I am not jumping onto the bandwagon calling for heads to roll or scrapping the NS programme, in the midst of the latest sudden death case. Having gone through military training myself, and later commissioned as an officer into the Royal Ranger Corp, and now practicing naturopathic medicine, I would like to contribute to this discourse, heart-to-heart especially to parents, without medical jargon. Hopefully we are all enlightened and wiser.

There was this case around eight years ago, a ten-year-old girl from Tanjung Sepat, died after being stung by a bee. I used to tell my audience then, that there will come a time when a child can die from being bitten by 20 mosquitoes. My thoughts went back to those primary school days, when my friends and I - in our numerous outings to catch fighting fish and spiders in the rubber plantations in Klang - getting stung by several bees and by the bites of countless mosquitoes were common. Weekends and holidays, we had to shoulder trunks of rubber trees and chop them for firewood. Our homes were made of planks and often we stepped on rusty nails. We used to challenge each other to see who could climb fastest to the top of coconut trees.

Other than occasional fevers, or sprains and bones dislocation resulting from tree falls, we never complained of having to walk a few miles to school with our equally heavy bags. None of us were wearing spectacles. Headache was a strange word. None of my friends or schoolmates had ecezema. I cannot recall anyone having asthma. I have never heard of my elder sisters complaining of menstrual pain. My mother’s menopause was at 60.

Celebrating birthdays was just eating two hard boiled eggs. No such things as all the pomp and fanfare with adults handling out sweets, chocolates, and ice cream, and cutting cakes. ‘Junk- food’ was a never heard of word. Our occasional treat was stopping by a stall on the way home from school to drink chendol prepared in coconut milk and brown sugar. My parents cooked our food with coconut oil. No such thing as synthetic hydrogenated oil (trans fatty acids). I had only two vaccine shots – small pox and BCG.

Some years ago it was often reported that Thai construction workers would die of sudden death. Lately we heard of professional footballers in Europe collapsing and dying of heart attacks. In my travels to Brunei, Singapore and Philippines, I often hear from colleagues that young sportsmen and soldiers in their prime die of heart attacks during vigourous physical training.

Recently a patient told me that her son who had just graduated from a Canadian university, had severe depression and had suicidal thoughts. He is now slowly recovering back home. His friend and college mate was less fortunate, committed suicide in Canada, without finishing his course. My own son, who is now 23, came back after his two years studies in US, with scoliosis. He too was depressed. His former course mate developed neurological problems at his right arm and had to undergo corrective surgery. What are the common denominators of these teenagers and students? Junk food, carbonated drinks, diet sodas with aspartame, quick noodles, refined and high-sugared food.

A doctor friend of mine in Johor, whom I highly respect, lost a son in a sudden death case. His son, also a doctor, was in his housemanship. He was playing badminton one evening. Beside feeling a bit of discomfort, nothing was abnormal. That night he just died. The autopsy report only produced more questions than answers. The father was so distraught. He gave up practicing for one year.

Four years ago my daughter was studying in Alberta, Canada. An A-grade, disciplined, strong spirited student, she took maximum subjects in one semester. With only about 3 to 4 hours sleep a day, 18 hours study, cold winter of minus 30 celsius, she was highly stressed and depressed. One cold winter evening there was a fire drill, and in her haste rushed out without her winter clothes. She was chilled and for days after her eyesight became blurred. Then bleeding occurred at the retina of her left eye. Scarred tissue formed at the retina. My daughter was blind. The opthalmologist’s prognosis in Alberta was not good and that she would be blind for the rest of her life. Upon returning home, the doctors in Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital concurred, and also said the high probability of the right eye would also bleed and both eyes blinded.

As a father I was traumatised. I frantically searched in medical texts for answers to my daughter’s eye condition, but to no avail.My peers in India could not help. We phoned to eye hospitals in the US and were prepared to sell my house for money to be used for her eye surgery if necessary. We were told not to go and nothing could be done to restore my daughter’s eyesight. Every night before sleep I would cry and pray, ‘God, please help me, please give me the knowledge, please let my daughter see. If you have to take an eyesight, take mine instead, as I am already 50. My daughter is only 18'. Since no doctors could treat my daughter effectively, I had to treat her myself. I told her to stop taking all junk food, absolutely no sugar, and be very strict on her diet. Put her on mega doses of nutrients, especially vitamin C and lysine, along with vitamin A, E, B-complex, folic acid, proline and other amino acids, zinc, selenium, copper, manganese, lutein, lycopene, and plenty of fresh fruits and raw vegetables.

There was no improvement with each successive month and the doses of nutrients would be increased. By the eighth month, the amount of vitamin C was up to 20,000 mg per day in divided doses. Our prayer was answered at the end of eighth month. The dark central patch at my daughter’s left eye started to reduce in size. Sustained mega doses of nutrients for another two and half years finally saw a near total cure.

So, it is now another death for the National service programme. Who is to be blamed? The fact in this case is that the girl was having constipation for three days and had stomachache on the day of training at the shooting range. She was given medication, possibly paracetamol or other pain killers. We can safely assume that she was close to having sunstroke, dehydration, lack of sleep, physical and emotional stress, and possibly on carbonated and sugared drinks. Compound even a portion of these factors and the very weak ones will succumb. Even regular soldiers do collapse on parade square, when faced with those factors.

Our society should now accept the fact that generations today are weaklings compared to the past. The authorities should not just parrot the old tune of eating a balanced diet with some helpings of fruits and vegetables to maintain health. In fact, even the healthiest of today’s diet will not be sufficient to maintain health in today’s environment with a ‘modern’ diet and food culture. We truly need supplements.

Those in the NS department should re-look into the programme proper. Emphasis should be more on muhibah , team spirit, social integration. Certainly not turning them into robots and fighting machines. These NS trainees are ‘softies’ and at a tender age of 18 are not yet ready to withstand harsh physical, mental and emotional stress. Parents should provide the healthiest of diet possible to their children. Supplements to our modern diet is a must. The junk food culture must stop.

Finally, it is the duty of all human beings to know that we homo sapiens , since the last Ice Age about four to five thousand years ago, were concentrated around the tropical region. Having had sufficient fruits and vegetables, the liver that once produced the enzyme, gulanolactone oxidase, to convert blood sugar to vitamin C, slowly became redundant. Mutations from generations to generations later shut down the production of this enzyme totally. Today, among the other species of animals like primates, guinea pigs, fruit-eating bats, we are faced with this genetic flaw. Hence for survival, we should consume food that are rich in vitamin C.

However, in the modern diet which is so loaded with sugar, and coupled with high physical and emotional stress, the body’s pool of vitamin C quickly gets depleted. Acute symptoms of constipation, headache, body aches, itchiness, and even infection appear.

Alas! A live is loss. She could today be happily enrolled in her sixth form, if only she was given 3,000 mg of vitamin C a day, in divided doses.