MINDEF FACES THE INTERNET SOCIAL MEDIA
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Just on the newspaper today...
Videoclips of NSmen clowning around
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. -
we shd applaud the boys' creativity.....
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already seen all those videos mentioned before.
if it is just for laughs like the one of a bunch of signallers doing the axe clan dance to the music of kung fu hustle on a roof, that is totally fine with me.
but the one of shooting blanks at one another on the other hand is unacceptable. proper firearms handling and rifle discipline should be taken seriously. -
The shooter got go DB or not?
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Got the link for the videos?
Thanks -
And like any good ST article, they always portray the angle that national policymakers want to hear.
There is no sense of counterweight, nor centrist views in the ST.All extremist-leaning in nature, to the government's pov that is.. -
go to youtube and search for it yourself. but i guess most will probably be taken down already.Originally posted by Rustyhong:Got the link for the videos?
Thanks -
We should also reward talents like these to contribute to our country selflessly.Originally posted by FireIce:we shd applaud the boys' creativity..... -
MINDEF kind of thinks they tarnish the reputation of singaporeOriginally posted by NotFromVenus:We should also reward talents like these to contribute to our country selflessly. -
These people... small thing also wanna complain. No sense of humour!
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Those boys have acting talent. They can be local comedian anytime. Better than those on channel 8. *ahem*
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the NDP one was a bunch of Singapore national team players.
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Very very very very very very very very very very very very one sided article.
Did I say the article was one-sided? -
Mindef should be more critical and think why their NSFs are making such videos?
They should know the NSFs are repressed, disgusted by their superiors who dun empatise their situation. -
How come nowadays pp so bo liao,as an NSFs,the golden rule is to keep as low profile as possible,i know it can be very boring for sometime doing nothing but also have to maintain low profile mah,what the kick of filming the clip and upload it on the net,gain nothing also,mei shi zhao shi zhuo .
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firing of blanks at others is not a small thing.Originally posted by elasticplastic:These people... small thing also wanna complain. No sense of humour!
anyway what do u mean by complain? who's complaining?
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Originally posted by Gordonator:
Okay, it seems that my fellow mod can agree with me that
firing of blanks at others is [b]not a small thing.
anyway what do u mean by complain? who's complaining? [/b]
the Video with the two idiots playing with blanks is a very STUPID act.
However, the rest of the videos are just pranks and parodies. -
from Today newspaper dated 8/9/06
Mobile phone clip returns to haunt 5 national footballers
Jose Raymond
It is one of the most popular clips on the video-sharing website Youtube.com, purportedly showing a group of soldiers holding a mock National Day parade in a locker room.
But yesterday, there was a bigger shock in store when the identities of the "soldiers" in the video were revealed. They included several top Young Lions footballers — including skipper Baihakki Khaizan, Ridhuan Mohd, Ashrin Shariff, Rosman Sulaiman and Khairul Amri.
Only winger Ridhuan was enlisted in National Service (NS) when the video was shot. The others had either completed their NS or not been enlisted. The players were seen wearing the red football shorts, and their faces were hidden by helmets, caps and even an empty box, which was worn by Khairul in the video.
Last night, national and Young Lions team manager Eugene Loo said that he found out that the boys had made the recording sometime last August. They had even shown him the clip, which was filmed on a mobile phone a few days after National Day.
He said: "After I saw the video on one of their phones, I told them that they should not make fun of the army uniform.
"They then told me that they meant no malice or disrespect to the nation but that they were just killing time and were doing some role-plays just like in the movie Army Daze, since one of them had enlisted for army prior to that, which explains the push ups and the army commands.
"They then deleted the clip from their phones and were quite shocked when it began appearing online.
"The video was only meant for private consumption and was not meant to go online. They have sincerely apologised for what has happened."
Mr Loo added that the National Anthem, which was heard on the video on Youtube.com, was added by the person who posted the clip online.
He said: "The National Anthem was not in the video which the boys recorded and showed me."
Young Lions skipper Baihakki last night said that it was a "grave mistake" that the video was posted online.
"I don't know who circulated the video," he said. "We were waiting to have our training session and decided to have a taste of army life as a few of us were due for enlistment then.
"After we recorded it, we watched it, had a laugh and then deleted it from our phones. It was just a mistake that someone posted the video online.
"I apologise on behalf of all of the boys."
Baihakki was not enlisted at the time and only began serving his National Service in March this year.
When contacted last night, Ministry of Defence director of public affairs Col Benedict Lim said: "We will take action against the servicemen who filmed and posted the video online." -
but what do you personally think of those clips ? ...Originally posted by LazerLordz:And like any good ST article, they always portray the angle that national policymakers want to hear.
