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Family of 19-year-old NSF who died after fast march 'demand full explanation from SAF'
Yahoo News Singapore • 1 hour 5 minutes ago
Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) National Servicemen, soldiers (Yahoo News Singapore file photo)
The family of a 19-year-old full-time National Serviceman who died on Monday (30 April) are demanding a “full explanation” from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) after an anonymous note alleging negligence by commanders began circulating online.
Private (PTE) Lee Han Xuan Dave, a Guardsman from the 1st Battalion Singapore Guards, displayed signs of heat injury in the morning of 18 April after completing an 8km fast march in Bedok Camp, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a statement on Monday.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (1 May), Cecilia Yeo, the deceased’s aunt, shared the contents of a Facebook post from a “fellow soldier” claiming that “Dave struggled to complete his fast march” and showed signs of extreme physical exhaustion but was forced by senior commanders to finish it.
The anonymous Facebook user accused commanders of not following the proper protocol for a soldier in heat exhaustion. Sergeants were just surrounding the young NSF “talking cock and launching and cracking jokes around him, obviously thinking the soldier is trying to keng”, the user added.
Referencing the note, Yeo said that “while the truth can’t bring my nephew back, he deserves the truth to be told.”
“I am sharing this in pain but we demand full explanation from SAF to the public, who trustingly sent their children to serve the nation. I hope you share our pain and support that SAF must release full investigation and identity of all culprits to the public,” she wrote.