SINGAPORE : A commando trainer testified in court on Tuesday that he did not see how two trainees were dunked by instructors during a combat survival course.
Second Warrant Officer S. Balakrishnan is the fourth accused commando trainer to take the witness stand.
He is charged with failing to stop the dunking of Second Sergeant Hu En Huai and Captain Ho Wan Huo. 2nd Sergeant Hu died as a result of the dunking.
Second Warrant Officer Balakrishnan also told the court that as course commander, he had already started using the water tub in two earlier survival courses.
He was appointed course commander of the 80th batch of the Combat Survival Training on August 21 last year.
Second Warrant Officer Balakrishnan said his main responsibility was to see the smooth running of the course, which meant he had to move from station to station.
Therefore, he did not see how 2nd Sergeant Hu and Captain Ho were dunked into the water tub during the interrogation phase of the prisoner of war training.
Second Warrant Officer Balakrishnan joined the Commando Training Wing as an instructor in 1993.
During his time as instructor, he also saw water treatment in the Ranger course, where he said trainees were dunked in water receptacles like oil drums, inflatable boats and even water wells.
He thought the training was safe as long as the trainees were dunked between five and 10 seconds and not more than three times.
But after hearing evidence from medical expert witness Associate Professor Philip Eng, Second Warrant Officer Balakrishnan says he no longer thinks dunking trainees is safe.
The physician had earlier told the court that the act of dunking a trainee cannot be carried out safely even with precautions. - CNA