Recently it was reported in local dailies that a selected trainee for national service has refused to report due to the recent death of her brother. Her parents, who obviously remain distraught about the untimely death, have been steadfastly adamant on keeping their only child with them.
This was compounded by the fact that the deceased had complained to the parents about the poor state of affairs at the national service camps. As the death had not occurred during the national service period but a few days after, the National Service committee felt that there was no basis for refusing her draft into the service.
There is still not much information surrounding the cause of death. When a young healthy individual drops dead, there should be valid concern about the cause. The National Service should not be too quick in absolving themselves of all responsibilities. Afterall it was only 9 days after the end of his training.
The sudden nature of his death should raise questions about the temporal relationship with the recently concluded NS training. Complains from the deceased about the poor water quality and general rundown condition of the camp, should be taken seriously by the NS committee.
There is obvious concern from the parents that the NS is not safe.
Many deaths around the NS training ground itself have been poorly investigated and to date, none of them has surfaced in the public domain. Comparisons with the death rate of the general population at this age is unfair as individuals going into training are supposedly well and healthy. Death rates of the general population may have taken into account individuals that are sick. Therefore, if you think about it, the death rate of these healthy individuals is rather alarmingly high to equate the national death rate.
Until and unless, there is more transparency into how the NS is run, there is little point in exposing one’s children to such dangers. Indeed many are supportive of the programme but what about those affected by such unnatural deaths. Even the army or police does not have such a high death rate, do they?
So why are these young children dying at or surrounding the time of the National Service training? More questions than answers.
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