From the straits times
interactive
TRIAL ON SOLDIER'S DEATH
Trainee who died was fit for training:
Doc
THE doctor who found Second Sergeant Hu Enhuai fit to go through
combat survival training said his assessment would be the same even
if he had known the course required trainees to meet the highest
fitness standards.
This is because 2nd Sgt Hu had passed the standard medical
examination for soldiers taking part in combat training, said Dr
Ong Song Ching.
The question arose yesterday because 2nd Sgt Hu had been given the
lower PES B grade in 2001 - and the course requirements specify
that trainees must be PES A.
The PES, or physical employment standard, status came up in the
trial of four commandos charged with rashly causing the death of
2nd Sgt Hu by repeatedly dunking him in a tub of sea water.
Dr Ong, now with Singapore General Hospital, had examined 2nd Sgt
Hu on Aug 6 last year before the soldier went for the course, which
started on Aug 13.
Yesterday, defence lawyer N. K. Rajarh asked Dr Ong if he would
have certified 2nd Sgt Hu fit for the course had he known trainees
are required to be PES A.
From a medical point of view, he said, it was irrelevant whether
2nd Sgt Hu was PES A or B as long as he passed the FFI criteria,
referring to Fitness For Instruction, a medical check-up procedure
in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
He also disagreed that a doctor must know the 'extent of the
physical regime' that trainees undergo in a course before
certifying a soldier fit for it.
'I disagree, because the purpose of the FFI is to exclude any
medical condition that would prevent the soldier from participating
in SAF combat training in general,' said Dr Ong.
Knowing the contents of the course would not have altered his
assessment, he said.
The reason for 2nd Sgt Hu's PES B status - a 'less flexible'
Achilles tendon in his left ankle - would not have affected his
ability to go through the course, he added.
Another witness who testified was a commando, 2nd Sgt Lui Yong
Fook, who was among the trainees hospitalised for breathing in salt
water.
He said he had expected to be 'forcefully pushed down' in water,
having seen it in 'the movies, it's normal POW training'.
The trial continues.
