There have been much casualties involved in the government’s National Service Programme and now, the ‘first’ incident involving a life of a young Training and Diplomatic Officer (PTD), Norhashimah Wahid.

Sheema, as she was fondly called by her friends, leaves behind a two-year-old daughter Nur Hylda Daenia and husband Ahmad Zulkhairi Zainal Abidin. Sheema, who had worked with the Ministry of Finance for two years, passed away at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital’s intensive care unit on 31 May, after five days of struggle.

She lost consciousness after attending a ‘commando-style’ training programme at the in Jugra, Banting. It was reported that she died of severe pneumonia and multiple organ failures. The deceased family has expressed their dissatisfaction over the inaction of the authority in the incident.

What was most disappointing was that they were not even informed that she was admitted to hospital. Sheema had complained of breathing difficulty during training at the Selangor Enforcement Training Centre (Pulapes) in Jugra, Banting. Despite of her condition, she was forced to continue with the rest of the programme modules.

The death of Sheema should serve as a wake-up call. The modules introduced will not guarantee the country will have efficient and capable PTDs who have a team spirit, are loyal to the country and understand the nation’s development policies as claimed by the PSD.

He death is a matter of concern for all of us because it negatively affects our confidence in the delivery of the government’s programme for trainees whether it is the PTDs or the National Service or any other programme that they might come up with in the future.

This incident has shown obvious negligence and inhumane treatment by the authority. This is the time for the authority to take their job seriously when it comes to the safety. The authority responsible owes the deceased family the best possible explanation on why death occurred and a comprehensive account of the preventive steps to be taken.

The public also deserves the right to have access to such explanations. So, is this the first death involving PTD personnel or were there previous deaths as well? Let’s hope the investigation will be done thoroughly.

Though this will not cover the huge loss suffered by the deceased family, but it will, at least, prevent such incidents form reoccurring like in the National Service Programme. I hope justice will be served and my condolence to the deceased’s family.