When PM Lee HL was a BG (SAFOS Scholar) ?
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For a good part of his political career, PM Lee (as a DPM and chairman of MAS) was commonly called BG Lee. Is anyone here 'old' enough to know this?
He started his career as a career soldier or SAF regular at the age of 19, when he was the first batch of five SAFOS scholars, before he went to Cambridge University to study. BG Lee is best known to have made BG at the age of 32. Of cos there were people who during that time gossiped without substantiation that he made BG at 32 because of who his dad was. Till today, most SAFOS only make BG at their mid to late 30s, between 35 to 38, but no one made BG at 32 again.
I chanced upon a closed thread dated 2000, in which an 'old timer', someone quite old said that PM Lee, then in the SAF as a young SAFOS, got his star because he took charge of the cable car rescue operation that SAF undertook.
For the uninitiated, in the early 80s one Sentosa cable car snapped off the cable line, with people inside. The cable car didn't plunge right into the water, instead it dangled precariously on the line swinging with people in it. Yes it sounds like a scene out of an action movie, this is what I remember reading about it in the 90s. I had no idea PM Lee was involved and in charge of the rescue mission that SAF undertook. SAF also shot the terrorists that hijacked an SIA plane in the late 90s.
Does anyone else know more, tell more?
http://politics.sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/2817?amp%3Bpage=3&page=3
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To moderator: It is NOT when he was BG Lee (NS). He is NOW BG Lee (NS). When he was in the SAF as a soldier, he was BG Lee. When he left the army to pursue a career in politics, he was fondly referred to as BG Lee.
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you can just simply wiki this incident.
anyway, two cabins plunged into the sea and 7 people were killed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Cable_Car_disaster
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side-topic, but......in SG, how come people in early - mid 30s can get BG rank???!!!!!!!!
what trash is this???!!! so, with just certs, can become general??!!! i wonder if they have enough experience and wisdom to lead, as well as other factors besides "pretty papers".
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first batch of 5 SAFOS Scholars ... anyone know who are they??
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during the cable car incident, he was a full colonel. i've seen a picture of him giving instructions to men involved in that operation wearing his 3 crabs.
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now that you mentioned it, I saw in my camp that the mess in my camp was opened by him...stated BG Lee...startled me too, but kinda expected it.
In case it's useful for you, my camp is Sungei Gedong Camp...the name of the mess is tracks mess under HQ Armour.
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Originally posted by loki_chaos:
now that you mentioned it, I saw in my camp that the mess in my camp was opened by him...stated BG Lee...startled me too, but kinda expected it.
In case it's useful for you, my camp is Sungei Gedong Camp...the name of the mess is tracks mess under HQ Armour.
That should be BG Lee Hsien Yang. Armor Officer.
He was the CO for 46 SAR in the 80s
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Originally posted by Nikar 3:
side-topic, but......in SG, how come people in early - mid 30s can get BG rank???!!!!!!!!
what trash is this???!!! so, with just certs, can become general??!!! i wonder if they have enough experience and wisdom to lead, as well as other factors besides "pretty papers".
Err it's not just with certs. they work their arse off, even during staff tour in mindef they work 7 days a week at home on weekends. if you have not worked with them before, which I am sure you have not from the way you sound, you just make yourself sound very foolish. 27 Maj, 30 LTC, 32 COL so 35 BG is common for those safos high fliers.
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this sissy has got backing from the papa mah!
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Originally posted by sir_peanuts:
during the cable car incident, he was a full colonel. i've seen a picture of him giving instructions to men involved in that operation wearing his 3 crabs.
Yes he was a full COL, if i'm not wrong he was chief of general staff http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Cable_Car_disaster i hadn't the idea the accident would be in wiki, LOL! the wiki entry says chief of staff but I always knew the post as chief of general staff. (CGS). I'm just interested in details of his his role in the operation, especially since they say he got his star after that because of it.
Since he got his CPT at 23 year old when he came back from Cambridge, it means that he got his star at 33, not 32 as alleged. This is because its widely circulated that he got his star after 10 years of service. But it's very common for people to exaggerate to the fullest and use the age of the person before his birthday passes. the earliest an SAF scholar (which means only safos) can get Maj is the year of his 27th birthday, but many people like to say 26 if the guy's birthday hasn't passed.
