RIP: RSAF Cadet Clifton Lam Jia Hao - 11 June 2008

last SG · 2008-06-12T20:08:05+00:00

obese personnel don't run. they brisk walk.after rounds of brisk walking, they will lose weight. then the jogging starts. the training is progressiveand from...

sbst275 SG

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/353643/1/.html

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/news_and_events/nr/2008/jun/12jun08_nr.html

RSAF serviceman dies after collapsing during training
By Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 12 June 2008 1649 hrs

Officer Cadet (OCT) Clifton Lam Jia Hao

SINGAPORE: An airforce regular serviceman died in hospital, one-and-a-half hours after he collapsed while he was undergoing jungle orientation training in Brunei on Wednesday.

20-year-old Officer Cadet (OCT) Clifton Lam Jia Hao, a pilot trainee with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), had apparently collapsed during the final leg of the training.

Together with five course mates, OCT Clifton had set off on a 4-kilometre trek in the forest at 8.45am.

They were in camouflage gear and equipped with rifles, dry ration and water.

At 5.45pm - just a few hundred metres away from the finish point - OCT Clifton collapsed.

One of his team members tried to resuscitate him. A medic and doctor also rushed over from the checkpoint to give immediate first aid.

Channel NewsAsia understands this included cooling him down for heat exhaustion.

Later, at about 6.30pm, OCT Clifton was evacuated by helicopter to Ripas Hospital, about 10 minutes away.

En route to the hospital, the medical personnel onboard the helicopter continued to attend to him.

Lam was pronounced dead at the hospital at 7.20pm.

The area where the officers were training in is known to have uneven ground, dense forest, tall trees and canopy so thick that those on the ground would not be able to see the sky when they look up. The weather condition during the incident was reported to be hot and humid.

OCT Clifton was a hospitality student from the Temasek Polytechnic. Condolences started to pour in on his social networking website. His friends and former schoolmates said Clifton will be dearly missed. They remember him as a caring friend and a great teammate. One even called him a brother.

Clifton's two former lecturers from Temasek Polytechnic, Grace Chia and Ivy Tan, also remember him fondly. They said "Clifton was a cheerful boy who never failed to brighten the class with his humour and was well liked by his peers. A dedicated boy who took pride in whatever he did."

Clifton's body is still in Brunei and is expected to be brought back to Singapore soon. Channel NewsAsia understands his family is now in Brunei.

Investigations are underway and it is not known if OCT Clifton had any prior medical conditions.

OCT Clifton was certified PES A, the highest fitness status in the SAF. He was given a clean bill of health during his Fitness for Instruction assessment on 14 May. This assessment is required before officers take on the jungle training course.

^tamago^ SG

not again...

purpledragon84 SG

omg... sigh.. RIP..

sbst275 SG

MINDEF has suspended physical training for 3 days wef today... from e Ch 8 news coleumn

RIP

eac SG

MINDEF has suspended physical training for 3 days wef today... from e Ch 8 news coleumn

RIP

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/news_and_events/nr/2008/jun/12jun08_nr2.html

Statement from Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean
Posted: 12 Jun 2008, 1500 hours (Time is GMT +8 hours)

Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean said:

"I would like to express my deep condolences to the families of the late REC Andrew Cheah Wei Siong and the late OCT Clifton Lam Jia Hao.

I am saddened by the loss of two young and precious sons of Singapore.

I support the decision of the SAF to take a time-out on physical and endurance training for 3 days. This will allow the SAF to review and refocus on such activities to ensure that proper procedures are in place and being followed, before such training resumes.

While the SAF needs to carry out realistic training, this will be done without compromise to safety."

QX179R SG

observes a min silence ~

kopiosatu SG

wow. 2nd scramble ever for the SP over there

cassie SG

OMG!

alwaysdisturbed SG

so shiok. 3 days no PT. 3 days enough to review meh?

caleb_chiang SG

Not again... I guess that mindef should definitely review their training programs...

eac SG

Not again... I guess that mindef should definitely review their training programs...

time n time again, mindef's buttocks will have to put some butter for the public to....

tarutaru SG

omg 2 deaths in a week, are our training getting too tough or our kids getting too weak.

To all those going to be enlisted, please voice out any illness before taking the PT....also these few days the weather have been wretched....please to take care of yourselves and do water parade....

Master -_- SG

RIP OCT...

scary to know the last few years, there's a spate of deaths within a few days too..

Zooish SG

Supposedly healthy men dropping like flies... frightening.

I think its time to conduct a high-level nation-wide study on this. A lot of ppl conveniently blame SAF and tough training, but if someone can die while walking, then something is not right.

It may be a condition which modern medicine and equipment cannot detect.

And for all you goons out there who think that abolishing NS is a great idea, then all i can say is that you people must really want to be Malaysian or Indonesian. I can bet my life one of these 2 nations will swallow us up if our armed forces dissolve.

Then again, it may not be too bad to be Indon or M'sian, S'pore is overun by Ah tiongs now... its becoming nauseating.

kangyk SG

i think the medical screening and determination of combat fitness are not done throughly in the initial stages of recruitment, henceforth a potential weak person is subjected to full combat training and thus SAF is to be responsible for this plight. In

yamizi SG

Agreed.

SAF should review its medical screening rather than physical training.

To sidetrack, when I was a recruit in the obese BMT, I had a company mate who died while doing 2.4km run. To what I can remember, we have no PT training for like a few weeks' time? I remember the Orientation Officer came and addressed us, suppose to 'console' us. And remind that it's the deceased's own responsibility for not taking good care of his body, etc. Crap.

deathmaster SG

2 death in 2 days.

first a recruit on his 5th day of ptp.

now a OCT, on his first yr of NS, i presume, since he is 20 (assuming he is poly grad)

but why is he a regular? sign on? shouldn't he be NSF instead?

stellazio SG

2 death in 2 days.

first a recruit on his 5th day of ptp.

now a OCT, on his first yr of NS, i presume, since he is 20 (assuming he is poly grad)

but why is he a regular? sign on? shouldn't he be NSF instead?

pilot trainee confirm is regular ma.

anyway the pilots were talking bout him today and their training they did there.. the amount of emails regarding the cancelling of physical training from 12-14 june was sent out, cancelled, confirm, cancelled and then finally confirmed after news of this oct came through i guess.

Mospeada SG

RIP....

QX179R SG

AFP - 1 hour 23 minutes ago

SINGAPORE, June 12, 2008 (AFP) - Singapore's military has suspended its physical and endurance training for three days after two soldiers died this week, the defence minister said Thursday.

"I support the decision of the SAF to take a time-out on physical and endurance training for three days," Minister of Defence Teo Chee Hean said in a statement.

A pilot trainee collapsed Wednesday afternoon while undergoing jungle orientation training in Brunei and died later in hospital.

In the other incident, a recruit fainted a day earlier during a two-kilometre (1.2-mile) walk at a Singapore training centre and also died in hospital.

The defence minister said the suspension "will allow the SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) to review and refocus on such activities to ensure that proper procedures are in place and being followed before such training resumes."

Singapore has one of Asia's most modern armed forces, to which young men are drafted for national service.

"While the SAF needs to carry out realistic training, this will be done without compromise to safety," the minister said.