you are very insightful to have drawn the line of law between the ordinary and the elite. in your wise opinion, what should the SAF have done so that it's more agreeable to all?
The SAF can do it privately by giving wreath in the soldiers' own personal name and NOT in the name of SAF. No one can fault the army if the SAF personnel do so in their own individual capacity. But if done in the name of the SAF, then it signals a public policy issue.
like someone has mentioned that "a precious life was lost". does a life lost through fighting a war and one that lost through suicide really make a great difference?
It does makes a difference between natural death where servicemen were killed in action and deliberately taking one's own life.
both are losses of life. does one loss deem to be greater than another? how much do we understand about the suffering that the deceased had to go through to finally and hopelessly take on this route?
Everyone is accountable to themselves for their own action unless where you are holding public office, in which case, you are accountable to the public for your action. It is just like if you commit a crime, your spouse is not answerable for it though not legally but morally you are answerable to your family. But if you commit a crime while holding post in a public office, that department will have to answer. This is accountability in a government and this is what election is all about. You choose your MP from the party to form the government and to represent the people. So this is accountability.
on the formal military regimented law, the late dr ooi shouldn't be mentioned for his "not very honorable" and untimely death, but on the humane side, A PRECIOUS LIFE IS LOST.
That is why I started off in this thread that what I am about to say is not in disrespect to the deceased family. I am merely asking what should be the public policy. Is it right or wrong for Mindef to put up an Obituary for a deceased who is the subject matter of a crime.
many lives were lost during national service. never has once the army given a proper accountablity. sometimes the tagline from a certain forummer rings loudly in our ears:
I have to stress the fact that not everything done by the government must be accountable to the public. Mindef is apparently one department which enjoys such a privilege but a balancing exercise must be carefully carried out. They cannot use that privilge as though it is a blanket ban to cover all incidents that took place in the army.
Remember, we are in peace time and not in any war. Mindef may have to state the policy of how they deal with bond breakers in this case. The breaking of bond is a different issue with "celebrating" someone who is an army deserter by putting up in the Obituary albeit we understand from the newspaper that the bond issue was one of the factors that led him to commit suicide. These are 2 separate issues.
NS IS REALLY KILLING SG!
