Aloysius Pang’s death, NS safety to dominate Parliament sitting on Monday
SINGAPORE — The death of actor Aloysius Pang and training safety during National Service are set to dominate the parliamentary sitting on Monday (Feb 11).
SINGAPORE — The death of actor Aloysius Pang and training safety during National Service are set to dominate the parliamentary sitting on Monday (Feb 11).
The Order Paper published on the Parliament's website on Friday showed a total of 20 questions filed by Members of Parliament (MPs) on these issues, while Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh has tabled an adjournment motion to debate how Singapore should balance “operational readiness, safety and the will to fight” in NS.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen is also expected to deliver a Ministerial Statement on recent NS training deaths and the safety enhancements being put in place for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in the aftermath.
The questions from MPs centre around whether sufficient safety measures are in place during NS training, and whether national servicemen are adequately trained to operate the equipment and vehicles that they have to handle during field exercises. They also want to know what the investigation into Pang’s death — which occurred following an incident at a training exercise in New Zealand — has uncovered so far.
Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) MP Joan Pereira, for example, has asked how often safety manuals for training are revised and updated, and how thorough the safety orientation programme is before the start of any field exercise.
Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Chong Kee Hiong, meanwhile, has asked whether there will be a review to examine the deeper reasons for the increase in the number of SAF training deaths in recent years.
Pang, 28, who held the rank of Corporal First Class (CFC), was crushed by the barrel of a howitzer during the overseas exercise which was part of his in-camp training.
This was the fourth training-related fatality in the last 16 months. An independent Committee of Inquiry (COI) has been set up to investigate the incident.
A separate COI and the police are also still looking into the death of CFC Liu Kai, a full-time national serviceman who died in November last year, when a Bionix infantry vehicle reversed into a Land Rover which he was driving during a field exercise at the Jalan Murai training area in Singapore.
OTHER ISSUES TO BE AIRED
Away from the NS deaths and training safety, several MPs have filed questions relating to the case of a doctor who was fined S$100,000 by the Singapore Medical Council for failing to inform a patient of the potential side effects of a steroid injection he was administering on her.
WP Non-Constituency MP Daniel Goh, for example, asked to what extent informed consent for minor medical procedures should be sought from patients, which will be considered “reasonably detailed and effective and not lead to the practice of defensive medicine and drive up costs”.
Some MPs also raised questions about the recent loss of 32 answer scripts for the GCE O-Level Additional Mathematics Paper 2.
The scripts went missing because the examiner marking them had his bag mistakenly taken by someone on a train in England.
Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Zainal Sapari wants to know whether the Education Ministry would consider having all GCE examination papers prepared and marked in Singapore, while Nominated MP Lim Sun Sun asked whether the ministry would consider having answer scripts scanned and graded electronically.
Parliament will also introduce two bills on criminal law reform and the criminal procedure code and debate bills related to the sale and advertising of tobacco and the upcoming Singapore Food Agency, among other things.
Two groups of MPs have also tabled related adjournment motions on ageing with purpose and support for caregivers.