The failed bid by the family of the late Private Dominique Sarron Lee to sue the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and two of its officers has sparked a public debate on whether the Government has done right by the full-time national serviceman (NSF). Netizens have taken to social media to air their grievances over what they deem as missteps by the SAF and the Ministry of Defence (Mindef).

Some labelled the SAF’s handling of the case as callous, calling for more transparency and accountability for Pte Lee’s death after a 2012 training exercise in which he suffered an acute allergic reaction to fumes from smoke grenades. Six grenades were used when only two would have sufficed.

Others questioned why those who were found negligent could not be sued.

… Defence analyst Ho Shu Huang, an associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said: “By allowing the conversation to be a free-for-all, handled without nuance outside of the context, generalised conclusions can be quite easily arrived at, with detrimental consequences.”