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Originally posted by I_love_my_toilet:
That should be BG Lee Hsian Yang. Armor Officer.
He was the CO for 46 SAR in the 80s
I always thought BG Lee Hsien Yang is an artillery officer, not in armour, correct me if i'm wrong.
It's a well known fact that the two safos brothers both did not sign up for combat vocations, but both are in combat support arms. Elder BG Lee is a signal officer, younger BG Lee artillery.
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Originally posted by I-like-flings(m):
first batch of 5 SAFOS Scholars ... anyone know who are they??
besides BG Lee HL, there were another 4 more according to that poster in the SGforum thread I provided.
I can only find the identity of 2 of them. Lee Hsien Loong is the first batch of SAFOS, given out in 1971. http://www.bookrags.com/biography/lee-hsien-loong/
Another 2 came from RJC, http://www.rjc.edu.sg/scholarship/alumni-saf.htm
Boey Tak Hap and Sin Boon Wah
Boey rose to become the CDF, which well, could have been taken by LHL if LHL did not leave the SAF to pursue politics. Boey became the president and CEO of Singapore Power and then SMRT after retirement from SAF.
Sin I remember, became the deputy CEO of DSTA after his retirement. http://www.spring.gov.sg/Content/ModulePage.aspx?group=nw&id=4f901b7b-902d-4401-bfba-b6c01fabbcc1
He was the safos who was offered with a bribe when he was in DSTA as the deputy chief exec. He did not accept and exposed the briber instead.
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HL is an arty officer, past thread mentioned his involvement in FH88.
HY could be an signal officer but dunno how he can ended up as CO for an armour Bn.
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Originally posted by I_love_my_toilet:
HL is an arty officer, past thread mentioned his involvement in FH88.
HY could be an signal officer but dunno how he can ended up as CO for an armour Bn.
Does anyone know how what they were like then? Anyone's father/uncle have stories to tell?
Sorry you are correct. I got the order wrong. HL is arty and HY is signals.
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I'm so amused. The post made by "NDU" on 02 May 01, 3.55am is practically an uncanny premonition, like a time capsule that gave a glimpse into a future. The Major Ng C.P he talked about in his post, is none other than Ng Chee Peng. NDU said that RADM Ng CP then told him that the latter didn't want to go to air force cos his brother would become the Chief of Air Force. How funny. The brother really is the Chief of Air Force today, Ng Chee Kern.
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among all the posts here, i agree most with Fantagf's post.
it makes absolute sense to me.
if the 2 sons of the emperor don't wear stars, how will they ascend the throne?
i will bet the current PM's son will wear a star very soon after he comes back from his studies.
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Originally posted by Nikar 3:
among all the posts here, i agree most with Fantagf's post.
it makes absolute sense to me.
if the 2 sons of the emperor don't wear stars, how will they ascend the throne?
i will bet the current PM's son will wear a star very soon after he comes back from his studies.
Lee Hong Yi (PM LHL's son) is a PSC Scholar, not SAFOS. -
what's the diff? he's still gonna get his star and his PM seat somehow, right?
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Originally posted by eac:
Lee Hong Yi (PM LHL's son) is a PSC Scholar, not SAFOS.You are not entirely correct, but you're right that he's not a SAFOS.
Lee Hong Yi is an OMS scholar.
SAFOS is also given out by PSC.
PSC gives out the president's scholarship, SAFOS, SPFOS and OMS.
One cannot be a president's scholar without being a SAFOS, SPFOS or OMS. Finally, SAFOS is the most prestigious scholarship after the president's scholarship.
And yes, it is as PSC as OMS is, if not more so. And it's as much PSC as it is SAF.
You may refer to your own link, or refer to http://www.pscscholarships.gov.sg/SCHOLARSHIPS/SAF_Scholarship.htm
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Originally posted by Nikar 3:
what's the diff? he's still gonna get his star and his PM seat somehow, right?
He can't get his star. He didn't sign on as a regular. he's not a SAFOS.
