Not Quite What It Seems

Today in the Straits Times there were a couple of letters dealing with malingering, which has become a hot topic recently because there was one case where a corporal died because he was not properly cared for by his army doctor who allegedly thought he was malingering. Also, 3 army personnel have died suddenly after exercise. Were they really fit for action, or did they perhaps not dare to report sick??

When I read the two letters, my mind went bravo! because I thought these 2 people are very brave, especially if they have not ROD-ed yet. They seemed to be standing up for the genuinely sick soldier who is often suspected of malingering. I had issues with reporting sick too. In my NS years I think I had 3 or 4 days Attend C status, which is nothing to brag about lah. Once, my company even had this policy- everybody is free to report sick, but if you come back without any status at all, you have to sign 1 extra. So there was a lot of stress when a person is sick because he might not dare to actually report sick for fear that his ailment is not severe enough. So how? Suffer in silence lor.

I remember once I had this fever which was rather high. So I reported sick. But turns out my MO is out of camp, so I had to be transported to another camp to see their MO there. Initially my temperature was over 38 degrees, but I realised to my horror that I could feel my fever begin to subside by the time I reached the other camp! So I was getting worried.. Thankfully I managed to get Att C haha. But there's the situation- it's stressful falling sick in the army. When we are already not feeling well, we can certainly do without this added pressure. So... bravo and kudos to the two... or is it?

THE FIRST LETTER

ST Forum: Mindef should relook rules on reporting sick

THE recent incidents of SAF soldiers dying in camp reminded me of my last reservist in-camp training last November.

I was having a high fever so I went to a GP and was given two days' medical leave. I did not book in but I called my unit - I also called my camp-mate to ask him to inform the officer in charge - only to be told that I had to go back to camp and have my MC endorsed.

I explained to the duty clerk that I was having a high fever and asked him if it was possible for him to call the clinic to check or have someone come by my house.

However, I was told that I had to have my MC endorsed by the camp doctor or I would be put on charge.

I took a cab to the Sungei Gudong Camp from my Toa Payoh home. The medic took my temperature and sent me to the medical centre right away. I was running a fever of 38.9 deg C and the doctor sent me home to rest. I was on MC for that week because my temperature just would not go down.

I hope Mindef will do something about the rules on reporting sick.

Sometimes people force themselves to do things even when they are sick because they don't want to be called 'chao keng' (a Hokkien phrase meaning 'to pretend').

Ong Kian Seng

THE SECOND LETTER



Rather well written, and makes sense. Until I found out more from a forum thread.

Source here

Apparently someone in the forum knows the person who wrote the second letter. And it turns out this letter writer is not exactly a garang soldier...

Extract from forum post:
(QUOTE)
never was i ever so eloquent and forth coming in generating a reply to mr kwok's article...


Hi Mr Kwok, how`ve you been? Less eccentric and getting better at your Chinese chess I hope? I know you love to PCC. Very surprised, and impressed at the command of language you exhibited in a very nice and slick post in the Straits Times today, and indeed its definitely a good chance to spite those poor Medical Officers whom had attended to you during your BMT days. I would definitely appreciate if you did correct your forum article a little, amending the “witnessed” and “heard” to what you have experienced. That would definitely be a more accurate representation especially when you are dealing with general public. How much had you seen in 5 months of service before disruption?

Well Mr Kwok, do you remember me from Bravo Company, Section 2? Weren`t you Bravo Company Section 1 bed 2 back then? Or if your memory continues to fail you, how about remembering me your classmate from 01S03J back in RJ? Or have you been severely overly obsessed with mugging and mugging*squared that you don`t really notice your surroundings?

Definitely when 49 of our 50-strength platoon nearly died of laughter when they saw your forum article today. I nearly wanted to jump out of the window. Its incredibly funny when the kettle calls the pot black, or maybe the pot calls the kettle black. Erms. Either way you get the drift, whichever `s blacker in the first place.

Lets have some background information shan`t we? Bravo Platoon 3 enlisted on 20th January 2003, commanded by PC 2LT Alan, PS 3SG Lee Xian Yi, who was incidentally Mr KKM`s Section Commander as a secondary appointment. In Bravo 3, your reputation as it still stands was the company`s ultimate Chao Keng. Why was that so? Incidentally, I believed Bravo company was hosting as scholar batch, and the MOs were kind enough to shower lots of Attn B status on you. I think the number of days of you being off status can be counted with my fingers. OC Capt Faiz didn`t know what to do with you. He did not want to OOC (out of course) you because of a strong company history of minimal out-of-course trainees. He was kind enough to push you to pass the course.

