Time to remove the chinks
Posted by St Low
Sunday, 15 June 2008
After approximately RM2.8bil spent on more than 400,000 trainees, the National Service programme is completing its fifth year with the last training session for the year. However, a thorough review of the programme is long overdue.
WE sent our active, healthy girl for National Service (NS) and she was returned dead. We entrusted them to take care of her and what happened?”
Too Jong Sing, father of Too Hui Min, the 17-year-old NS trainee who passed away last month allegedly from a colon infection, could barely contain his distress.
Strenous training: Even if the trainees are healthy, the physical exertion at NS camps can be a shock to the system.
Like any parent, he has a hard time accepting his daughter's demise.
“She had her whole life ahead of her. I wish she had never been selected for the programme in the first place,” he trails off.
This weekend, about 35,000 trainees are set to begin their stint in the third training programme of the year under the NS.
For most of the parents who are seeing their children off, experiencing what the Too family went through is their biggest fear. And like Too, many of them are bemoaning the fact that their child was even chosen for the service.
“It is like a lottery that you don't want to win. You hope and hope that your child will be spared and if that fails, you pray anxiously that he or she will survive the three months,” says a parent who only wants to be known as Maniam.
»We are asked to quantify the success rate of something that is unquantifiable« DATUK ABDUL HADI AWANG KECHIL
Or as another parent Zarina puts it, “You carry your child for nine months, go through extreme labour pains and look after your child for more than 17 years, only to put them at risk like that? The programme is just not worth it.”
Zero-death demandThis is the fifth year that NS is being implemented. Conceived as an instrument of national unity in 2003, it aimed at fostering a better understanding between Malaysian youth from diverse backgrounds as well as instilling patriotism and encouraging community service.
The rationale behind the programme was to put 18-year-olds under one roof and create shared experiences to enable them to interact with and learn about each other in an environment that was more conducive than their schools and neighbourhoods.
Like various schemes in Malaysia, however, NS was implemented hastily after it was mooted. Inevitably, it has been dogged by controversy from the start. First, it faced various logistical hitches from inadequate transport, amenities to inexperienced staff. Later, other severe problems arose: sexual assault, gang fights, indiscipline, theft and bullying. Most damning is the death toll, which stands at 21 since the first NS training session was held in 2004. Out of the total number of fatalities, 16 were trainees, with 11 cases happening during training and five others during the breaks. Each problem has given rise to national hysteria, but the government has been fairly quick to rectify the situation.
To be fair, the NS administration has taken various measures to improve the safety and security at their camps. The issue is whether they are doing enough to ensure that the measures are implemented properly.
NS Training Council chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye opines that there is a weakness in the way each camp is managed.
“In a camp, the commandant is the big boss, and runs it as he sees fit. I think there is not enough enforcement or monitoring from the headquarters (the NS department) to ensure that all improvement recommendations and regulations are implemented properly,” he adds.
Hence, last month, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged the NS administration to strive for “zero deaths” in their campsites.
All national service camp commandants have to immediately send trainees to the nearest hospital the moment they show signs of being ill, Najib had instructed.
Najib added that camp commandants “have to be more proactive and handson”. “Parents place a very high responsibility on the Government to care for their children, which is why I stress that they (camp commandants) need to take their responsibilities very seriously. It's more than just a normal job,” he had said. For Too, it's too little too late.
“It's too late for my daughter. She is gone. They did not act fast enough to save her,” he insisted. Refusing to accept the RM40,000 insurance payment from the government, Too is instead suing them for negligence.
Although many agree that accidents or illness sometimes cannot be avoided, others believe that more can be done to prevent them.
Even Najib had admitted, “There's no denying that there have been a few incidents that could have been avoided.” Strict but caring
About eight of the fatalities that occurred under the programme were caused by illness, and accounts from witness and family revealed that the camp authorities could have acted faster to prevent their death.
Last year, Mohd Rafi Ameer, was forced to continue with his physical training despite his complaints of fever and nausea. His family claimed that he was only given Panadol and had almost fainted a few times before he was taken to the hospital. He died on the way to hospital and the post-mortem report showed that he was suffering from yellow fever.
It was as a consequent of his death that medical assistants were deployed to camps as a measure to prevent deaths from illness.
