SINGAPORE — Five Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers, aged between 32 and 40, were charged on Wednesday (July 25) with offences relating to a May ragging incident which led to the death of a full-time national serviceman (NSF).

Those charged were Muhammad Nur Fatwa Mahmood, Mohamed Farid Mohd Saleh, Chong Chee Boon Kenneth, Nazhan Mohamed Nazi and Adighazali Suhaimi.

In a ragging incident-turned-tragedy, Corporal Kok Yuen Chin, 22, was found unconscious at the bottom of a 12m pump well — which contained 11m of water — in Tuas View Fire Station on May 13. This is the first death resulting from ragging in the service.

Court documents stated that the ragging incident took place between 9pm and 9.07pm.

Muhammad Nur Fatwa, 32, faces a charge of causing death by committing a rash act not amounting to culpable homicide by pushing Corporal Kok into the pump well. If convicted, he could face a jail term of up to five years, a fine, or both.

He faces another charge of instigating Adighazali to delete a video recording of Corporal Kok being pushed into the well. If guilty, Muhammad Nur Fatwa could be jailed for up to five years, a fine or both.

Mohamed Farid, 34, faces one charge of abetting Muhammad Nur Fatwa by instigating him to push Corporal Kok. If guilty, he faces imprisonment of up to five years, a fine or both.

Both Chong, 37, and Nazhan, 40 — who are the commander and deputy commander respectively of Rota 3 at Tuas View Fire Station — each faces a charge of abetting intentionally by aiding a group of servicemen to commit offence of causing grievous hurt. Each faces up to four years' jail, or a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.

Meanwhile, Adighazali was charged with obstructing the course of justice by deleting a video recording of Corporal Kok being pushed into a well. He deleted the video at about 11.23pm on the same day. If convicted, he faces up to seven years' jail, a fine, or both.

8 OTHER OFFICERS PROBED BY SCDF

On top of the five who have been charged, the police have referred eight other officers who were present during the incident to the SCDF for departmental investigations, said the SCDF in a media statement.

Six of those under departmental investigation are regular officers and two are NSFs. They were not named by SCDF.

"If investigations find that they had contravened SCDF rules and regulations, the regular officers will face public service disciplinary actions, which may include dismissal from service or demotion in rank, while the NSFs will be liable for detention and/or demotion in rank under the Civil Defence Act," the SCDF said.

The ragging incident involved getting Corporal Kok – who did not know how to swim – into the pump well as part of a celebration to mark the end of his national service stint, due on May 15.

The pump well is a reservoir of water used by fire station personnel for training and for testing the pumps of fire engines.

When Corporal Kok — a Malaysia national and a Singapore permanent resident — did not resurface, the well was drained and his body was later pulled out.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was immediately administered by a paramedic, followed by the use of an automated external defibrillator. He was conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

After the incident, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam told Parliament that criminal charges will “almost certainly” be brought against those involved.

A Board of Inquiry (BOI) that will review the incident and make recommendations has also been convened. It will be chaired by a senior director from the Trade and Industry Ministry.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said that a state coroner may separately call for an inquiry into Corporal Kok's death.

On Wednesday, MHA gave an update on the BOI’s work in response to TODAY’s queries.

Since the BOI was convened on May 22, it has “interviewed relevant personnel, conducted site visits and reviewed documents related to the incident”, the ministry said.

It added that the work of the BOI is separate from the criminal investigations and court proceedings.

In May, MHA said there had been at least five reported incidents of ragging in the SCDF in the past eight years, with errant officers sent to the detention barracks for a period ranging from three to 40 days.  

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