In 2004, the Russian public was shocked at revelations of gross abuse within the ranks of Russia's army as conscripted recruits were subjected to humiliating and violent treatment in what Human Rights Watch called "living in a year-long state of pointless servitude, (where senior conscripts) punish them violently for any infractions of official or informal rules, and abuse them gratuitously - practices which clearly violate Russia’s military code of conduct" in a ritual known as dedovshchina or "rule of the grandfathers". Some of the videos are available from YouTube, one of which is shown below :
Incidences like these resulted in dozens of deaths of conscripts per year with serious and often permanent damage to the physical and mental health of thousands of others with reports of hundreds of conscripts committing or attempting suicide and thousands deserting their units. Due to the scandal that this revelation caused, the Russian government was forced to initiate a major probe into such incidences and resulted in the closure of some training academies.
Now .. that's only Russia .. or at least, that's what we think ..
Two days ago, the Member of Parliament for Machang, Saifuddin Nasution, revealed in a press conference in Parliament a video clip which shows what appears to be a hazing ritual in our own armed forces :
While acknowledging that rigorous training is required for the training of elite forces, he questioned the need for such demeaning and physically violent treatment that dehumanises the trainees to such an extent :
What was even more disturbing was the callous reaction of the Defence Ministry when questioned about this matter in Parliament. Instead of providing any assurances that adequate measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the men entrusted to them for training as members of the services, the Defence Minister chose to brush aside the question and instead questioned the MP who brought up this issue as to whether or not he was aware of such incidences while the latter was serving as the political secretary to the Defence Ministry in the 1990's.
An advisor to the Malaysian Veteran Commandos Club, Abdul Rahim Dahalan, continued this callous attitude by defending such a regimen despite acknowledging that there have been incidences of deaths as well as insanity during the course of such trainings. He went to the point of claiming that a 20% casualty rate was considered acceptable.
With such attitudes prevailing, it should come as no surprise that the same ministry would view the casualties in the National Service programme with such a dismissive attitude. Afterall, if they can accept a 20% casualty rate among volunteers, what's a 0.004% casualty rate among conscripts?
Isn't it a fact that only 16 National Service trainees have actually died due to preventable causes in the four years of existence of this extended summer camp project with questionable intentions and beneficiaries? Despite this, I can't help but wonder .. be it 20% or 0.004% .. for the parent whose child died, wouldn't that still be a 100% loss?
Of the 16 who have died, I could only find the names of these :
- T. Saravana, Male, (1986 - 2004)
- Drowned, Sungai Taman Wangi, Gua Musang - Awang Mohd Fazil Awang Borhan, Male, (1986 - 2004)
- Drowned, Sungai Cina, Matang, Kuching - S. Theresa Pauline, Female, (1987 - 2005)
- Suspected Meningoencephalitis, Melaka Hospital - Nurul Ashikin Karino, Female, (1987 - 2005)
- Training Accident (?), Han Sui, Tawau - Haziq Jaafar, Male (1988 - 2006)
- Injury Due To Fight, Kem Padang Hijau, Kluang - Mohd Rafi Ameer, Male (1989 - 2007)
- Contaminated Food (?), En route to Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital, Kuantan - Prema Elenchelian, Female (1989 - 2007)
- Drowned (?), Tengku Anis Hospital, Pasir Putih - Ili Ameera Azlan, Female (1989 - 2007)
- Breathing Difficulties, Melaka Hospital - Teng Siau Shen, Female (1989 - 2007)
- Lung Infection, En route to Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital, Seremban - Afiq Zuhairi Amat Rozal, Male (1990 - 2008)
- Lung Infection, Teluk Intan Hospital, Teluk Intan - Too Hui Min, Female (1990 - 2008)
- Colon Infection, Slim River Hospital, Slim River
If you liked this post, consider buying me some coffee. Suggested price is $1.00 for a cup and $10.00 for a 1 lbs bag (personally I am a big fan of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe).
Categories: Works
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