INSIGHT: The Internet: The new political ward?
By Lydia Lim
A WEEK after a rather parsimonious Ministry of Defence statement
said that a young soldier had 'collapsed' and died, someone put up
an online posting offering a shocking explanation.
The person, also a national serviceman, alleged that Second
Sergeant Hu Enhuai had died after being dunked in water. About five
other people also nearly drowned during a combat survival training
session, he claimed.
His posting on the Military Nuts forum at
www.sgforums.com sparked an online discussion that drew thousands
of page views. 
Some others, who said they were commandos, also posted messages
confirming that water torture had been part of training sessions
for some time.
This thread, which began in late August, was later removed by one
of the forum's moderators.
Still, about two months later, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean told
Parliament that 2nd Sgt Hu had indeed died from drowning during the
dunking, an unauthorised training practice at the School of
Commando Training.
His friend, speaking for the first time to the press, tells Insight
that he started the discussion thread to counter any wrong
impression created by the first Mindef statement.
'They claimed that he had collapsed during training, as if it was
due to his own health problems. There was no mention that he had
drowned.
'I felt it was an injustice and decided to post an account of what
really happened online, to let as many people as possible know,' he
says. 'I let them know he drowned, that his head was forced under
water and held there for a long time.'
This person, who asked not to be named, says he based his account
on a conversation he had with another NSman who was at the
scene.
After that first posting, he says he watched and waited to see what
Mindef would do.
'I was just hoping that they would come out with the truth and
admit that it was negligence on their part,' he says.
He still remembers Oct 15, the day Rear-Admiral (NS) Teo spoke for
the first time about his friend's death.
'When I heard the minister's statement, I felt happiness and relief
that his death had not been in vain, that there would be steps
taken to prevent other people from dying in the same way.'
OUTING THE TRUTH
HOW the online discussion figured in Mindef's decision to make
public the cause of 2nd Sgt Hu's death is difficult to
establish.
The closest the Government came to acknowledging the Internet as a
factor was on Oct 19, when Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
told reporters that Mindef would be transparent.
'Nobody should be left in any doubt that there is a cover-up or
that Mindef will be kind to its own people... If we did not tell
the truth, then people will start believing what is on the Internet
uncritically,' he said.
What is clear is that, this time round, Mindef has been far more
open than it was in 1991, when it also faced public pressure to be
more forthcoming about three accidents that left eight servicemen
dead.
At that time, Member of Parliament Charles Chong had asked for more
information on the cases.
But then Second Minister for Defence Yeo Ning Hong said legal and
security reasons required that findings by committees set up to
investigate military accidents had to be kept secret.
Insight asked Rear- Adm (NS) Teo about the difference in Mindef's
response then and now, and whether the Internet was a factor.
He would say only that his ministry's 'open approach' this time
round 'ensures that the high level of public support and trust in
the SAF is maintained'.
He also said in his e-mail reply that Mindef seeks feedback and
monitors views from both soldiers and the public because the SAF is
a 'citizen's army'.
It is interested in all 'serious discussions', regardless of the
medium. And it responds when an issue 'merits a response', he
added.
Although the Government may not like to
admit it, the Internet has definitely limited its ability to
suppress information, say media watchers. 
As Mr Arun Mahizhnan, deputy director of the Institute of Policy
Studies, notes: 'When serious issues are outed in the Internet
first, the Government would find it exceedingly difficult to
completely cover up.' 
