SAF VETERANS TO SHARE STORIES WITH YOUNGER GENERATIONS: DR NG

Some say that old men tell great stories. This rings true especially for members of the Singapore Armed Forces Veterans League (SAFVL). With their rich experience of serving many years in the SAF, it comes as no surprise that these men have loads of memorable stories to tell.

This was also what Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen urged the veterans to do - to share their experiences and memories with the younger generations.

Dr Ng was addressing a 400-strong audience at the SAFVL's 25th anniversary jubilee dinner, held at SAFRA Toa Payoh on 11 Nov.

He highlighted that while there were lots of things to be thankful for in Singapore's 50th year of independence, it was ultimately the values a society adopts which determined the success of its economy and its people. Noting that these values were "better caught than taught", he felt that the pioneers were the best people to pass them on.

"To ensure that the next generation of SAF soldiers - be it NSmen or Regulars - understand the world we live in, and why it is crucial to be able to defend Singapore, we need you as veterans to tell your stories. What you have gone through, what you believe and why, spoken in your own words, can have an enormous impact on our young."

Seventy-three-year-old Major (MAJ) (Ret) A Samad, an SAFVL member, felt that it was a good move to pass on these stories. He had been in service for 31 years and had seen a lot in his time.

Recalling how National Service (NS) had begun, he said: "When NS started, there was a lot of resistance. A lot of people were unhappy to serve and parents were colluding with their children to find ways to escape.

"But today, things have changed. People are proud to be part of the SAF and are proud to serve. Society also gives recognition to ranks that people have achieved in the SAF. If you re a lieutenant in NS, you're looked at differently from a guy who was just marking his time in NS as a storeman."

The Commitment-2-Defence (C2D) ambassador now volunteers his time at the Singapore Discovery Centre sharing his stories about the history of the SAF with recruits simply because he wants to.

"Unless these stories are told, they are going to be forgotten. Unless they are written and published somewhere, they will be forgotten. And as we grow old and pass away, the younger generation will not know how we started the SAF."

MAJ (Ret) Samad was one of the veterans who documented his account of three wild elephants setting foot on Pulau Tekong.

For Lieutenant Colonet (LTC) (Ret) Chan Seck Sung, writing his story was a way of telling commanders to look beyond circumstances when faced with problematic soldiers. In his account titled Human Touch, the 71-year-old shared on how he helped his men in four different encounters when they were in various forms of trouble including poverty and gangsterism.

"As a military officer, you cannot just base decisions on military law when your man commits an offence, without understanding the circumstances leading to it. This was why I wanted to write my stories (so that) the younger officers can learn from them."

He explained that while commanders were appointed as leaders to look after a group of people, there are no proper lesson plans on how to take care of them. This had to come from either personal experiences, or learning from other's encounters.

LTC (Ret) Chan said: "I train my soldiers not only to defend the nation. I also look further. Will this soldier (eventually) become a burden to the society or become someone who can contribute? I m just glad that my soldiers changed for the better."

During the dinner, Dr Ng also lauded the veterans for their years of service and unwavering spirit, as well as their participation in the National Day Parade.

"We remember and honour their sacrifice, and are inspired by their indomitable spirit and unwavering commitment to Singapore. We need veterans to inspire future generations to fight for our country."

Quoting the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Ng said: "In the end, every boy and girl here will understand what he or she has in Singapore, he or she must be prepared to fight and defend. Otherwise, it will be lost."

For MAJ (Ret) K S Rajan, serving 28 years in the SAF was probably the best time of his life. The 70-year-old spent 14 years in the Army before embarking on a mid-career switch to the Air Force at age 34, and spending the next 14 years living his dream as a helicopter pilot. However, he also remembers the difficulties of building up the SAF.

"At that time, our role was to build up the SAF. We joined in 1966, and we were also the first batch (of commanders) to train the first batch of enlistees. It was very challenging as NS was not really accepted by the masses. So it was very tough to get them to do what we wanted and to follow our orders."

Having been through tough times, the C2D ambassador constantly reminds the younger generation to take defence seriously and not to expect things to always be smooth.

He said: "If we don't have a credible force, we will be taking orders from other people. We have to fight to protect our land and what we have achieved in the last 50 years."

The dinner was also attended by Senior Minister of State for Defence Ong Ye Kung, SAFVL President Brigadier-General (NS) Winston Toh, foreign dignitaries as well as families and guests of the SAFVL.