SCDF NSF who drowned in Tuas fire station well was pushed: Inquiry

A full-time national serviceman (NSF) was pushed from behind into a deep pump well as part of a ragging ritual that took a tragic turn.

The chain of events that led to the drowning of Corporal Kok Yuen Chin, 22, on May 13 was revealed in a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) press release yesterday.

To mark his impending operationally ready date three days later on May 16, some of his Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) colleagues at Tuas View Fire Station had presented him with a plaque, cake, and what he feared the most - a trip into a 12m-deep pump well.

Cpl Kok, a Singapore permanent resident from Malaysia, had confided in his sister before that fateful evening that he was afraid of going into the pump well because he could not swim, The New Paper reported in May.

As part of a ragging ritual called kolam (Malay for pool), Cpl Kok was carried to the pump well at 9.04pm by some members of his Rota - the team of firefighters, rescuers and paramedics who were on standby duty with him that evening

As he sat on the edge of the well, one of the officers went behind him and pushed him in.

Eight seconds later, when Cpl Kok did not resurface, a colleague jumped into the well, sparking a rescue attempt lasting more than half an hour.

This was what the Board of Inquiry (BOI) found after visiting the incident site, reviewing relevant evidence, and interviewing more than 50 SCDF personnel, including senior management and servicemen from Tuas View Fire Station.

The BOI, convened by Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on May 22, made a total of 11 recommendations to prevent such incidents from recurring.

The panel, chaired by a senior director from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, submitted its report to Mr Shanmugam on Aug 28.

He has accepted the BOI's recommendations in full.

RECOMMENDATIONS

SCDF said in a statement yesterday that it has started to implement follow-up actions after considering the recommendations thoroughly.

This includes decommissioning all 19 pump wells at its fire stations and instituting a code of conduct to reinforce its zero tolerance against ragging.

The BOI found that Cpl Kok's colleagues took about 36 minutes to find and pull him out of the well. After the first serviceman jumped in, others followed suit but could not find him.

Some of them then helped to pump water out of the well, while those in the well used breathing apparatus to dive deeper.

After Cpl Kok was finally found, he had to be pulled out with the help of ropes.

Paramedics who were at the ragging could not resuscitate Cpl Kok, and he was pronounced dead at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital at 11.02pm, a little over an hour after he was extricated.

MHA said the BOI's key findings and recommendations have been shared with Cpl Kok's family.

It added that the BOI's inquiry is independent of the ongoing police investigations and any subsequent disciplinary proceedings taken by the SCDF.

Five SCDF regular officers were charged in court on July 25 for their involvement in the incident and eight others who were present, including two NSFs, are being investigated by the SCDF.

The five men charged were Mohammad Nur Fatwa Mahmood, 33, Mohamed Farid Mohamed Saleh, 34, Kenneth Chong Chee Boon, 38, Nazhan Mohamed Nazi, 40, and Adighazali Suhaimi, 32.

Nur Fatwa, a staff sergeant, was alleged to have pushed Cpl Kok into the well.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Shanmugam said the conduct of the officers involved was unacceptable.

He said: "The recommendations will help the SCDF eradicate unauthorised activities, such as ragging.

"Those who were assessed to be criminally culpable have been charged and will answer for their actions in court. The others will be investigated for departmental disciplinary act-ions.

"We will do whatever we can to ensure that no more officers come to harm because of such activities."