SINGAPORE — The importance of National Service (NS) and national defence compels the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) to do “all that is humanly possible” to prevent training deaths for national servicemen, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen on Monday (Feb 11).

He assured the public that Mindef and the SAF will “hold ourselves accountable for every single national servicemen entrusted to us”, as he wrapped up his ministerial statement to address the training deaths that had occurred in the last 17 months, the most recent being that of actor Aloysius Pang.

“I am deeply sorry for the loss of four precious national servicemen in the last 17 months,” said Dr Ng. “The SAF will strengthen its safety systems.”

He pointed out that there were no NS training deaths from 2013 to 2016. The last spate of fatalities occurred in 2012, when three men lost their lives.

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Dr Ng said that the “turnaround... was probably due to multiple factors, but I think the new safety measures we put into place after the devastating incidents of 2012 had an effect.”

“If we all put our minds and effort to achieve zero training fatalities, it can be achieved.”

To that end, he stressed that the SAF must have a strong safety culture in all units, and safety consciousness “down to the last soldier”.

Over the past three years, an average of 2 per cent of servicemen a year was punished under the SAF Act for committing safety lapses. Their punishments ranged from a fine to detention, as well as further administrative penalties such as delays in promotion and reduction in benefits, said Dr Ng.

On the other hand, the SAF also rewards servicemen who demonstrate positive safety-related behaviour. Units and individuals who identify or prevent lapses are recognised during the Service’s respective annual Safety Day, Dr Ng said.

“Safety is both a command and individual responsibility… because precious lives depend on it,” he stressed. “It is not true that we cannot train safely if we want to train realistically.”

Individual soldiers are encouraged to highlight risky behaviour and safety breachers, and they can report them to their superiors without fear of reprisal.

Any soldier, regardless of rank, can call for an immediate stop to training if he has spotted safety breaches or unsafe practices, said Dr Ng, stating that this was in the training safety regulations. The Conducting Officer will have to verify the report and rectify the lapses when necessary before training can continue.

Servicemen can also report safety incidents and near-misses through a 24-hour safety hotline. Dr Ng said that this hotline receives about 140 calls a year.

During his statement, he had also laid out several new measures that will be undertaken in the wake of the recent NS deaths. These include the appointment of an Inspector-General — a regular serviceman with the rank of Brigadier-General — to conduct audits and inspections of safety practices, and deploying more safety officers to supervise training activities.

For family members and soldiers who were affected by the training deaths, Dr Ng said that dedicated grief counsellors are assigned to provide them support in the aftermath of their loss.

For soldiers, a team of psychologists, counsellors and psychiatrists will also assist unit commanders and service men in their “recovery from the stress suffered in such incidents”, he added.

Dr Ng said that “inherently, military training poses risk”. On any given day, thousands of servicemen train hard, “amid moving tons of steel, bullets, munitions and other explosives”.

“Our national servicemen do it to protect Singapore,” he said. “Without (them), we cannot have an SAF or the Home Team that can deter terrorists from bombing Changi Airport or Jurong, or taking and killing hostages in shopping malls and crowded places. Without (them) and the SAF, would-be aggressors would not be deterred from simply marching into Singapore to occupy it.”

Dr Ng added: “Even as we honour those who died in service of our country, we must soldier on, to build a strong defence, to protect Singapore and to protect every national servicemen during training.”