SINGAPORE: The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) warrant officer who had asked a colleague to push a full-time national serviceman (NSF) Kok Yuen Chin into a well was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on Wednesday (Nov 20).
First Warrant Officer Mohamed Farid Mohd Saleh, 36, was earlier found guilty for goading Staff Sergeant Muhammad Nur Fatwa Mahmood to commit a rash act that caused the death of Corporal Kok, 22.
On Oct 31, District Judge Victor Yeo found that Farid had told Fatwa to push CPL Kok into a 12m-deep pump well on the night of May 13, 2018, at Tuas View Fire Station.
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CPL Kok, who could not swim, drowned after the celebrations for his Operationally Ready Date (ORD) went awry.
According to Fatwa’s testimony, men from their rota at Tuas View Fire Station had gathered around the “kolam” or well that night when Farid told him in Malay: “Wa tolak dia.”
This means “push him, Wa”, referring to Fatwa by his nickname.
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However, Farid told the court that he did not say this to Fatwa and had no reason to have CPL Kok pushed into the well.
During Farid’s sentencing, Judge Yeo said that he did not come across as a credible witness, and was not “impressed by his attempts to downplay his involvement in the whole episode”.
In total, five SCDF officers have been charged for their involvement in Kok’s death.
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Fatwa has served his sentence of a year and four weeks. Staff Sergeant Adighazali Suhaimi was jailed for one month in December 2018 for deleting incriminating evidence.
The trial for Farid’s superiors, rota commanders First Senior Warrant Officer Nazhan Mohamed Nazi and Lieutenant Chong Chee Boon Kenneth, are scheduled for next month.
They have been accused of causing grievous hurt to CPL Kok by a rash act, as they did not stop their men from putting him in the well.
For abetting a rash act not amounting to culpable homicide, Farid could have been jailed for up to five years, a fine, or both.
