Urgent!! Pls help!! Overseas posting!!
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* Posting on behalf of author.
hi i'm new to the forums. i desperately need help and this is the mail i sent to mindef feeback unit.
Dear Sir/Mdm,
I am from 20SA S1 cell. I have called up MFU regarding my case and they sugested that i wrote to you. Firstly i apologise for the long mail but i am really desperate for help.
It is regarding my overseas posting to Cresendo Thailand for a period of 1yr+. i am scheduled to leave on sep 18th. However,i am strongly unhappy about the posting and hope to make an appeal through you. I understand that SAF is fair and would not force soldiers into doing things,especially when going overseas is concerned.
There are some issues i would like to raise in hope of having the posting cancelled. Firstly, my parents are aged. My father is 75 yrs old and suffers from Hepatitis B, has a cyst in his pancreas and just recently removed a tumour from his right parotid gland in june this year. His overall health has been deteriorating. My mother is 59 yrs old and has back problems which require frequent visits to the sinseh. i am my mother's only son but i have step siblings from my father's late wife. 2 of them are overseas working while the other is married with children and do not live with us. Therefore i am the only child who can take care and spend more time with my parents. My parents are very worried about my posting and strongly disagree with my going.
In addition, this posting order came only yesterday and there is no time for me to react at all. I believe there is a miscommunication problem between CPC and my unit thus i am not aware of any overseas posting until yesterday. This places me in a very disadvantageous situation as i may be able to put the posting off had i sound out my family problems earlier.However it is not my fault that i am not informed and it is certainly unfair to me.
Earlier on when i am newly posted to 20SA my unit CO has agreed to help me put the posting off but i guess there has been another case of communication problem and the posting still came. Unfortunately my whole unit including my CO and S1 is over at cresendo for exercise and will only be back on sep 1st. Thus i really have nobody to turn to and is desperately in need of help.
Earlier today i went down to CPC with my paernts in hope of making an appeal and the person in charge, Ms Ching said she would try to find a replacement for me and that i would have to go for at least 6 mths first and wait for my replacement. In desperaton and pressure from them, i signed the interview form saying that i agree to go for 6 mths but after that i realised that it was not easy to get replacements and i will no doubt be going there for 1yr+. i deeply regret signing the form but hope there is still a way out.
I am a SAFSA volleyball player and is playing competitions at this time and will be sent to Vietnam in november this yr for competition. i understand that games come after unit postings but i really dont wish to lose the golden opportunity to play for the SAF and go to Thailand instead to be a clerk which i think that many other people are qualified to do so. i have in no way volunteered for this posting. i believe there are other NSFs who are from a poor family background and need the high pay offer overseas more than i do.
Thank you for spending time to review my case and i hope you will understand my plight and also my parents who need me. i hope with your help and my CO's help when he returns will cancel my unreasonable posting. Thank you again.
Yours sincerely,
thx for reading.looks like i'm a pussy but i hope u pple understand and can help. it would be very much appreciated.first i hope u guys can offer me other suggestions on hw to cancel the trip. i may be asking too much here but if anyone is interested in going to thailand in my place i would be grateful to u for the rest of my life. my hp no. is 91906246. any input is welcome. -
Saw that the author was quite desperate and in need of help. Anyone who have good suggestions or solutions pls contact the author.. Thanks!
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hm.. for all intents and purposes, i think the person's name, NRIC and unit should be editted off as it adds no value to the question, and may in fact have security implications. the author of the post or the mod may like to do so.
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father 75 yrs old!!!!!!!!!!!!! and u are 19???
hhmm.........ur dad quite...errmm......fertile at old age hor....... -
Talk to ur MP... the best way
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umm sad story to hear. 1 Men Gone only , problem is why did u volunteer to go in in the first placE?
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Unless really urgent & running out of time, if not never jump straight to MP. For active servicemen, talk to OC & then work your way up from there.
Anyway, he may want to change his words a little. Saying things like "I know SAF wouldn't force ppl", "it is not my fault", etc will only work against him. -
he already said in the above post that he did not volunteer for the posting...Originally posted by SibeiSuayKia:umm sad story to hear. 1 Men Gone only , problem is why did u volunteer to go in in the first placE? -
hmmm... enjoy too much previllage playing for SAFSA liao, then now kena oversea posting start to panic...
Wonder if you are regulars or NSF... if NSF, i tot oversea posting is only for 6th mth nia instead of 1 yr plus... -
Well, if the CO & S1 are due "back on sept 1st", then they should already be available locally this weekend to boost your case.
Seeing your MP is a bit late; by the time a change of orders funnel down the chain of command, it'll likely cause some other poor soul to receive the 1-year attachment ... at an even more last minute.
IMO You need to contact the appropriate higher people who can directly aid you in arranging an operational contingency. Is your Chief Clerk, or any Manpower-savvy colleague, around to guide you on the channels?
An online search suggests something called the PMC (Personnel Management Centre) to be seemingly supervising overseas postings, but I've not be able to locate their contact number or source. You might try SAFPSC (Personnel Services Centre) to see if they could refer you on:
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/dmg/des/psc/contactus/index.htm
Here's supposedly how the SAFPSC & PMC liase with each other to ensure the affected servicemen's next of kin are visited regularly during their period of absence from home:
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/dmg/des/psc/welfare&serv/carevisits/nokgrant.htm
I also think it'll help your case if you could persuade a colleague to replace you beforehand, albeit at a late hour. My own indirect experience (also for Cresdendo) wasn't with a lengthy posting like yours - more like for a fortnight or something - & Div Arty left it to our CO, who left it to our BC, who left it to the two of us corporals on who should go. I verbally pleaded with my friend to "take one for me", since I had over a month of off-in-lieu days to clear just before ORD. Thankfully, he said yes, so there was no hiccup. If you can line up a replacement yourself, I don't think the higher-ups care who precisely flies over, as long as someone does. -
See your PM
