A wave of sex scandals has exposed a dangerous culture of
unaccountability and misogyny within the Singapore Civil Defence
Force.
By Oliver Ward, edited by Francesca Ross
Sex scandals in the
Singapore Civil Defence Force are dragging the reputation of the
once-proud emergency response service through the mud. The latest
is the
conviction of a major on two counts of taking up-skirt
videos of a colleague.
SCDF emergency medical services (EMS) calls in 2016
Source: scdf.gov
The SCDF have been the target of several high profile sexual
scandals in recent years
The up-skirt case is
by no means a one off. In September 2016, police were forced to
investigate a video
posted online showing a man engaged in sexual acts while
wearing a SCDF uniform. It was allegedly filmed in an SCDF
camp.
In August 2015, a 28
year-old woman who worked with the defence force as an external
contractor was subjected to
unwanted and persistent sexual advances from a married
senior officer. The most high-profile scandal seen so far was that
of Peter
Lim. He was convicted for his role in a sex-for-contracts
scandal that rocked the SCDF to its core.
The SCDF appear tough on sexual harassment but the punishments are
not
The scandals
continue because the punishment does not fit the crime. Lim was
sentenced to just six months in prison, and was
released after three.
Poh Siok Peng, the
man who spent two years taking up-skirt pictures, could receive the
maximum penalty
of six weeks in prison. He is far more likely to walk away with
a fine and little or no jail time. Former lieutenant-colonel Goh
Wee Hong was accused of sexual harassment and stalking. He was
completely cleared after compounding the charge for
S$4,000 (US$2,850).
The SCDF needs to set themselves apart and hold themselves to a
higher standard
Muhammid Fahmi
Hussaini, an exasperated officer in the SCDF, took to Facebook to
call out the offenders. He pleaded
“I only hope that they become better men than they were before”, he
signed off with “we are a life-saving force and it has to first
begin with us and our men”.
Women have played
prominent roles in the service since the SCDF opened its doors to
women in
1996. Female officers are trained to firefight in the same
programmes as men. In 2013, Captain Anne Tan received the Golden
Axe award after placing first out of her 35 peers in the Rota
Commander Course. A female recruit was
named Best Trainee in the SCDF Volunteer Firefighting
Course in 2016.
These women deserve
respect. The SCDF needs to look after its women as much as its men.
There must be clear boundaries and structures that ensure no
officer or cadet can behave with immunity.
The SCDF has bred a culture where servicemen believe they can act
with impunity
The SCDF has a
deep-rooted culture of servicemen doing what they want and
believing they will be immune from punishment. This comes to the
surface in cases of unwanted sexual advances on
colleagues, trashing
dormitory rooms, or misappropriating
iPads.
Tackling this
requires clear HR chains that can take reports of inappropriate and
offensive behaviour. It is up to the SCDF to implement this. It
cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet.
Corinna Lim, the
executive director of AWARE, believes there needs to be improved
training on what constitutes sexual harassment. She
argues this sends a message to the perpetrator – that what
they are doing is wrong and they will not get away with it.
Other countries punish sexual harassment much more
severely
Women in the
workplace regularly deal with sexual harassment, a survey by the
Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) said. They
found that 54% of
women had experienced some form of sexual harassment at work,
with 17% being
harassed by a superior. They found 12% of
women had received threats of termination if they did not do as the
harasser asked.
The SCDF cases show
that despite tightening sexual harassment laws in
2014 the punishments handed out are rarely sufficient.
Anyone found guilty of a sexual harassment offence can receive a
maximum fine of
S$5,000 (US$3,600) and a jail sentence of no more
than six
months.
By comparison,
misogyny was deemed a hate
crime in the UK in 2016. Anyone found guilty of sexual
harassment through misogynistic comments can face trial. In the
US, the
employer, rather than the individual is held liable for sexual
harassment in the workplace. If an employee is found guilty, the
employer will have to pay compensation for neglecting to stop
it.
What can the SCDF learn from the SAF?
The Singapore Armed
Forces (SAF) manage to hold themselves to a higher standard.
The military
justice system acts as a rock, underpinning every aspect
of military life, including disciplinary procedures.
Soldiers are
court-martialled for misdemeanours and held to account internally,
without the use of civilian courts. The goal is
to rehabilitate the servicemen and reintegrate them back
into their unit as a better individual and more effective member of
the team.
This ensures the SAF
has an impeccable record of discipline. There are effective
disciplinary structures and procedures in place which provide
support for the individual to make amends and reintegrate.
In contrast, the
SCDF has just announced plans to outsource
their disciplinary procedures to civilian organisations.
The authorities are proposing to use civilian companies to conduct
urine tests and arrest servicemen and women who go absent on leave.
This suggests that discipline is not a priority. It is this
attitude which is ruining the organisation’s record.
There are indicators that the SCDF is ready to reform its working
culture
The SCDF is already
stamping out sexually suggestive dances, known
as daggering, at the force’s annual Carnival. It is not the
image the board wants to portray, they
said.
The defence force’s
management needs to deal with the culture of misogynist and
unaccountable actions before these rampant scandals damage its
reputation beyond repair. The problem is not unique to the SCDF,
but we look to the SCDF to be leaders. Their work may be saving the
lives of citizens, but they are doing a poor job of protecting the
rights of their own.