Home Team officer forced to resign over fatality at training exercise

[Sammyboy RSS Feed]

An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

People always envy folks in government service and the public sector because we seemingly have “iron-rice bowl” jobs and are well-taken care of by the government.

Well, I’ve learnt the very hard way this isn’t true: we are as susceptible, if not more prone, to being let go if anything were to go wrong on the job.

Believe me, if you were doing things that were highly visible to so many, and given how the government seems to adopt a “cover backside” approach to dealing with ever-rising public complaints, it’s easy to become a target and become the next to start packing your desk at work.

I am a 38 year old PMET with vast experiences in both the public and private sectors, and I hold an MBA and a bachelor’s degree from the National University of Singapore.

While I didn’t go to the top schools, I guess you could say I was among the top 20-30% of my batch in terms of academics, having gone through the full PSLE-O Level-A Level route to university.

I joined a government organization in 2010 as senior officer in a mid-career switch, and I was in the limelight for a while because everyone who knew me was of the opinion I could rise through the ranks quickly based on my experiences and maturity: for a while too, it did seem that way, as I was asked to head projects very quickly– prominent projects– that would ‘add visibility’ to my track record, in the words of my senior directors.

Then disaster struck as a training exercise went wrong, and we had a fatality.

The trainee who died was a promising young officer, and the family raised hell over the issues of training safety and such, and complained all the way up to the powers that may be at the Ministry.

Now to be very honest, I wasn’t directly involved in the whole incident: I was not even an overseeing officer, but I was in charge of that branch, and therefore was held accountable.

The officers who were responsible were similarly taken to task, but ultimately, as the head, it was my ass on the line.

I was then subjected to months of inquiries and investigations, and a polygraph examination, and eventually, after 24 months of putting me through all that, my boss called me up to the office one day and suggested I resign voluntarily so it made it easier to close the loop.

Else, there would be more investigations and inquiries, polygraph examinations, and a date with the courts to determine the outcome, and there is a possibility I could find myself in prison for “negligence”.

I was thus a victim of a disciplinary charge that arose administratively, not because of actions on my part. I was made a scapegoat in the hope that the family would somehow be appeased knowing some sort of action was taken, and I guess what the higher-ups were aiming for was some out-of-court settlement and the case closed.

I have no idea if the other officers directly responsible were asked to leave as well, or if they were even allowed to leave lest they needed someone to go face the full legal consequences.So where does that put me?

It didn’t matter that I was a high-performer at work, that when it came to rankings, I was one of the top dogs, or that I diligently discharged my duties because I took my job seriously– what mattered was that someone’s head had to roll, and who better than the head of the department first?

Like so many of you, I too, have a family to feed, I too, have my own set of challenges to manage– all these didn’t matter.

I suppose all is not lost, because I could try finding a job back in the private sector, but hearing all these stories about how local PMETs are facing resistance in securing employment, I’m beginning to wonder if I should continue living here.

Screw the “we want to prevent a brain drain” nonsense from the government, I say it does make you wonder if the government is truly sincere about taking care of the needs of born-and-bred Singaporeans.


Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.