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SCDF ragging death: Officer says he was told to push NSF into pump well, feels 'betrayed'

SINGAPORE — Just before he pushed Corporal Kok Yuen Chin into a 12m-deep pump well, Staff Sergeant Nur Fatwa Mahmood said that he heard his colleague telling him to do so.

Nur Fatwa Mahmood (left) testified that he heard Mohamed Farid Mohd Saleh (right) asking him to push Corporal Kok Yuen Chin into a 12m-deep pump well.

Nur Fatwa Mahmood (left) testified that he heard Mohamed Farid Mohd Saleh (right) asking him to push Corporal Kok Yuen Chin into a 12m-deep pump well.

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SINGAPORE — Just before he pushed Corporal Kok Yuen Chin into a 12m-deep pump well, Staff Sergeant Nur Fatwa Mahmood said that he heard his colleague telling him to do so.

“Wa, tolak dia,” First Warrant Officer Mohamed Farid Mohd Saleh allegedly told him. The Malay phrase translates to “Push him”, with “wa” being a short form of Fatwa’s name.

When Kok was found unconscious at the bottom of the well some 30 minutes later, Fatwa asked his subordinates whether he heard Farid’s instructions to him. But they said they did not hear anything.

This was what Fatwa told the court on Tuesday (July 23), as Farid’s trial over Kok’s death went into the second day. 

Farid is contesting his charge of instigating Fatwa to push the full-time national serviceman into the well at Tuas View Fire Station on May 13 last year.

Kok, 22, ended up drowning that evening, three days before he would finish serving his National Service in the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). 

Five SCDF officers were charged for their involvement in his death, which was the first resulting from such a ragging ritual in the service. 

Apart from Fatwa, 34, and Farid, 35, the others were First Senior Warrant Officer Nazhan Mohamed Nazi, 41, Lieutenant Chong Chee Boon Kenneth, 38, and Staff Sergeant Adighazali Suhaimi, 32.

POLICE INTERVIEW

On Tuesday, a video of an interview from a police officer’s body-worn camera was played in court. 

The police were at the fire station after the incident, interviewing some of the SCDF personnel, including Fatwa and Farid.

The video showed Farid responding to a question on whether he gave the order to push Kok: “I didn’t literally, like, ask him to… I just said, ‘So slow, ah?’. That’s it.”

Fatwa then told Farid in Malay: “You told me to push him inside.” Farid replied: "I asked him to sit there."

About a minute later, Fatwa repeated in Malay: “Just now, you said, right? Push him inside, is that correct or not? Don't play me out, Farid.”

Farid responded in Malay: “I was behind you, over there.”

Fatwa testified in court that he felt "betrayed" when he heard that, as he understood it as Farid not wanting to admit to what he had done.

When Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kumaresan Ghohulabalan questioned Fatwa about his relationship with Farid, he testified that Farid was a friend.

They have known each other since 2007 when Fatwa signed on to become a regular in the SCDF.

Even though Farid outranked him in the service, Fatwa said that he called him “Farid” or “Rid” instead of “Encik”.

Similar to his testimony during the trials for the other SCDF officers, Fatwa said on the stand that when they were relaxing in the fire station’s locker room sometime before May 13 last year, he teased Kok by saying “kolam before ORD”, which referred to the ritual of a serviceman getting into the well (kolam) to mark the end of the NS stint.

Kok responded by smiling and saying: “Don’t lah, Encik.” 

This also happened on the morning of the incident.

Later that evening, the team celebrated Kok’s last duty tour with cake-cutting and presentation of a plaque in the watch room. Some of them, including Fatwa and Staff Sergeant Al-Khudaifi Chang, then carried him out to the pump well.

'HEARD A PROMPT TO PUSH'

Fatwa testified that he wanted Kok to enter the pump well by himself. However, he said that Farid told him, while standing beside him at the well, to push Kok in.

When asked how loudly Farid said this, Fatwa replied: “In between whispering and normal talking.”

Later, Kok was found at the bottom of the well and paramedics arrived to take over. 

Fatwa said that Chong then asked them to gather at the engine bay and Fatwa told them in Malay: “We should be responsible for what we did together.” 

He also raised his hand when the fire station’s commander, Major Huang Weikang, asked who pushed Kok in.

At that point, Fatwa told Major Huang that Farid had told him to do it. 

Farid “just kept quiet”, he said.

“I looked at (Farid) — he had that kind of facial expression, like stunned,” Fatwa further testified.

They then went to the locker room, where Fatwa said he asked Adihazali and Staff Sergeant Chang whether they heard Farid say to push Corporal Kok. 

“They said no, they never heard,” Fatwa added.

In response to DPP Kumaresan’s question on why he asked this, Fatwa said: “In a way, I just wanted to get some assurance from other people whether they have heard Farid say that.”

Fatwa recently completed serving his 13-month jail sentence, partly in home detention. He has been interdicted from his duties — suspended from service without pay — since May 17 last year and he told the court on Monday that he is looking for a new job.

Farid has similarly been interdicted from duties with SCDF since the same date.

Their two commanders — Nazhan and Chong — are still on trial, while Adighazali has served one month in jail.

The trial continues on Wednesday, with Farid’s lawyer Vinit Chhabra cross-examining Fatwa.

Related topics

SCDF ragging death Corporal Kok Yuen Chin well

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