It's not funny, says Mindef

today sunday time, 3rd Sep 2006

---> the video

ST Sep 3, 2006
It's not funny, says Mindef
Apart from security and safety concerns, others also find videos offensive

By Jeremy Au Yong

TWO uniformed Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) soldiers stand in a jungle clearing on either side of a dirt path. One raises his rifle - loaded with blanks - and shoots his compatriot. The soldier retaliates, draws his parang and rushes at his assailant. More shots are fired and the parang-wielding soldier falls. Both break out laughing.

That sequence of events was captured on video - probably with a camera phone - and posted on the popular video-sharing website Youtube.com. Since July, the 15-second video has been viewed nearly 3,000 times.

The clip, though mere entertainment to the layman, represents a security breach for the army. The act of pointing a rifle at a comrade and pulling the trigger, filmed or not, is against Ministry of Defence (Mindef) rules. The fact that it was recorded in camp, where cameras are not permitted, and subsequently released on the Net makes it that much worse.

To top it off, the machine gun clip is not the only one making the rounds online. A search at Youtube.com using the keywords 'Singapore' and 'Army' turns up 44 clips, most of which were uploaded in the last six months.

While not all videos are as blatant as the shooting clip, some tread on thin ice.

One video shows a group of men, one of them in army threads, holding a mock National Day Parade in a locker room. The parade commander in this skit uses an umbrella as a sword while the guard wears a box on his head. Towards the end of the clip, a man is wheeled out on a large dumpster as he salutes his fellow actors. The National Anthem plays in the background.

Another video has an NSman pinned to the ground as his peers try to cover him in shoe polish, while yet another shows men on guard duty at night fooling around with a video camera before supposedly spotting a ghost.

Each video has attracted thousands of viewers. The clip depicting the ragging incident, for example, has been viewed about 8,500 times since April 29.

Mindef naturally takes a dim view.

Its director of public affairs, Colonel Benedict Lim, said servicemen are not allowed to carry video cameras, cameras or phones with cameras into SAF camps and training areas.

'We regularly educate our servicemen on the security implications of such actions and remind them of the guidelines. We have taken disciplinary action against servicemen who were found breaching security regulations,' he said.

Mindef has since taken action against the men in the four videos found breaking the rules. The online clips, however, were still accessible yesterday.

The emergence of video-sharing sites like Youtube.com and the fact that nearly every phone now comes with a camera mean organisations have to deal with a whole new level of security risk.

This is not the first time Mindef has faced such a breach. Last November, it asked three NSmen - including the popular blogger Mr Miyagi - to take down postings about their training stints from their blogs, or online journals. They wanted the men to seek permission before posting on the Internet.

The simplicity and availability of the technology appear to have blinded these NSmen to the risks.

'They may have no malicious intent, but they don't seem aware of the ramifications of their actions,' said Dr Bernard Loo, 42, an assistant professor at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, adding that the mock parade video undermines a national symbol.

Other NSmen who saw the videos were even more critical of their comrades' actions.

Mr Sean Lim, 26, a medic currently serving his national service, took particular offence to the shooting clip.

'Apart from filming it, you are never supposed to point your rifle at anyone. It's unsafe; even shooting blanks can be dangerous,' he said.

Ms Indranee Rajah, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs, also criticised the people who posted these videos for their effect on the army's reputation.

'It is one thing to do silly things in the confines of a camp or barracks with no one to see you but your platoon mates. It is quite another thing to capture those acts of silliness in a permanent record and share them with the world at large, because it negatively affects the image of the SAF,' she said.

The bottom line, she said, is that NSmen need to discern for themselves what is appropriate for the Internet and what is not.

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