There is no sense of counterweight, nor centrist views in the ST.All extremist-leaning in nature, to the government's pov that is..
do you think it protrays a good image of the SAF ? ...
remember that the SAF is as much about deterrence as actual warfighting capabilities ... the more potential adversaries are wary of the SAF, the more effective this deterrence effect would be, and the less likely we'd have to go to war some day ...
such clowning clips doesn't protray a good professional image of the SAF ... I remember the clips of those OCS cadets clowning around ... they of all people should know better than that ! ... -
the question is why do you think they do that is it the system and the pple in the army causing it?Originally posted by Fatum:but what do you personally think of those clips ? ...
do you think it protrays a good image of the SAF ? ...
remember that the SAF is as much about deterrence as actual warfighting capabilities ... the more potential adversaries are wary of the SAF, the more effective this deterrence effect would be, and the less likely we'd have to go to war some day ...
such clowning clips doesn't protray a good professional image of the SAF ... I remember the clips of those OCS cadets clowning around ... they of all people should know better than that ! ...
why is there no respect or pride in being nsf or regulars?? -
well ... say you're working for a private company, say IBM, HP or even creative ... and you take clips of videos that disses your employer's organization and post them up on youtube ... what do you think the response would be ? ... why should the goverment sector or the military be any different ? ...Originally posted by hisoka:the question is why do you think they do that is it the system and the pple in the army causing it?
why is there no respect or pride in being nsf or regulars??
while the lack of pride and low morale is an issue, to me, that's still no excuse ... -
I have differing views about each clip.Originally posted by Fatum:but what do you personally think of those clips ? ...
do you think it protrays a good image of the SAF ? ...
remember that the SAF is as much about deterrence as actual warfighting capabilities ... the more potential adversaries are wary of the SAF, the more effective this deterrence effect would be, and the less likely we'd have to go to war some day ...
such clowning clips doesn't protray a good professional image of the SAF ... I remember the clips of those OCS cadets clowning around ... they of all people should know better than that ! ...
Some are mildly offensive, and the rest, are just nothing more extreme that whatever is out there in other armies.
Frankly, we should all look at it with circumspect. I have a vastly different view of things like these because I always believe that we must not be uptight and we have to really weigh what the real impact is, as opposed to a perceived impact.
We have this fearful mentality that a few prank-ish videos will somehow dramatically reduce the SAF into an international laughing stock.
Let's not be too alarmist shall we. -
first we must make a differentiation regarding which clips. some are funny, some are painful reminders and of course some truely troubling. i really wonder which the mindef is going after. i find the NDP parody fine, for one its not really abotu the army and theres nothing really offensive. whats dissing? wanna give some examples?Originally posted by Fatum:well ... say you're working for a private company, say IBM, HP or even creative ... and you take clips of videos that disses your employer's organization and post them up on youtube ... what do you think the response would be ? ... why should the goverment sector or the military be any different ? ...
while the lack of pride and low morale is an issue, to me, that's still no excuse ...
you take clips dissing the companies, well simple, you may get sacked, but tahts fine. you only lose your job and you did go in voluntarily. + the company might just luagh it off depending on how and wha tthe diss was about.
in the military its different. first you are forced to enter the "company". 2nd the punishment is out of proportion(jailing pple for play acting's hardly reasonable) and again imposed unilaterally.
to you its not excuse, but then to me it is at least a cause and needs to be addressed more urgently then punishing the person. if the person had the utmost respect and pride, would he/she diss the company? if there was no foul other side to things, would there be things for them to reveal? -
Whether they be clowing around or whatever..
These boys were really silly.. They should know better not to film themselves with their faces easily identifiable and then put it up on a public access site. Even if they think what they did was really very funny.
The SAF has repeatedly said no camera hp on camp. Didn't they think they'd get in trouble??
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the clips have been around for quite a while and now only MINDEF do something ? hmm...slow.
If the camp doesn't allow camera phones then how come those NSF can bring in to shoot. Instead of discipling those scholar-colonals of COs who are not able to maintain the security of their unit, they want to go after the NSF who smuggled in the camera, wrong priorities leh. Imagine if the CO of the unit cannot even ensure that camera phones are kept out, someone can just walk in with a bomb man ! And being the CO of the unit, they should also be held responsible.
What if a serviceman is tekkan by the PS or PO and someone actually filmed it and upload onto the net, then the purpose is for the good, to expose any wrong doings...remember the case of nude-squats in Malaysia that expose the dark side of Malaysian police. One day, this may also happen for us.
So the bottomline, if MINDEF wants to maintain a sterile environment, then they should start from the basics - ensure no camera phones, etc can be smuggled in and not go after these folks...