SOURCE: The New
Paper
THEY were stationed at Sembawang Wharves for an operation that
night.
But the five SAF servicemen treated the place as their private
racing circuit.
They took several new Kia Koup cars, which were parked there
waiting to be shipped out, for a joy ride – not once, but three
times.
As they raced each other, two of the cars collided when one tried
to overtake the other. Later, a front tyre of a third car got stuck
in a drain after a mishap.
The men’s antics were caught on security cameras. A worker at the
wharves also saw what they did and reported them.
The repairs to the cars cost about $13,100. Three of the men did
not have valid driving licences.
After a court martial, all five men were sentenced last Dec 3 to
between six weeks’ and 15 months’ detention by the General Court
Martial (GCM) Panel at the Subordinate Military Court.
They pleaded guilty to several charges, including theft of a motor
vehicle, driving without a licence, driving without third-party
insurance and leaving a place of duty as a sentry without having
been regularly relieved.
Three of the men, Third Sergeant Chiam Toon Chong, 24, Lance
Corporal Tan Fu Ning, 21, and Lance Cpl Tan Yong Chen, 21, are
appealing against their sentences. They had been sentenced to
detention of 15 months, nine months and 10 months,
respectively.
Their appeals will be heard in the Military Court of Appeal at the
High Court tomorrow.
Since 2007, SAF troops have been deployed at key installations,
such as Sembawang Wharves, Changi Airport and Jurong Island, as
these are considered high-profile terrorist targets. Besides combat
training, these soldiers will have been trained in areas such as
assessing threats and analysing suspicious behaviour.
The five cars were among those shipped into the wharves from Korea
and assigned parking spaces in a car yard by the Port of Singapore
Authority (PSA) between March 11 and April 10 last year.
The five servicemen, all of whom are full-time national servicemen
except for 3rd Sgt Chiam, who was a regular at that time, were
stationed at the wharves for an operation on Aug 6 last year.
Two of them, Private Tan Yuan Tat, 21, and Lance Cpl Tan Yong
Cheng, were on sentry duty at a berth near the car yard from 7.30pm
to midnight.
Half an hour into their shift, 3rd Sgt Chiam, Lance Cpl Tan Fu Ning
and Lance Cpl Tan Choon Siang, 21, approached them.
During their conversation, 3rd Sgt Chiam proposed that they “play
with the new Kia cars together”. The other four agreed.
Pte Tan and Lance Cpl Tan Yong Cheng then left their post with the
others although they had not been regularly relieved of their
duty.
Around 8.30pm, the five arrived at the car yard. Lance Cpl Tan Fu
Ning and Lance Cpl Tan Yong Cheng got into a silver car and the
others into a blue car. The cars were not locked.
When they found the car keys, 3rd Sgt Chiam taught Pte Tan and
Lance Cpl Tan Choon Siang how to start the engine.
Lance Cpl Tan Fu Ning drove off in a red car, with Lance Cpl Tan
Yong Cheng as passenger. They were followed by Pte Tan in the
silver car – with Lance Cpl Tan Choon Siang as passenger – and 3rd
Sgt Chiam in a blue car.
During the 15-minute joyride, Pte Tan tried to overtake Lance Cpl
Tan Fu Ning but their cars collided.
Conceal damage
To conceal the damage, they parked the cars in an obscure area of
the berth near the car yard.
Later, Pte Tan and the three lance corporals moved two blue cars in
front of the red and silver cars to hide the damage from plain
view.
At 10pm, after 3rd Sgt Chiam and Lance Cpl Tan Choon Siang returned
to the sleeping quarters, the other three men decided to go for
another joyride.
This time, Lance Cpl Tan Yong Cheng and Pte Tan drove the two blue
cars that had been used to hide the damaged cars. Lance Cpl Tan Fu
Ning rode with Lance Cpl Tan Yong Cheng as he had offered to teach
the latter how to drive.
For the next 15 minutes, the three men zipped around the wharves,
taking the route they had used the first time.
When they returned to the car yard, Lance Cpl Tan Fu Ning took over
the wheel as Lance Cpl Tan Yong Cheng was not confident about
parking the car.
Barely 15 minutes later, the trio went for a third spin. Lance Cpl
Tan Fu Ning and Lance Cpl Tan Yong Cheng each took the blue cars
they had driven earlier while Pte Tan took a dark-coloured
car.
They drove for about 15 minutes. Then, while making a turn, Lance
Cpl Tan Yong Cheng drove his car into a drain, causing a front tyre
to be stuck. Pte Tan managed to free the car and drove it to the
car yard.
But their joyrides didn’t go unnoticed. An employee at the wharves
saw them and reported the matter to the auxiliary police, who
inspected the cars.
The next day, the supervisor in charge of the five cars noticed
that they were damaged and not properly aligned. He raised the
matter with PSA.
During a probe by SAF’s Special Investigation Branch, two lance
corporals said they had seen the five men driving the cars and they
had been told by 3rd Sgt Chiam not to report the matter.
Two other lance corporals who were on sentry duty in the area that
night said 3rd Sgt Chiam had told them to say that they had been on
duty elsewhere if they were questioned.
They added that they felt pressured to listen to the sergeant as he
was their superior and feared that he would make their lives
difficult if they told the truth.
In passing sentence, the three-person GCM panel noted that three of
the servicemen “took turns behind the wheel for joyrides and races,
treating the Sembawang Wharves as their private race ‘circuit’ even
though none of them were licensed to drive”.
Unsurprisingly, the group ended up damaging the cars during their
“brazen escapade”.
The panel viewed 3rd Sgt Chiam as the ringleader and deserved the
heaviest sentence of 15 months’ detention. Pte Tan received the
second heaviest sentence of 12 months’ detention.
This was also due to their involvement in another incident at Maju
Camp on Oct 28 last year for which they were convicted on other
charges, including riding without a valid motorcycle licence and
theft of a motorcycle.
Mr Gerard Ee, former president of the Automobile Association of
Singapore, said brand new cars shipped out from factories usually
have some petrol in them.
He said: “They would have some fuel because they have to be driven
from the factories to the ship and there’s a whole team of drivers
to drive these cars from the ship.”
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Numbskulls. 