Hi comrades,
I've been recently downgraded from combat fit pes to C9L9 due to some injury which will stay with me for the rest of my life, unless I opt for surgery to get it fixed. I don't really wanna talk about this injury as it makes me feel so upset and depressed all over again.
My superior made a joke out of my injury on two different occasion already, he often came out with sarcastic remarks about my injury and making a joke out of it in front of the whole platoon. Perhaps he thought that I don't have any feeling with regards to his insensitve "jokes" Just for your information, I got injured during active service to this country and I gave my best performance during every training. Now I can't believe I'm being treated like this when I'm injured. So much for care for soldier as the core value.
Given my current PES status, I'm aware that I can't be deployed outfield and I can only be stationed in base for work. Is it a breach of TSR if my superiors despite knowing about my PES status still insist on deploying me outfield to carry out work which will worsen my medical condition? And who do I look for to seek help with regards to my situation right now. I don't have excess money to go out to seek treatment from private doctor and the waiting time for public hospital is really long though. I just have to wait for the mean time for my appointment.
My condition has somehow worsened after being deployed outfield for two times and is it possible for me to seek legal service outside to take action against these officers for making me carry out task which I can't really do so due to my condition?
How do I seek reddress against that officer who've been making insensitive remarks about my medical condition? Somehow I feel that approaching his boss will only resulting in this matter being covered up internally by them.
Please do not think that I'm some chao geng soldier or Kengster, I've always wanted to serve and now after getting injured and being treated like the above mentioned way really changed my perception about serving NS and I just lost all my passion for NS and the purpose of me serving.
Someone please just tell me what to do.
Reference for more
details/ information:
http://sgforums.com/forums/1390/topics/334506
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Addressing Grievances
If you think you have been treated unfairly, you can bring up
the case to your Commander. We will listen to your case. Do
remember to bring along all facts and supporting documents.
We will do our best to address your concerns. Servicemen are to
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Military Justice System in the
SAF
1. Overview
The military justice system in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is
expected to treat every service personnel fairly and equally,
regardless of race, rank or vocation.
2. Multi-levelled Approach
The military justice system is based on the SAF Act, which was implemented in 1972. All servicemen are subjected to the SAF Act, SAF Regulations, and orders of whatever form issued pursuant to them.
While discipline is paramount in the military, not all offences committed by SAF servicemen are dealt with by formal investigations and charges. Essentially, offenders can be dealt with either by way of informal or formal punishment systems.
3. Informal Punishment System
Commanders are empowered to mete out informal punishments like
push-ups and weekend confinement to servicemen who have committed
disciplinary breaches, like being late, sluggish, or improperly
dressed.
4. Formal Punishment System
If the offence that a serviceman committed is of a more serious
nature, he may be formally dealt with by his disciplinary officer
by way of a summary trial, or brought before a subordinate military
court (more commonly known as the General Court Martial or
GCM).
(a) Summary Trial
The offences that can be dealt with by summary trial are essentially military offences, such as absence without leave (AWOL), non-compliance with lawful orders or insubordination.
Depending on the rank of the serviceman in question, and the type of the disciplinary body hearing the case, the possible sentences that may be imposed can vary, and these can include fines or detention.
The summary trial is carried out in accordance with relevant SAF regulations, and the records of the summary trial are sent to the office of the Director, Legal Services of the SAF.
(b) General Court Martial
The General Court Martial exists as a separate forum from that of the summary trial. Unlike the summary trial, the GCM can deal with a wider range of offences, and can impose a wider range of punishments including imprisonment and discharge, on top of sentences like detention and fines. The GCM is also a more public and open forum, and its proceedings are conducted using similar legal rules and procedures as those used in a civil criminal court.
Generally, only serious offences investigated by the Military Police Command, and which are referred to the office of the Director of Legal Services, will result in the accused serviceman being charged in a GCM. In such a case, a military prosecutor will draw up a formal charge sheet and present it before the GCM.
General Courts Martial can be further sub-divided into two categories, namely the Panel Courts Martial - consisting of a President and usually two other members, and Judge Courts Martial - consisting of a single President only.
Currently, the practice is for military offences to be heard by Panel Courts Martial, while civil offences like misuse of drugs and penal code offences may be dealt with by a Judge Court Martial.
The current policy is also for an NSman, who is or was a District
Judge in the Subordinate Courts, to preside in a GCM. There are
currently 10 NSmen who have been appointed by the Armed Forces
Council to perform duty as President of a court martial. They are
rostered by the Registrar of the Subordinate Military Court to hear
cases during their in-camp training. In the case of a Panel Court
Martial, the other two members are rostered from among some 155
military officers appointed by the Chief of Defence Force.
5. Ways to Seek Redress
There are numerous safeguards and avenues set out in the military justice system for an SAF serviceman to seek redress if he is unhappy about the punishment imposed on him.
Generally, a serviceman who is dissatisfied with an informal punishment meted out to him may request a higher level commander to review the punishment, or request for formal disciplinary dealing.
In the case of a summary trial, a serviceman brought before the disciplinary officer may elect instead to be tried by a court martial. Alternatively, an aggrieved serviceman may request that his conviction or punishment imposed at the summary trial be reviewed by MINDEF's Director Manpower (a delegated authority of the Armed Forces Council).
In the case of a GCM, a serviceman may choose to be represented by a lawyer or an SAF defending officer if his case will be heard by a court martial. The SAF has about 200 trained defending officers. While an SAF defending officer comes free to the serviceman, he has to bear the cost of engaging a lawyer. At the end of the trial, a serviceman who is dissatisfied with the decision of the court martial may petition the Reviewing Authority (the AFC or a committee of its members) for a review of his case. The serviceman can also appeal to the Military Court of Appeal (MCA) for a reconsideration of his conviction, or his sentence, or both.
