Sorry, I am with Gedanken on this.
1. It was a military establishment you are attempting to enter,
not some shopping centre or restaurant. All military camps have
restricted access to those who have no valid reason to enter, due
to the sensitive nature of work and armed conduct being carried out
inside.
2. All military personnel are trained to be aggressive,
espacially those on guard duty. In this day and age of terrorism,
where even bespectacled plumb pettite ladies can carry bombs
strapped on their bodies, such as what happened in India, guards
have a special responsibility to be suspicious. Hundreds of our
boys lives inside the camp are dependant on his performance.
3. NRIC is the best form of identification, for it is tamper
proof, unlike other identification papers. If you did not bring
such along, it is only correct our guards deny your request and
even interogate your intentions. You had made a mistake and you are
in the wrong.
4. It is our responsibility to carry our NRIC everday. To forget
is not excusable. In Malaysia, you would be rudely hauled to the
police station, treated as an alien, and you will have
to call someone who knows you to come forward and identify you
before letting you go. Similarly, police here can do and would
do the same, but without the corruption and seldom with
rudeness. Again, you are at fault.
5. In our attempts to be a gracious society, be glad that you
had a reply from SAF. But our guard must never be let down. Lives
are dependant on it. Infact, from this incident, I will promote the
guard if i had the power to do so. He did the right thing, at the
right place and at the right time - stopping an entry for one with
no identification and aggresively interogating her intentions.
A military camp is not a restaurant.
