SINGAPORE : A commando trainer testified in court on Tuesday
that he did not see how two trainees were dunked by instructors
during a combat survival course.
Second Warrant Officer S. Balakrishnan is the fourth accused
commando trainer to take the witness stand.
He is charged with failing to stop the dunking of Second Sergeant
Hu En Huai and Captain Ho Wan Huo. 2nd Sergeant Hu died as a result
of the dunking.
Second Warrant Officer Balakrishnan also told the court that as
course commander, he had already started using the water tub in two
earlier survival courses.
He was appointed course commander of the 80th batch of the Combat
Survival Training on August 21 last year.
Second Warrant Officer Balakrishnan said his main responsibility
was to see the smooth running of the course, which meant he had to
move from station to station.
Therefore, he did not see how 2nd Sergeant Hu and Captain Ho were
dunked into the water tub during the interrogation phase of the
prisoner of war training.
Second Warrant Officer Balakrishnan joined the Commando Training
Wing as an instructor in 1993.
During his time as instructor, he also saw water treatment in the
Ranger course, where he said trainees were dunked in water
receptacles like oil drums, inflatable boats and even water
wells.
He thought the training was safe as long as the trainees were
dunked between five and 10 seconds and not more than three
times.
But after hearing evidence from medical expert witness Associate
Professor Philip Eng, Second Warrant Officer Balakrishnan says he
no longer thinks dunking trainees is safe.
The physician had earlier told the court that the act of dunking a
trainee cannot be carried out safely even with precautions. -
CNA