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SINGAPORE: A rotating commander of the Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF) and his deputy were sentenced to prison on Tuesday (September 15) for their role in a fatal incident that drowned a national serviceman in a pumping well.
Tuas View Fire Station Rotational Commander Kenneth Chong Chee Boon and his deputy Nazhan Mohamed Nazi were sentenced to 10 weeks in jail.
The latest development means that all defendants in the case have been convicted, more than two years after Corporal Kok Yuen Chin died at age 22 after being pushed into the 12-meter-deep pumping shaft at the station. firefighters.
He drowned in May 2018 after spending more than half an hour in the water and after frantic rescue attempts by Rota men.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, CPL Kok’s father said the commanders should have stopped what happened.
“Whether they are guilty or not, I don’t know,” he said in Mandarin. “But they should have asked them not to play until I was so overboard. They didn’t even stop them. One ran and the other stood still. They didn’t even say anything.”
Speaking in Mandarin, he said his son, who is Malaysian and a permanent resident of Singapore, was an “outsider” and was not familiar with what was going on.
“What else can I feel?” He said about the result. “(My son) is gone. He is in another world … We have to spend the days, we have no choice.”
THE CASE
Chong and Nazhan had been tried for instigating serious harm to CPL Kok, but the charges could not be proven at trial.
However, the judge found that there was sufficient evidence to convict them on each of the counts of committing a negligent act to endanger human life. Chong pleaded guilty to the new charge, while Nazhan pleaded not guilty and was convicted.
District Judge Ong Hian Sun said that neither of the two had prevented the military group on their shift from carrying out “kolam” or pumping activities at CPL Kok.
Like the highest ranking officers on duty, CPL Kok would have looked at the defendant to ensure his safety, the judge said.
“On the facts, the defendants were negligent in allowing kolam’s activity to continue even though they were unaware that he could not swim,” Judge Ong said.
Chong knew the men were participating in kolam activities, but he yelled “no filming,” giving the men a sign that they could move on.
Nazhan was physically close to the men before the incident, but similarly did not stop the acts, the judge said.
The defense had sought hefty fines for their clients, while prosecutors had called for the maximum three months in jail for both men, saying the crime committed was the worst of its kind, resulting in the death of CPL Kok.
Judge Ong said there is “a significant public interest in deterring crowding activities within the SCDF.”
“Public confidence should not be eroded by a permissive stance taken by commanders towards the security of the military under their charge,” he said.
“This is especially the case when the lives of these military personnel are entrusted to them during the course of national service. A firm stance must be taken to ensure that the safety of NS members remains paramount.”
Chong’s attorney, Wee Pan Lee, said his client was ready to serve his sentence, but the prosecution requested a stay of the appeal as the prosecution is appealing the case.
Wee said Chong wants to serve the sentence even if the prosecution wins his appeal, as he wants to move on with his life, and the judge allowed it.
The maximum penalty for the crime of a negligent act that endangers human life is three months in jail, a fine of up to S $ 1,500, or both.
The rest of the case has been solved. The man who pushed CPL Kok into the well, Nur Fatwa Mahmood, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year and four weeks in jail in October 2018.
Mohamed Farid Mohd Saleh, who had asked Fatwa to push CPL Kok into the well, was jailed for 13 months in November 2019.
Sergeant Adighazali Suhaimi was jailed for a month in December 2018 for removing incriminating evidence.
