi, lodging a complaint all the way to the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Force, Chief of Army, Chief Signals Officer, right down to the storeman in the camp. It wasn't long before this got leaked to the public.
I shan't go into the details of the entire drama as the letter itself is self-explanatory. Go read it as I don't see a point to regurgitate everything here.
Well, the people are saying that he didn't follow the chain of command when he lodge the complaint. I beg to differ. He did and realised it didn't work out. According to the email, the OC cover up the incident by sweeping it under the carpet.
I agree with Rockson that the LTA X and the OC are stupid people. Knowing full well that he is the PM's son, then still don't on the ball is really asking for it lor. If the rumours are correct, PM's son is not a White Horse. He is not only beyond that, he is two steps beyond that. He is in the Dragon List (above Eagle List), assuming such lists exists. Wah raoz! Dragon List personnel and you still dare to guai lan in front of him? Confirm die damn ugly one.
I agree with 2LT Li that the calibre of SAF officers are getting more and more fucked up by the day. During my NS time, it is already quite bad with my camp littered with condemned Sergeants and condemned Captains, all wasting tax-payers money away while waiting for retirement as they are on Pensionable Service (PS).
In my time, I have seen countless of junior officers (especially young punk 2LTs) tio chor by NCOs for stupid things that they did. The kick in the nuts for these useless officers was that they have no rebuttal for it coz they really did screw up big time. Things that sometimes go against common sense. Perhaps a tongue lashing by a subordinate is a better deal that to be officially charged?
Have you seen a regular LTA sobbing in the dark corner? I did. He was an OC and was chewed up by the Commander in front of the entire Tactical HQ for incompetency. Apparently for every question that the Commander asked him during a high level meeting where only OCs and above attend, he drew a blank. Next came a blasting of tirade so loud that people in the vicinity outside the tent could hear. Next we saw the OC's PC scurrying into the Tactical HQ tent while the OC was booted out of the tent and ordered to stay out.
How I knew the OC was sobbing in the dark corner? The dark corner was my unimog.
Anyway, coming back to the present episode.
I have come to accept the fact (and fate) that all of us are not equal. We are a melting pot of the haves and have-nots. While I do not resent those who have what I don't have, I only hope that they use it for the general good.
What 2LT Li has here is that when he says "This is my grandfather's army." He is not joking. With that power, he has the ability to shake the tree in order to dislodge some of these free-loading monkeys. Something the rest of us can't even dream of. I'd already quaked in my boots if I had to face my Brigade Commander, let alone draft a protest letter to the CDF.
Well, looks like 2LT Li is going to get charged for contravening orders to broadcast the email and would certainly be a blemish in his personnel record. I say screw that blemish and wear it as a Medal of Honour for I personally feel that 2LT Li's heart was in the right place, just that the plan of execution wasn't exactly most ideal. Take the record blemish as collateral damage in the war against the enemy. In exchange, LTA X is definitely screwed and the OC's career is definitely over. Condemned CPT, if he is lucky.
All that for the price of a small little black mark in the personnel docket. I'd say it's a good deal.
In all, I have a new admiration for this young man for he has guts. Naive? Yes but a stand-up kinda guy nonetheless.
I'd vote for him, if he runs for office in the future.
Related News:
- ChannelNewsAsia (13 Jul 2007) - MINDEF Takes PM Lee's Son To Task For Contravening Orders
- TodayOnline (13 Jul 2007) - SAF Acts After Email Complaint
Image Credits: http://www.todayonline.com, http://www.pmo.gov.sg
- Voxeros
me thinks your link to the email is not working liao.....
I agree with the points that he mentioned in the email. But I disagree with
his method of conveying the message. Yes, he did follow chain of command
and report to the OC. We know that the OC didn't take action. But that
doesn't mean he can just simply jump CO, Chief of Signal, Chief of Army,
Chief of defense and go all the way up to Minister.
you do realise that voting for him is the last thing you should do...Just
because he knows he can get away scot free (almost) due to his lao peh and
gong gong. If you try something like this, you think you can get away with
a reprimand?
ihawk98: Nothing wrong as far as I can find out. Perhaps a spike in
traffic as a result of this case causing server load to slow down
everything.
DK: Welcome to the blog. I am with you as far as disagreeing with
the approach that he has deployed. However, I doubt if it is any difference
where he got sign extra or not. DO duty very siong meh? Not say he do duty
is to be prowler wor.
