PM's son's army gaffe and why we have to worry

last SG · 2007-07-12T21:50:25+00:00

i only know time is fair. everyone get 24 hrs a day.

frederikan SG

haiz... a wrong vote to such pathetic candidate.

what a shame. Rolling Eyes

LazerLordz SG

Now it's on Financial Times as well..

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7b578e20-3160-11dc-891f-0000779fd2ac.html

Singapore PMs son reprimanded over e-mail

By John Burton in Singapore

Published: July 13 2007 18:02 | Last updated: July 13 2007 18:02

A son of Singapores prime minister has been reprimanded for e-mailing a complaint about a fellow army officer to the country's defence minister and hundreds of other military personnel. The case involving Li Hongyi has served as a lightning rod for criticism on the internet of his familys political power.

The defence ministry said on Friday it had issued the reprimand against Mr Li, 20, after his 2,000-word letter of complaint was posted on the internet and drew widespread attention.

Mr Li, a 2nd lieutenant, is the first-born son of Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister, and Ho Ching, head of Temasek Holdings, the state investment company, and grandson of Lee Kuan Yew, independent Singapore's first leader.

The letter provoked complaints on the internet about the Lee family's political dominance in Singapore.

No ordinary OCT [officer cadet trainee] would dare to write such a letter addressed to all the big guns in the [defence] ministry, read one posting on an internet political chatroom.

The internet has emerged as a forum for political criticism of the government in a country where the media is guided by the state.

Mr Li, who is doing his compulsory military service, sent the e-mail last month to Teo Chee Hean, the defence minister, senior military leaders and other army personnel complaining that a colleague had gone absent without leave on two occasions but that no action had been taken by his superiors.

The defence ministry said that Mr Li had gone outside the chain of command by broadcasting his letter of complaint to many other servicemen almost all of whom were neither directly under his command, nor in an official capacity where they could deal with the matters contained in his letter of complaint.

Much of the internet criticism commented on suggestions that Mr Li was apparently being groomed for a future leadership role after being awarded a government scholarship to study economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Singapore military has served as a training ground for political leaders and executives in state companies. Mr Lis father was a brigadier general before entering politics. Temasek announced last week that a former head of the Singapore armed forces had been appointed to the newly created post of portfolio management managing director.

In his complaint letter, Mr Li said his colleagues continued service in the military was an embarrassment and that the armed forces was not a charity organisation and does not owe anyone a career.

The defence ministry said that the officer accused by Mr Li had since been court martialled.

ghast. SG

freaking ironic la. at first thought he stood up for what was right was good la. he spoke up for the light punishment of the LTA, then his own punishment for breaking the rules also so light. isn't he having the exact replica of what he complained about. honestly crap la. maybe he should just ask for more punishment to align his email of complaint with justice to his own punishment lo. anyway, PM son so what?

Stoat SG

The way this person writes the news is very biased. It makes the PM's son out to be the bad guy. i.e as if everyone accused by Mr Li gets the short end of the stick regardless of right or wrong.

The writer seems to have intentionally left out the most important part.

And in this incident, 2LT Li is said to have written a complaint against another officer whom he alleged had been absent without leave on two occasions.

According to a statement by MINDEF, 2LT Li had also said in his letter that he had reported the matter to the officer's supervisors but disciplinary action had not been carried out.

MINDEF adds that arising from 2LT Li's complaint, an investigation was conducted and appropriate disciplinary action has been meted out to the officers concerned.

The officer who was found to have been absent without leave will be court-martialled.

Two supervising officers have been issued warning letters for poor judgement in administering inappropriate disciplinary action.

MINDEF says to maintain organisational discipline, all SAF servicemen with complaints or grievances should take them up through proper channels for redress.

life2121 SG

oh! so true!

life2121 SG

wondered if e whole situation wld b e same if a young hot-blooded, self righteous 2lt who is not a white horse did it instead of him... i mean e news is even covered in financial times? haha well done 2lt li!

ghast. SG

lol. the situation wouldn't be so big la obviously. everyone wants BIG news from BIG people. ooooo. i am hoping PM would say something about this. Twisted Evil

SpecOps87 SG

I believe if it were a normal 2Lt…he will be labeled a “Bao Toh” kia and be ostracized by his peers. And he would be ripped a new one for skipping the COC.

Arapahoe SG

I don't think he could.

wisefool83 SG

I think need to clarify something here, his punishment was "reprimand". This is different from the scolding that it normally means. A reprimand in military law terms is a defined punishment more serious than your normal extras. It is recorded and will affect military careers.

If you look up for SAF ACT s118 (1)(a)-(l) in the internet, the punishments are in a hierarchy. The extra duties that we normally get is under (l) while reprimand is in (k) which is a step more serious then (l).

sir sickolot II SG

and how much damage would a formal reprimand have on 2LT Li's career?

would the PSC/Admin Service give 2 hoots? I don't think so.

In any case although he skipped the COC, he did what normal 2LT won't do because they lack the political clout to do so. For 'bao tou-ing' a superior..2LT Li got off with a formal reprimand. If a no-body 2LT did so... the consequences and gravity of punishment would have been different.

In other words, thinking objectively, he is the best person to whistle blow as there is lesser back lash from MINDEF.

However, that does not mean we/ or I condone the act of skiping the COC and emailing a good proportion of SAF.

