COMMENT I wish to comment on the statement of the Deputy Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri on the cause of death of the National Service trainees and the survey conducted by the NS Department concluding that the National Service has successfully met its objectives.

Firstly, I would like to say that my comments and criticism are not directed at the deputy minister himself because I believe he is merely quoting the information supplied to him by the NS Department officers.

NONEI wish to contradict the findings and information given to him because I have followed closely every single death case of the trainees using only the mainstream media reports and also my own personal survey of the NS success or failures.

For the benefit of the deputy minister, it is my opinion that most of the deaths that occurred were due to sheer neglect of the camp commandants themselves.

Regardless of whether the trainees were sick or had an accident while training, I have found out that the camp had delayed seeking proper medical advice and informing the parents until the conditions of the trainees were so bad that they died in hospital or at home.

In the early days of the NS, I believe there was no proper medical officer of reputable qualification stationed at the camps. I quote the case of my eldest child who was sick and was only given Panadol by a ‘medical officer'.

When I asked permission to take her home I was denied but luckily I disobeyed and took her to a doctor, who diagnosed her as having with bronchitis.

When the deputy minister says that many trainees died from ‘undetectable' diseases, I beg to differ. It was the delayed reactions that had mostly caused the lives of the trainees.

I can quote many of the cases, but it will make this argument of mine too long. Anyway, Wikipedia has many of the cases on line, if the deputy minister wishes for an alternate viewpoint than that of the NS officers.

With respect to the second issue, that of the so-called success of the National Service, I as an academician beg to differ on the methodology of research. As I understand it, the deputy minister is quoting a survey conducted by the NS Department itself.

national service cini camp trainees negligence complaint 010709 05With due respect to the deputy minister, I do not think that I and many parents out there would trust this research. The NS Department has a vested interest and will not find a negative conclusion. In a similar manner that the public would distrust the lock-up death if the investigation was carried by the police themselves, it is the same case here.

I would like to suggest to the deputy minister that he commissions an independent survey by University Malaya's Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel), under the supervision of Dr Redzuan Othman of Universiti Malaya.

Redzuan is well trusted as an independent academician, unlike many others who simply wish to curry favour with the government for promotion and contract extension. I beg your pardon for being blunt and severe at my fellow academicians, but I have been an academician for 26 years and know the kind of ‘academician' we have out there.

Umcedel can survey and interview those trainees who have already undergone the service and the NS Department must not be allowed to contact these respondents and ‘prompt them' in any way! The list must be given to Umcedel and it will freely choose the sampling.

Main objective of racial harmony not met

Why am I suspicious of the so-called data provided by the NS Department? I had conducted a simplistic survey of my own. I asked my daughter and another friend's son a simple question: How many telephone numbers of your non-Malay National Service friends did you put in your phone?

The answer in both samples: None whatsoever. The main objective of racial harmony was not met in both cases.

With due respect to the deputy minister, all the 23 deaths were a great pain to me, personally, as a parent. Never mind that the trainees were Christians, Buddhists, Hindus or Muslims, I felt that they were all ‘my children'. Once a parent, always a parent, I guess.

There are many cases of rape, molestation, conduct unbecoming of the trainers, food poisoning, getting lost in the forest and many others that I have heard told, but because the reports were not in the media, I have not made any comments before.

When I started to write my 13 letters to the media about the dangers of the National Service management and curriculum, I was happy to note that there were no more deaths after that, except this recent murder incident.

Yes, the camp can catch the murderers, but remember, our child was under your management... and without our consent. The camp can still be charged with negligence as scuffles like that should be noticed and taken up in a serious manner.

Again, I wish to reiterate to the deputy minister that this is not meant as a personal criticism of him, for I know that he has just got into office. My criticism is levelled at the NS Department and I do request that a proper independent body be set up to provide a quality control report and I do insist that the survey of trainees be done by Umcedel under the supervision of Redzuan himself.

The trainees, whether Chinese, Malay, Indians or Kadazan or Ibans, are all our children. They all deserve our best attention. Of those who had died, I wish that they are all treated as ‘pahlawan' and a special memorial be set up to commemorate them. The 23 who died are true ‘pahlawan' for they were part of a ‘great war'... what we as a nation believe in - racial harmony and the security of our country.

PROF DR MOHAMAD TAJUDDIN MOHAMAD RASDI, who teaches architecture at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, is a veteran academician of 26 years . He specialises in mosque and Islamic architecture, particularly that which relates to Malaysia using a hadith-based and socio-cultural approach in order to create the total idea of a built environment suited for a whole social structure.