Callandor: What I saw was the underlying desire to want to stand up
straight. Again, I already said that his methods are not ideal but hey, he
is still a kid at this point in time and I believe with proper guidance, he
will matured into a better person. The type that we need (hopefully) to be
in the Gahmen.
As for whether this is a stunt or not, it is still better that some MPs
(whose names I shall not spell out) who coasted in via the back door
effortlessly.
Again, my perennial question. (Read
this)
Can you spell G-R-C ?
Hongyi's points are valid. Excellent pensmanship too.
Time to flush out the freaking old boy's club @ SAF.
Draw big pay to cho bo.
Meepok: Ah Gong's army is right! This guy has special privileges and
I am glad he put it to good use.
ruok: That's easy. Before anything, he would start off with "Your
sister's CB!!!"
buahahahahaahahah
While on the topic of SGT Singh (that's Staff Singh to the rest of you new
birds), he is one great fellow that I have full admiration and respect.
Granted that it is a common sight to see him stumbled out of the NCOs' Mess
on Sunday mornings at 8am when I report for duty; Granted that you often
saw him with a can of Stout on his table during office hours, this is one
fella that gets the job done and done well.
His mantra was "If you want a job done, don't ask me how I am going to do
it. Just shut the fuck up and wait for me at the finishing line to collect
your results."
Stay-dee.
p.s. If you are able to recall, this was the fella who went overseas
exercise with us with a full on plaster-casted leg. Remember? Tough guy.
yeah this guy got my r-e-s-p-e-c-t. He was also the one who also made my
liver the way it is now ... I can still recall that one time he summoned me
to the officer's mess and plied 3 Jugs of beer in front of me. I lost
count after the 7th mug and some time later he told me that I was off duty
liow and ordered me back to the bunk.
He real lucky to go all the way. I got take COS 5 days in a row because I
left the office to go to the Canteen when I was in the army by this cheeby
Captain.I went to see the Manpower. He told me to come with my complaint
the next day. The next day I went the Manpower on leave. So I had to do COS
5 days in a row. I still think it was illegal but do already so what use of
compalining? You try to sleep in the office for 5 days then u know how I
felt.
ruok: Yup, those were the good old days and it's been an honour for
me to serve my NS alongside with this crazy dude.
Ah Seng: Welcome to the blog. I am no stranger as far as sleeping in
the office for days on end and it wasn't even serving punishment!
The problem here for both you and I and that when we have no backing, we
get bullied and pushed around. In a way, I was glad to see HongYi, with his
special status", push back and kicking these worthless soldiers in the ass.
Yes, he may have "used his special status" to hantam the LTA and the OC but
you know what? I am glad he did.
Ah Seng: Your story reminded me of an episode of my own. I had to
leave the Ops Room to fax daily report to HQ. Because the Ops Room has to
be manned at all times, the DO has agreed to stay behind.
When I returned, the DO was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was my Dy
S3, a straight by-the-book no-nonsense super anal* guy, fuming and accusing
me of leaving my post.
I got 2 weeks confinement as a result.
My OC wanted to fight my case on my behalf but I objected and served my
punishment quietly. The DO (an encik) was an asshole well-known for
tekaning new birds.
He was surprised that a new bird took the proverbial bullet for him without
question and has since found a new respect for me. I guess the story of
this incident spreaded to the rest of the encik fraternity in the camp and
I have to say that I have been treated very well by all the regular NCOs
until my disruption.
My story's ending is different from yours and I am not writing this to try
to counter your point. I just wanted to share this story.
he might just be the next PM, and, he's kinda cute :p
Babydoll: Babydoll?? Cute?? Focus!! Focus!!
Yah! I was thinking he looks cute too! so did my friend. LOL! ~ drool ~
Again, you're gonna hate me for being devil's advocate but I don't see why
he only whistleblow just as he was about to disrupt/ord.. that just doesn't
add him to his..."heroic" nature.
aloe: Auntie, never knew you to be the cradle snatching type!
Callandor: You have to understand that as powerful as he may be, he
is only one man against a sea of regulars, condemned or otherwise. You
under estimated the power of the regular fraternity. It is not merely
condemned regulars protecting condemned regulars. I am sure the a
significant portion of the rest of the regulars would have come forward in
solidarity.
2 years in NS is not long but neither is it short especially when you are
in the middle of it. Imagine whistle blowing right in the middle of NS (3
months BMT + 9 months OCS), you still have 1 year of service to go. When
you get ostracized in camp (even if you have done nothing wrong), the
remainder of your one year is going to be damn miserable.
Hence, waiting for disruption before firing the letter is a necessity for
survival.