SCDF ragging death: NSF’s colleague thought they were ‘just trying to scare him’

SINGAPORE — He helped to carry Corporal Kok Yuen Chin out to the 12m-deep pump well, thinking he and his teammates were “just trying to scare” Corporal Kok, not actually throw him in.

But as Staff Sergeant Al-Khudaifi Chang testified in court on Monday (June 10), things took a tragic turn when Corporal Kok was pushed into the well and died.

Staff Sergeant Chang was the first prosecution witness to take the stand in the trial of two commanders involved in the death of Corporal Kok, who drowned on May 13 last year just as he was about to finish serving his National Service (NS) in the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

The 22-year-old did not know how to swim, and this is the first death from ragging in the service.

First Senior Warrant Officer Nazhan Mohamed Nazi, 40, and Lieutenant Chong Chee Boon Kenneth, 38, are both accused of aiding a group of servicemen to cause grievous hurt, by not preventing them from making Corporal Kok enter the 12m-deep well, which contained 11m of water.

Chong was the commander of Rota 3, Corporal Kok’s team, at Tuas View Fire Station, while Nazhan was the deputy commander.

“DON’T LIKE THAT LAH, ENCIK”

Half an hour after he was pushed into the well by Staff Sergeant Muhammad Nur Fatwa Mahmood and after several failed rescue attempts, Corporal Kok, a Singapore permanent resident from Malaysia, was taken out of the well.

Staff Sergeant Chang, a Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) specialist who is also known as Chang Zhi Hao, was among eight officers — six regulars and two full-time national servicemen (NSF) — who were present during the incident, but were not charged in court.

The 26-year-old testified that Fatwa first asked Corporal Kok on the morning of the incident whether he was “ready to go into the well, or kolam”.

They had been resting in the locker room at about 9.30am, after completing their attendance-taking and vehicle and equipment checks.

Corporal Kok then replied in Malay: “Cannot” and “Don’t like that lah, Encik”.

Later, at around 5.30pm, Staff Sergeant Chang and Corporal Kok had a “playful tussle” during a football game at the fire station’s driveway, where the pump well was, Staff Sergeant Chang recalled.

“There was a point of time where the ball went into the kolam. Normally, Corporal Kok is an initiative-taker, he would always run to take the ball out. This time round, he did not,” he said.

“LIVE ALSO DIFFICULT, DIE ALSO DIFFICULT”

Later that evening, the team celebrated Corporal Kok’s last duty tour before his NS stint was to end three days later.

After the celebration at the watch room, Corporal Kok was about to leave when Staff Sergeant Muhammad Riduan Mohamed Sairi grabbed him and said in Malay: “Caught him already.”

A few of them, including Staff Sergeant Chang, then carried Corporal Kok out to the pump well. Closed-circuit television footage of this was played in court.

“We were just trying to scare him and not throw him into the pump well. We were just going to carry him and place him outside the metal gates of the well,” Staff Sergeant Chang said.

He added that while Corporal Kok was on the ledge, Chong stuck his head out of the window closest to the well and told them something along the lines of: “No recording or video allowed.”

Some of the officers raised their hands to show they were not holding a mobile phone and shouted back.

Nazhan accompanied them to the well and stayed there for about five to 10 minutes before returning to the watch room to “settle some stuff”.

While Corporal Kok was sitting on the ledge, someone asked him if he could swim. The NSF replied that he could not.

Fatwa then said that Corporal Sok Leng, who was a swimming instructor, was there and told him not to worry.

Footage of this exchange, taken by Staff Sergeant Adighazali Suhaimi on his mobile phone, was played in court on Monday.

In the video, Adighazali is heard telling Corporal Kok in Malay: “ORD also need to dive into the kolam”, while another voice said: “Live also difficult, die also difficult.”

Staff Sergeant Chang grew emotional on the stand as he described how they “shouted his name many times” when Corporal Kok did not resurface.

They then decided to dive in to rescue him, before using a fire engine to suck the water out of the well.

He said he had told Corporal Sok Leng to pass him his wallet and mobile phone before Corporal Kok went into the well.

“To expect the unexpected, I asked him to pass me his belongings in case he needed to dive in and pull (Corporal Kok) out,” Staff Sergeant Chang added.

Staff Sergeant Ng Meng Kiat, who is set to take the stand on Tuesday afternoon, ended up being the one who found the NSF at the bottom of the well.

The trial continues before Principal District Judge Ong Hian Sun.

THE OTHERS INVOLVED

Two officers have already been dealt with in court, while a third officer intends to claim trial to his charge.

In October last year, Fatwa was sentenced to one year and four weeks’ jail. The 34-year-old Hazmat specialist pleaded guilty to pushing Corporal Kok into the pump well and instigating Adighazali to delete a video recording of the act.

Adighazali, 33, has already served one month in jail for obstructing the course of justice by deleting the video.

Meanwhile, First Warrant Officer Mohamed Farid Mohd Saleh, 35, will contest his charge of abetting Fatwa by instigating him to push Corporal Kok into the well. His trial will begin next month.