BaruKu_9 SG

Originally posted by wisefool83:

I think need to clarify something here, his punishment was "reprimand". This is different from the scolding that it normally means. A reprimand in military law terms is a defined punishment more serious than your normal extras. [b]It is recorded and will affect military careers.

If you look up for SAF ACT s118 (1)(a)-(l) in the internet, the punishments are in a hierarchy. The extra duties that we normally get is under (l) while reprimand is in (k) which is a step more serious then (l).[/b]

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Sure or not??! His military career can be so easily get affected meh?

OK, let's see after he has completed his study overseas, returned back to Singapore and what rank can he obtain in his military career!

Let's see whether his promotion speed is like another rocket!

life2121 SG

i agree... besides... he has disrupted frm studies... n at most he wld jus serve out e remaining of his NS n get out... go to a cushy garhmen job n den b prepared to take over e dynasty... kao!

anw oot... my fren telling me something new abt tis case... gonna ask him more... c if i can update more later...

life2121 SG

woah! my fren said someone told him apparently some nsf was picked up by msd cos of tis matter! for wat reason he oso not sure… wah lau… so big now?

AndrewPKYap SG

"msd" is?

Hellraiza SG

MSD=Mysterious Shadow Devils

Range from LVL 80-99. HP/MP ???

From survivors accounts, of which are not many, the MSD has the ability to appear and vanish at will. Unquestioning loyalty to their supreme commander, only known as "Paper Tiger". They are faceless and many have made the fatal mistake of viewing them as generic peasants. Yet they are everywhere with eyes in the sky and ears in the wall. The lucky ones who have survived an encounter with them usually end up emotionally withdrawn, and lose their ability of speech.

Special Abilities-

Total Immunity to standard attacks
Internet Mastery
Teleportation
Unlimited Powers of Arrest

Weaknesses- NO KNOWN WEAKNESSES. BE AFRAID.

note-this post is meant to be joke. please don't catch me!!!

LazerLordz SG

Frankly, would MIT care about his military record? Reprimand or not, it won't matter jack balls to them.

Secondly, it's not the end of the world even in any remote circumstance, PSC decides not retain him after his bond is up.

Who knows, and I'm playing devils' advocate here.. that perhaps deep inside, he never wanted to be a public figure at all, or a civil servant, but rather it was pressure that made him conform.

Arapahoe SG

Pls lah what was done was done. nothing to say. Its all over the forum n net.
so don't spread news like this.

vincentchean SG

this dude think his the king's son

blitzonic SG

The people to pity in the case are the 2 superior officers whom our celeb. officer has complained to the about that officer going AWOL. Now tio condemned...henta kaki cepat henta already. Good Game...

Huh? Those two are the morons who looked the other way when there was a serial AWOL officer in their unit. They're lucky to get only warning letters! Talk about the SAF taking care of its own...

Good point &, to keep the reprimand in context, the consequence of Li's action (reporting misconduct) will override his intention (honorable or not) as well as the punishment itself. He can always claim this, whenever asked what happened.

*Muses* Tough to judge whistleblowing acts, something that can never be unambiguous -- partly why I think the Govt hesitates in enacting any "blanket" protection law. Opinions about them are often irreconcilable, depending on one's prejudice. The chatter here & elsewhere reflect so: Li is either a selfless martyr (hero), or a selfish backstabber (no comeuppence).

The SAF better learn from this. Stressing COC is one thing but, with the Internet influence nowadays, external whistleblowing cannot be managed like before (a REC complaining to his Tekong OO, or a PTE to his constituency MP). The fallout over the Commando/Hu Enhuai case already bore witness.

so wat? in e end he still got away wif a verbal warning only... i tink he deserved to b punished more...

For contravening MINDEF General Orders, it's hard to say. Those regulations are restricted info, we dunno what the exact charge was, & what its recommended punishment is.

Still think Li should've been indicted for improper handover of duty. (Maybe he was, but it wasn't reported. Can any lurkers from the SIG BN confirm?) Discussed this with my brother last nite over family dinner. Although a RSAF LTC, he's got experience as a camp commandant so I don't believe he was BS-ing me. Based on the email details, his view was that any AWOL charge wouldn't have stick on Li, & which the SAF must've concurred post-investigations. Ditto any on the duty BOS or equivalent (if there was one), since there was different witnesses vouching that LTA X deceived them about being physically inside the camp.

He saw my point about improper handover, though, but didn't think Li's offense was court martial-able like LTA X's was. To him, a summary trial was adequate, as long as the presiding disciplinary officer is 2 ranks higher. Detention or demotion was too harsh, but one of the more minor penalties (fine, reprimand or extra duties) would've suffice.

But Li wasn't hauled up on any such charge. The SAF disciplined him for broadcasting his complaint to non-relevant personnel instead.

would the PSC/Admin Service give 2 hoots? ....would MIT care about his military record?

Note, all he said was "affect military careers". But to respond: Yes, the PSC shall care since Li's on their scholarship; I expect them to review his case unfavorably, but only to put him on probation or something. (Get real, people, a white horse like him still kena charged already.) No, outside entities like MIT won't care, or even know, if there was no media publicity. Only those in sensitive industries like aeroplane, maritime or security, etc. need to conduct such background checks; otherwise it's per what you declare on your resume (& suffer any consequences accordingly).

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