SCDF ragging death: Drowned NSF told to enter the well or be pushed in
On the night he drowned, Corporal Kok Yuen Chin was told he had two choices: He could either enter the fire station pump well himself, or be pushed in.
This was told to the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer by rota mate, Staff Sgt Adighazali Suhaimi.
They had gathered in the control room at Tuas View Fire Station to celebrate Cpl Kok's impending operationally ready date.
Staff Sgt Adighazali had told Cpl Kok, 22, a Malaysian national and Singapore permanent resident, of the possibility he would be pushed into the 12m-deep pump well.
Staff Sgt Adighazali was testifying yesterday in the ongoing trial of two SCDF officers, each charged with aiding a rash act that caused grievous hurt by illegal omission.
Kenneth Chong Chee Boon, 38, a lieutenant, and Nazhan Mohamed Nazi, 40, a first senior warrant officer - who were in charge of the fire station then, had allegedly failed to prevent a group of officers from making Cpl Kok enter the pump well, endangering his life.
In his testimony, Staff Sgt Adighazali, 33, said he offered Cpl Kok "brotherly advice", to choose between the two options.
Staff Sgt Adighazali believed that someone might push Cpl Kok into the well if he did not enter on his own, as there was "persistent cheering to want to see him go in", he told the court.
Cpl Kok was eventually pushed into the pump well as part of activities to mark the completion of his national service. He then drowned.
Last December, Staff Sgt Adighazali was jailed a month after he pleaded guilty to intentionally obstructing the course of justice by deleting video footage that showed Cpl Kok sitting at the edge of the pump well. He has finished his sentence.
In court yesterday, Staff Sgt Adighazali said that up till the moment when they carried and put Cpl Kok down next to the well, he thought it was a prank.
At some point, someone told them to stop the activity and Staff Sgt Adighazali was told to quit taking the video, but the "commotion" continued.
Chong's lawyer Wee Pan Lee asked him to elaborate on what he understood of this "commotion", and Staff Sgt Adighazali said he thought that "something was going to happen", but did not think anyone would push the NSF into the well.
But this was the moment SCDF officer Muhammad Nur Fatwa Mahmood, 34, pushed Cpl Kok in.
While on the stand, Staff Sgt Adighazali said if Cpl Kok had voiced his objections, the activity would have stopped.
The trial continues tomorrow.
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