More reasons why the army is fucked up
There was some news articles recently about Maids who commited homicide being spared the death penalty, and some allusion by local newspapers that maids were given “special treatment”, blah blah. But i think the main reason why most of the maids escaped the gallows is largely because of the unequal power of master and maid, a fact the courts are cognizant of. In a number of these “maids who killed their employers” cases, there were some level of abuse/ill-treatment of the maids prior to the murder, which eventually proved to be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back, and the maid snaps. While Singapore does not recognize the “battered wife syndrome” formally, this may be a mitigating factor. The maids are not battered wives, of course, but the essentially element of the “battered wife syndrome” exists, viz- Unequal relationship characterised by the abuse, whether physical or psychological, of the ascendant party to the subserviant party, often over an extended period of time which culminates with the subserviant party eventually snapping.
So how is this preamble relevant to my title? Well, i shall argue that in the army, the circumstances of the “battered wife syndrome” exists, especially if your CSM/RSM/officer is some sadist prick who bullies all the poor recruits around until, someone somewhere eventually snaps. Its not a case of if, but rather when. In fact, i came across a case which was exactly just that: Chia Chee Yeen v Public Prosecutor [1991] SLR 312. Those interested in the full details can read the sad case yourself. The short story:
In 1987, this guy, Chia, shot his CSM to death in a military police camp. Chia was a LCP, a lowly peon of the army forces who had been given 2 x 6 weekend confinement because his CSM felt that he had disobeyed an order. Chia was supposedly a quite, reserved kind of guy, and had tried to speak to the CSM to rescind the punishment. The CSM refused and Chia shot the fella, killing him. Chia was charged w/ murder, and sentenced to death. His defence of diminished responsibility was not accepted by the court.
I wonder, if his case had been tried today, would he succeed based on the “battered wife syndrome” defence? One could probably draw a parrallel between life as a subserviant and ill-treated NSF with a subserviant and ill-treated maid. I sympathise with the guy. Some (though not all) of the higher ranking pple can be really evil at times.
On an unrelated note, another newspaper article noted that people were more prone to using vulgarities nowadays. In my case, it was 100% because of NS that i use vulgarities. Try living for 2yrs++ in an environment that constantly spews vulgarities. Even the Pope will eventually start to swear…
Anyways, if you want to read the full text of the case, you can email me. I can’t put it here because (1) Too Long, (2) Copyright.
