DISGUSTING............this is the only word that I can describe the brutal 'ragging' of an army trainee that was shown on prime time TV3 news at 8 pm tonight (Feb 1, 2009). This calls to question the entire training scheme that this trainee had gone through; who is responsible for the training and what supervisory measures are in place to oversee the conduct of the training. From what was shown, it was obvious that there had been a lapse in supervision by a training officer, or was the officer himself involved in this barbaric act of torture of a young army trainee. This is not Abu Gharib, and in my 34 years as an army officer, and my involvement in training, I have never seen nor come across such extreme brutality.
This is not the first time a similar incident of 'ragging' of such proportion had happened in the army. I personally know of a similar case of a young officer undergoing training was severely beaten up by his trainers, to the extend that this young officer still retains the scars of such beating on the back of his body. Apparently, the officers-in-charge of the training had connived in keeping this dastardly act from being known by the superiors. I challenged those who know of this particular incident that happened 2 years ago, to come forward to reveal the truth.
One is also to be reminded of a similar incident some time ago that happened to some air force trainees, and another of the army commandos.
I urge the Chief of Army to fully investigate the incident immediately, and to place those responsible under close arrest, to facilitate a full investigation. I trust that the investigation team are officers of high integrity, and must be fully independent reporting direct to the Chief of Army himself.
If the culprits are found to be guilty, the only sentence that I can think of, besides them being discharged dishonorably from the armed service, is to incarcerate them to prison.
I am also reminded of a recent statement by the Chief of Defence Force when he said that the Armed Forces are in need of young men to join the armed services. With this dastardly incident, I wonder if any young men would consider making the Armed Forces their career, particular in the army.
CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION
Posted at 21.50pm on Feb 1, 2009
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2 comments:
I beg the Armed Forces to utilise the power given by The Armed Forces Act 1972 to investigate and punish the wrongdoers for this case.Dont ever ever let the Police or other agencies in the government to take advantage of the situation or let them handle the jurisdiction given to the Armed Forces as if they are more superior then U.There are only two type of crime copmmitted i.e murder and rape which is not within the Armed Forces Act jurisdiction, other than that Sections 38-88 allows the Armed Forces to exercise its jurisdiction fully. So dont be stupid like what have been done before ,all criminal cases happening in the military camp was handed and given to the Police to investigate.By doing so the Armed Forces is making mockery and redundant of its own Laws ,the Armed Forces legal system,Court Martial,Military Police,Board Inquiry,ASA power,CO power etc.If its happen again then the whole Armed Forces is equivalent to only boys scout or pelatih PLKN and the serving Generals or PAT for that matter shall be responsible for the downgrading of the Armed Forces status in the eye of Malaysian per se.
Note:
Under the Malaysian legal system even The AG (Attorney General)has no jurisdiction over Court Martial
It is unfortunate that military ragging of late have gone overboard to the extent that questions are raised on the code of conduct (morality) of our military officers.
The culture of ragging exists for noble reasons.
Ragging often takes place at training institutions and regiments(units).At training institutions, to toughen the trainess to the realities of battles; at regiments, to introduce young officers to the life of the regiment.
But the ones taking place at training institutions are not actually ragging but a form of punishment to teach the trainees not to repeat the same mistakes which may cause their lives in battles.
The degree of punishement varies according to the personality of the instructor.
It has been the tradition that young officers joining their new regiments upon graduation from RMC and other military academies are subjected to some forms of military raggings.Personally I found these to be useful as it forced me to learn very quickly about the expectations demanded off by my superiors and subordinates in my new regiment.
To minimize sadistic behaviour and extreme form of ragging, cadets and young soldiers should be exposed and educated on this tradition early in their military career.
I don't think it is shameful to introduce the subject at RMC and Training Centres so long as it help to put the noble reasons for ragging on track again.Get the experience of the old-timers by asking them to share their experience with the young cadets and soldiers.
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