http://www.mindef.gov.sg/display.asp?number=1937
ADDITIONAL REMARKS BY MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, RADM (NS) TEO CHEE
HEAN, AT PARLIAMENT, 16 OCT 2003
Sir, I know that the words I say in this House will never be
sufficient to alleviate the grief of the families of those who have
died; nor fully answer the points and concerns that have been
raised today, which must surely will also be on the minds of the
public.
They must be answered, not merely with words, but by the actions of
the SAF what the formation does to put right what has gone wrong;
and what the SAF does to look after its soldiers.
Sir, this morning, I have summoned all the unit commanders and
senior commanders in the SAF, of all the three services and service
chiefs, more than 400 of them, to impress upon them the seriousness
of this incident, and to reinforce the importance of looking after
their men.
Sir, this morning, I have told them that this incident is a stain
on the reputation of the SAF. And that they have to erase that
stain by their actions. Every instructor, every section leader,
unit commander and senior commander is responsible for looking
after his men. And they are personally responsible for it.
I explained to them what I mean by looking after their men.
Several years ago, I visited a country where due to the security
situation, units of the armed forces had to be ready for battle at
any time. I spoke to a young commanding officer in an elite unit, a
young National Serviceman, and asked him what weighed most heavily
on his mind what keeps him up at night.
He told me, Sir, what is foremost in my mind every day, and what I
think about all the time, is that if my unit is called to battle
tomorrow, that I have trained my men well enough, so that they will
do their duty for their country and be able to carry out their
mission; that I can bring my men home because I have trained them
and prepared them properly; and that I can face the families of
those who did not return knowing that I did all I could to train
them well and to lead them well in action.
Sir, that is what our commanders must do to look after their
men.
I have two priorities now.
First, to complete the inquiries and investigations. To find out
who is responsible for carrying out these unauthorized acts and
allowing them to take place. The investigations by MINDEF and the
Police will be thorough and complete, and where there have been
shortcomings, failures or wrongdoings, those responsible will be
held to account and face the full force of the law.
Second, to put right what has gone wrong in this unit, and for the
whole SAF to learn from this and tighten up so that this does not
ever happen again.
To put the Commandos on the path of setting right what has gone
wrong, and to rebuild themselves, MINDEF has posted in a new Chief
Commando Officer to lead that process.
I said it just now in conclusion and it is important that I say
this again.
Parents entrust their sons to MINDEF and the SAF to prepare and
train them to perform a national duty in the defence of Singapore.
This is a heavy responsibility that MINDEF and the SAF do not take
lightly. We should not let up on hard and realistic training. But
we will never compromise on safety nor risk the lives of our
servicemen. It is MINDEF and the SAFs solemn commitment to take in
our young men, train them well and return them safely at the end of
two or two and a half years to their families as
operationally-ready soldiers.
Sir, I would like to thank Members of this House for frankly and
openly providing their views on this very serious issue. MINDEF
will look into every suggestion and every point raised and will act
on it.
This is one of the most serious incident, if not the most serious
incident, that we have had in the SAF of this kind in its history.
The SAF will work hard to ensure that we maintain the trust of this
House, maintain the trust of parents, maintain the trust of
Singaporeans. And at the same time, we will work hard to make sure
that we continue to have a tough, capable SAF to defend Singapore
and to defend Singaporeans.