You did not even go for field camp, on status. When you whined that the field pack was too heavy, PS 3SG Lee was kind enough to carry it for you through out, and carried it for you even when you sat on the tonner to the field camp site. Hey, and did you complain of not being able to go out field, EVEN in a tonner and claimed you had rashes which were just a couple of mosquito bites? We laughed it all despite the misery of being soggy and wet during the field camp days whilst you were perfectly dry.

PS Lee said you weren`t weak nor soft. Your 2.4 timing`s pretty good at under 10 minutes. You could do 8-10 pull ups. And we were all amazed by the countless excuses you had, medical appointments, and the number of times you reported sick. Well we weren`t that mean to give a strong majority agreement that you were chao-geng because we couldn`t really understand you either during the earlier days. Being eccentric for 6 years of Rafflesian education. No offence but some friends thought your oestrogen levels were much higher than your testosterone levels. Why were we so sure that you are a malingerer in the end? And why did we start singing those taunting chao-geng songs just to spite you?

3 months of area cleaning. YOU DID NOTHING. YOU NEVER did picked up a cloth nor a broom to help with the bunk cleaning. Neither did you clean your own bedframe, and personal area too. Everyone could clearly remember during area cleaning you were the only guy who walks up and down the corridor drinking water endlessly. Stepping into the toilet to REFILL your water especially when those poor toilet cleaners have already cleaned the floor.

You left black shoe marks on the clean toilet floor. You dirtied the corridor with wet shoes. You never did clean your cupboard. You never did arrange your shoes below your bed. You exhibited no care nor concern about the other 49 of us, only being in your own self-centred universe. When had you help people fill their water bottles? When had you shared food with your bunk mates?

During confinement period, you complained of hunger, my friend shared his precious Oreos with you. Little did my friend know that you had food too. You didn`t want to eat yours, and instead take other people`s share, cleverly hoarding your own stash. That happened many times through out the course. When called for fatigue duties, excuses were endless from you. Head pain? Back Pain? Neck Pain? Joint pain? Knee Pain? What else is painful for you?

In a one for all, all for one concept in the platoon, how many times have we been punished because of you? It still makes my blood boil till today the irresponsibility, indifference, and unprofessional way you conducted yourself. You are a pure selfish malingerer. Stop protecting your own kind by writing fabricated articles to the ST forums.

Do you know why SAF doctors are so apprehensive about giving status to NS soldiers? Because its so damn hard to differentiate who`s really sick and who`s really malingering by their realistic acting.

If people like you did not malinger in the first place, and if the SAF had lesser malingerers, the doctors would definitely be more professional in their judgements. I had seen a SAF MO being charged, and fined, under the SAF Act, Chpt 295, “Prejudice to good behaviour of an SAF soldier” because he dished out too many ATTN C (MCs for soldier to go back home to rest). Dr F** J***s**, I respect you for your willingness to trust soldiers, yet they failed you because of several pretentious personnels that got you into trouble.

SAF MOs can only afford to do a preliminary medical examination, and pass a quick judgment due to the large populations of report-sicks daily. What else can they do? After all many are inexperienced housemans which you are going to be in 2 years time. Do not question the integrity of the doctors. Question your own first.

In your self centred days, during JC, you were the only guy who selfishly hoarded his/her own notes, often wanting a share of other`s. Lecture theatres were small, chairs had to be put on the stairs to accommodate the large triple science cohort, you rushed in every lecture just to grab a center seat for yourself on a proper LT seat. You were always solitary, non amiable, and non-approachable, never contributing during class, much as many cliques wanted to understand you better. I am definitely amazed by the lack of selflessness and professionalism, and I wonder how did NUS select and interview you into their medical course, a career where one has to be impartial, professional and definitely selfless, willing to contribute to society. Maybe the NUS interview boards weren`t accurate enough? 1 round of interview from lecturers, and the other round from senior nurses/students, failed to judge you accurately. I believe having your 4As and 2 Distinctions in S-Papers probably did grant you a PSC Psychological interview. I would be very interested, and everyone else too, in the results of that psychological interview.

Well in the mean time, thanks for the joke in the ST forums today, we really had a good laugh.
(UNQUOTE)

Hmm... *cocks one eyebrow* A lot of dirt being dished out there, but if it's true it certainly makes things more interesting. It's like a fighter standing up for people who are being bullied, but the people later realise that the fighter himself is not entirely noble... and the fighter may have his own agenda.

How?