Decay On Net

I guess you all read about what happen to PM Lee’s son in NS. This guy got guts man. Write complaint letter to almost every mother’s son in SAF, including Chief of Defense, Chief of Army and also Minister of Defense. He only left never include his papa and ah gong in the email.

When I saw the internet forums talking about this issue, I thought it would never go to the mainstream media. Sure cover up one lah. But I was wrong. It appeared in the news today. Guess the news is spreading so widely in the internet that there is no use for any cover ups. This is the power of the new media. You can even find his exact email in the internet too.

I’m not going to post because it is a damn long email and I almost fall asleep reading it. Wah piang. We all know you scholar, but also don’t need to write such a bloody long email to show everyone how scholar you are lah. Complaint letters, especially to the top should be precise and straight to the point. Not beat about the bush, wishy washy here and there, then say the things you want to complaint. You think those important people up there got the time to sit down there for 15 minutes to read your long long letter? Wake up your idea lah.

I wish this guy will not be our Prime Minister in the future. The national day rally by his ah gong and lao peh already very long winded liao. I cannot imagine how his national day rally will be like.

While I agree with his views and salute his courage to stand up and log a complaint, I feel that his method is totally wrong. This is not civilian life where you happily shoot email to the CEO of the company when you encounter poor service from the company. This is the army. OK, some of you may think it’s your grandfather’s army. But still, this is the army. The first thing I learnt at Tekong is chain of command. It is so important that they make sure you know the chain of command first, then bring you to shave hair. Serious. This is to ensure that if you are not happy with your haircut, you know you should first complaint to the barber, follow by your SGT, Paltoon SGT, PC then OC. Cannot happily happily go find Camp Commander to complain the barber cut your hair not nice. EVERYTHING must follow chain of command. Every Single Small Thing.

So this guy power. Email all the way up to minister. Perhaps they forgot to tell him about chain of command before they shave his hair. Or perhaps he thinks he can get away with it because his lao peh is the minister’s boss. But he is so wrong. Mindef issue a media statement claiming that disciplinary actions has been taken against the PM’s son for breaking the chain of command.

"2LT Li was found to have contravened the General Orders of Mindef by broadcasting his letter of complaint to many other servicemen - almost all of whom were neither directly under his command, nor in an official capacity where they could deal with the matters contained in his letter of complaint. 2LT Li has been formally charged and administered a reprimand after a summary trial,"

Everyone is equal. Even if you are Prime Minister’s Son and Minister Mentor’s Grandson, you will still be punished when you make a mistake in the army. There is no such thing as white horse in Mindef.

But some people are MORE equal than others. Break chain of command all the way up to minister and all he got is a warning. No DB or SOL. Not even extra duties. Nothing! Just a verbal warning. Everyone is equal, but some people are more equal.

Welcome to Animal Farm. Welcome to Singapore.

Posted by DK on Friday, July 13, 2007 at 1:02 PM