SINGAPORE, April 5 — The High Court today accepted the prosecution’s appeal against a lower court’s decision to reduce criminal charges against two Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) commanders over the death of a full-time national serviceman.
In reinstating the original charges, High Court judge See Kee Oon noted that Corporal Kok Yuen Chin had never been a willing participant in the “kolam” (“well” in Malay) ragging activity, and that his commanders consciously chose not to stop it, ignored the risks or trivialised the potential dangers.
On May 13, 2018, Kok, then 22, drowned in a pump well at Tuas View Fire Station after a staff sergeant pushed him in. It was SCDF’s first death from ragging.
Kok, a Singapore permanent resident from Malaysia who could not swim, was taken out of the well after several failed attempts to rescue him.
Lieutenant Kenneth Chong Chee Boon, 39, was the commander of Rota 3, Kok’s team. First Senior Warrant Officer Nazhan Mohamed Nazi, 42, was Chong’s deputy.
Both men had contested one charge each of aiding a group of servicemen to cause grievous hurt to Kok by a rash act. After the trial, Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun lowered their charges to a negligent act that caused Kok’s death, and put them behind bars for 10 weeks each.
Chong pleaded guilty and has since served his jail term. Nazhan appealed his conviction and sentence, which Justice See threw out today.
Kok was ‘mocked, teased, taunted’
In his decision, Justice See ruled that Senior District Judge Ong had drawn erroneous inferences that contradicted the objective evidence presented in court.
These were mostly to do with whether the servicemen expected Kok would voluntarily enter the well, whether they gave him a choice, and whether Kok’s being pushed in was the sole cause of the grievous hurt he suffered.
Kok died after a celebration of his last duty tour, three days before his National Service was to end.
A group of SCDF officers, including Chong and Nazhan, had gathered at the fire station’s watch room and presented Kok with a cake and plaque.
Some of them then carried him out to the pump well.
Justice See noted today that Kok had been “mocked, teased and taunted”, and it could be reasonably inferred that he was nervous about the impending activity.
“At one point, he appeared to be crying, even while ostensibly keeping up a cheerful outlook. For this, he was teased as well. It is not possible to tell whether these were tears of joy or fear, or a mixture of both,” the judge said.
During an earlier trial, the State Courts heard testimony from various SCDF crew at the scene that night. Several video clips of the watch room and Kok being carried to the well were also repeatedly played in court.
Justice See noted that Kok would at least have been acting under overwhelming duress and there was no genuine consent.
He was constantly surrounded by other servicemen, including senior officers, who persisted in egging him on. Few servicemen would be prepared to disobey a superior’s orders and demands, Justice See said.
The judge added: “The weight of the evidence fully supports the inference that Kok was never a willing participant. He had never given any express or implied consent to the ‘kolam’. Tellingly, not a single witness testified that he had said he consented.
“As the prosecution pointedly submitted, there was no way for him to simply stand up and walk away.”
Commanders knew what ‘kolam’ ritual entailed
On the night of Kok’s death, Chong did not follow his men out of the room, but stayed behind to chat with another colleague.
It was only when he turned around and glanced out the window that he noticed a group of men had gathered around the well.
He testified that he opened the window and shouted “no filming” at the men. He also said that he thought Kok voluntarily entered the well and did not think his being dunked amounted to ragging.
Nazhan told Kok to jump closer to the ledge of the well, and told the others not to take photos or videos of the activity before he returned to his office.
When another of Kok’s colleagues asked him if he was ready, he replied in Malay: “Belum, encik (no, sir).”
Several of them goaded him to jump in and he responded with “cannot, encik”, which turned out to be his last words.
Within 45 seconds of sitting at the well’s edge, he was pushed in by Staff Sergeant Nur Fatwa Mahmood. Fatwa has served one year and four weeks in jail, and has been dismissed from SCDF.
Justice See ruled that Chong and Nazhan knew exactly what the “kolam” activity entailed and would have known that Kok would have been thrown or pushed in, if he had not voluntarily entered the well.
The judge said: “When Kok was pushed, even if the push was sudden and unexpected, no one present seemed to have expressed any shock or surprise, much less any immediate concern for Kok.
“Instead, there were only smiles and laughter, as if to celebrate the ultimate achievement of their goal of getting Kok wet.
“That said, it would be fair to note that no one expected him to fail to surface either.”
As for the fact that the “kolam” ritual was not expressly banned at SCDF, Justice See said that it was still ragging in substance, even if one called it horseplay or a send-off prank.
He rejected Nazhan’s continued assertion that a voluntary decision to enter the well would not constitute ragging if no force had been used.
As the commanders did not dispute that they owed Kok a duty of care, Justice See said the “inescapable inference” was that they had consciously chosen not to stop the activity, thus giving a clear sanction for it to continue, with knowledge of the risks.
“They purportedly did not even know whether Corporal Kok could swim… They chose to ignore the risks or to trivialise the possible dangers.”
Justice See will hear the sentencing submissions from the prosecution and defence, as well as the commanders’ mitigation pleas, later.
Both men could be jailed up to four years or fined up to S$10,000 (RM30,800), or punished with both. — TODAY