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What you said reminds me a lot of the misconception and a lot of people outside hold and you're not the first one making the mistake.
They don't realise that the 2 uniformed scholarships are actually given out by PSC. They like to say "PSC scholars" referring to OMS, when SAFOS, SPFOS and OMS scholars are all PSC scholars.
Some symptoms of the dual relationship a SAFOS back in service experiences.
SAFOS scholars have mentors both in the SAF (senior SAFOS scholars who are at least 2 ranks higher than them) and they have a non-uniformed, civilian mentor too (normally an OMS in a civilian ministry that is quite senior already in his early to mid 30s, normally at least a director.) The role of the mentor is for scholars to convey their thoughts and concerns, the mentor is supposed to be encourage and give them advice and pointers. Think of it as a buddy system except that the buddy has power cos he's higher ranked. A scholar's mentor is always another scholar, only a scholar can understand another fully because they have unique concerns and a competitive level unique to them. Besides, they compete against only each other and not against farmers. And normally the public service tries its best to make the match as close as possible. For eg, a SAFOS's SAF mentor is another SAFOS. And a president's scholar SAFOS's mentor, they normally try to match with another senior president's scholar SAFOS.
All of them are also management associates, administered and managed by the PSD. This is because they are PSC scholars.More interesting dual relationship in the form of remuneration. Pay is paid out by SAF, but has an SAF component, and another component from PSD (Public Service Division).
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http://www.answers.com/topic/lee-hsien-loong
His career as a soldier, is not 10 yrs, but actually 13 ys.
He only spent 3 yrs in Cambridge, which means he did not come back with a master's like the PSC scholars today. From what I remember, he did Tripos mathematics.
If he returned to service in 74, and attended his command and staff college (CSC) in 78, it means he was in the SAF for 4 yrs before CSC, enough for the usual route of scholars who mostly do NOT do any instructor tours at all- PC, OC and then staff tour before CSC. In 1980 he became CO of an arty unit. Which means he took 6 yrs to become CO. Which is on-time for SAFOS. He did not get fast tracked in any unusual manner as had been speculated in his pre-CO days. The article is correct in that, the speed of his rise is only pronounced post CO tour.
But this article doesn't say much about the cable car rescue ops.Because he did not do his master's and only spent 3 years studying instead of 4 like today's SAFOS, hence he came back at 22, and not 23, and he didn't have to do his MA tour in the civil service like the SAFOS today, he saved about i'd say 2 years at most. Even then, his pre-CO days in the SAF seemed to be on track and on time with today's schedule and wasn't abnormally fast tracked, to my surprise.
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http://www.singapedia.com.sg/entries/l/lee_hsien_loong.html
On 29 January 1983, an oil rig, Eniwetok, struck the cable of the Sentosa Cable Car and caused two cable cars to plunge into the sea (see cable car disaster). Lee, then a senior colonel, directed the rescue operation involving all three services of the SAF.
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http://www.singapedia.com.sg/entries/c/cable_car_disaster.html
cable car disaster Accident on the Mount Faber– Sentosa cable- car service. The disaster occurred in January 1983 and claimed the lives of seven people— Pritam Kaur and her son- in- law Mahinder Singh; engineer Fred Kunimoto; businessman Fred M. Kresser; and Dr Aileen Wong, her husband Dr John Sendrick and his nurse Pam Mitchel. At about 6 p.m. on 30 January 1983, a Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) tug began towing a drill ship, the Eniwetok, away from Keppel Wharf. Shortly afterwards, the vessel’s gantry tower snagged one of the two cables above, pulling it out of place. Two cable cars were dislodged and flung more than 50 m into the water.
A major rescue operation was carried out to evacuate the remaining passengers trapped in four cars on the cables. An operations centre was established at PSA Tower under the control of Philip Yeo, then second permanent secretary (Defence). Eventually, helicopters rescued 13 people from the dangling cars. The grandson of victim Pritam Kaur, 22- month- old Taswinder Singh, survived the fall and was rescued from the water.
Photo credit: Singapore Press Holdings/ The Straits Times
Cable car disaster: wrecked cable car being hoisted from the water.Home > Featured Entries > cable car disaster