The MCA, when convened to hear an appeal, sits as a panel of five members. Heading the MCA is a President, who is appointed by the Chief Justice. By law, he must be a person qualified to be a Judge of the Supreme Court. The current President of the MCA is Justice Choo Han Teck. Four other members - two civilian members who are qualified legal practitioners with at least five years experience each, and two senior military officers - make up the rest of the MCA. The MCA is the highest court in the military justice system.
6. Impartial Hearings
It is important to recognise that the GCM and the MCA are tribunals
headed by presidents who are outside the SAF chain of command.
Being an "outsider", the president of these forums will hear the case impartially like any other civil criminal case. The proceedings in the GCM and the MCA are also heard in a public forum, and these military courts adopt many of the same legal procedures and safeguards as that used in the civil criminal courts. All servicemen formally charged with an offence can bring their case to these forums.
Source: www.NS.sg
reference:
www.ns.sg/nsp/web/content/users/enlistee/about
REDRESS OF WRONG
AVENUES FOR SERVICEMEN SEEKING REDRESS
MINDEF discourages servicemen from going to people or organisations outside
of MINDEF to seek redress as it may lead to a breach of existing security
regulations. The Official Secrets Act prohibits servicemen from communicating
classified or protected information to people who are not authorised to have
access to such information. Similarly, the Essential (Control of Publications
and Safeguarding of Information) Regulations, 1966 also prohibits all servicemen
from communicating their grievances, complaints or protected information to
any newspaper unless prior written consent has been given by Permanent
Secretary (Defence).
Seeking Redress Through Proper Channels
The SAF provides for any serviceman who thinks that he has been unfairly
treated to seek redress. If any serviceman thinks he has been wronged in any
matter by another serviceman superior to him, he must first approach his
immediate superior commander. If the complainant is an officer equal in rank
or superior to the commander, he may complain to an officer next senior in
rank to him. Complaints are to be fully and clearly stated in writing. For
servicemen seeking redress via MINDEF Feedback Unit, they may only do so
if their attempts to seek redress for their grievances at unit level were
unsuccessful.
If a serviceman is not satisfied with the steps already taken by the officer to
redress his problem, he may complain in writing to the Armed Forces Council.
Such complaints should be addressed to the Secretary of the Armed Forces
Council. The Armed Forces Council will examine the complaint and do justice
in the matter.
The SAF Military Police (MP) Command will conduct an investigation into the
complaint dealing with the alleged breach of military discipline. If the investigation
discloses evidence of wrongdoing, MINDEF will take disciplinary action against
the offending parties. However, if the complainant is found to have made a
false accusation, disciplinary action will be taken against him.
Seeking Redress Through Outside Parties
Servicemen are prohibited from taking up issues concerning SAF or SAF
personnel to any party outside of the SAF. This includes posting such matters
on the INTERNET and other public forums. Servicemen should note that they
are not allowed to bring political (such as Members of Parliament (MPs)) or
outside influences to support or advance their individual claims. These include
work-related matters such as the terms and conditions of employment, extension
of contract, posting and change of vocation.
Under exceptional circumstances where a serviceman has strong reason
to believe that he has been wronged by his colleague or superior, he may
approach the MP of his constituency for assistance.
To ensure factual accuracy of the complaint, a serviceman who approaches
his MP must give a detailed account of his complaint in writing. The serviceman
will sign the statement and give his name, rank, NRIC number and unit. Without
such a signed statement, no action will be taken.
Servicemen are not allowed to make use of their relatives or friends to make
representations on their behalf with MINDEF or use them to seek
representations from MPs on their behalf.
Originally posted by Sandman108:Hi comrades,
I've been recently downgraded from combat fit pes to C9L9 due to some injury which will stay with me for the rest of my life, unless I opt for surgery to get it fixed. I don't really wanna talk about this injury as it makes me feel so upset and depressed all over again.
My superior made a joke out of my injury on two different occasion already, he often came out with sarcastic remarks about my injury and making a joke out of it in front of the whole platoon. Perhaps he thought that I don't have any feeling with regards to his insensitve "jokes" Just for your information, I got injured during active service to this country and I gave my best performance during every training. Now I can't believe I'm being treated like this when I'm injured. So much for care for soldier as the core value.
Given my current PES status, I'm aware that I can't be deployed outfield and I can only be stationed in base for work. Is it a breach of TSR if my superiors despite knowing about my PES status still insist on deploying me outfield to carry out work which will worsen my medical condition? And who do I look for to seek help with regards to my situation right now. I don't have excess money to go out to seek treatment from private doctor and the waiting time for public hospital is really long though. I just have to wait for the mean time for my appointment.
My condition has somehow worsened after being deployed outfield for two times and is it possible for me to seek legal service outside to take action against these officers for making me carry out task which I can't really do so due to my condition?
How do I seek reddress against that officer who've been making insensitive remarks about my medical condition? Somehow I feel that approaching his boss will only resulting in this matter being covered up internally by them.
Please do not think that I'm some chao geng soldier or Kengster, I've always wanted to serve and now after getting injured and being treated like the above mentioned way really changed my perception about serving NS and I just lost all my passion for NS and the purpose of me serving.
Someone please just tell me what to do.
You should be posted out of the unit, assuming no administrative paperwork lapse.
A change in PES most likely is a change in vocation.
You are strongly urged to opt for surgery.
If it is a knee injury, a recovery will be speedy/ easier as you are still young.
Get an MC and disppear for half-a-year.
The condition will only get worse when you get older.
If you are C9L9 and you are not posted out of the unit, please seek your supervisor/ Manpower Officer/ Chief Clerk to do the paperwork for the vocational posting. It is important for your reservist too.