However, questions of the inadequacy of the medical facilities arose when trainee Afiq Zuhairy Ahmat Rozali died after suffering from a high fever for three days in April. It was reported that he had received treatment from his camp's medical assistant for two days but his condition did not improve. He was referred to a hospital on the third day, but it was too late by then.
Too, for one, believes that his daughter had been complaining about her stomach problem for three days before she was taken to the hospital.
Lee feels that compassion on the part of camp administration could have helped.
“I believe the camp commandants and trainers need to be caring to all trainees and treat them as if they were their own children. Once they have this feeling, they will automatically ensure that their camps are safe and the trainees' welfare is taken care of,” he says.
Adds Lee, most importantly, everyone needs to be clear that this NS not a military training.
“It is really a summer camp; the main thing is the safety of the participants. We also have to remember that most did not choose to go for NS, they were selected randomly by computer,” he says.
Trainers also need to be aware and open to possibilities of dangers, he adds.
“I have received many complaints from trainees and parents who said that their trainers ignored their complaints of illness or exhaustion. The trainers instead told them: 'Don't kid. You are not ill. You just want to stay out of the sun.’ ”
Lee warns if trainers and camp commandants adopted the stance that the trainees are constantly trying to pull a fast one on them, they might find themselves in a bind.
“Granted there may be a few cases of trainees pretending to be sick, but as a camp supervisor, you must never take any risks and give the teen the benefit of the doubt,” he adds.
Stepping up healthcare
NS Training Department directorgeneral Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil highlights the need for a standardised plan of action in the event of medical emergencies: “We need to have a standard operating procedure for admitting sick trainees to hospital immediately.
Previously, there was a 48-hour waiting period before trainees who were ill would be referred to a hospital.” One proposal to reduce the death toll is to conduct mandatory medical check-ups for trainees. However, this has been ruled out due to its astronomical cost.
“There is no guarantee that they will not fall ill at the camp anyway,” says Lee, stressing that our young lead an unhealthy lifestyle.
“Many study all the time and when they have spare time they play video games or watch television. Even if they are healthy, the physical exertion at the NS camp can still be a shock to their system,” he adds.
Thus, instead of a pre-NS medical check-up, health screenings will be conducted during the trainees' first two weeks of training.
“Trainees will be screened by our medical staff based on their declarations and, if necessary, be asked to see a doctor,” says Abdul Hadi.
There are plans to create 120 new positions for full-time hospital assistants and nurses in each of the programme's 84 camps while trainers will be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency medical treatment.
The medical personnel would be directly attached to the NS training department.
“From the beginning of this year, we have had Health Ministry staff attached to the camps. Having our own medical staff round the clock will be better.”
However, he says it would take time to recruit the personnel and added that the earliest it could happen would be next year.
To sieve out candidates with medical conditions that would exempt them from physical training, the NS department also announced that they would change the format of the health-screening forms next year.
“One change is to remove the conditional eligibility option, which means a trainee is eligible but cannot do strenuous exercise, from the form.
These candidates will not be selected for the NS programme. This is to ensure that there are no untoward incidences,” says Abdul Hadi.
Unresolved concerns
While many welcome the measures to beef up the camp's medical infrastructure, parents are still concerned about another health hazard in NS – the cleanliness and hygiene in the camps.
Since NS was implemented, there have been various complaints of poor water and food quality, which has caused various viral infection cases. Mohd Rafi, for one, was said to have caught yellow fever after consuming food tainted with animal faeces at the Cheneh Cemerlang camp in Terengganu.
Early this month, 57 trainees in Kem Desaru Johor were hospitalised for viral fever.
Last month, eight trainees at Kem Agro Resort, Setiu, suffered from food poisoning, which led to the closure of the camp’s canteen. A week later, 67 trainees from the camp were rushed to hospital for another food poisoning case. This time the food was catered from outside, as the camp's canteen was still closed after the earlier food poisoning incident. According to former trainer Ravinder Sran, hygiene and the water quality has always been a problem.
“I had complained to the authorities when I was a trainer in the first batch. That time, I thought a reason could be because the camps were new, so water supply was a problem. But I just had a course in the same NS camp last month, and the quality of the water supply at that camp is still bad,” she shares.
Abdul Hadi assures they are fully aware of the problem and are taking steps to address them.
For instance, he adds, an inspectorate division had been formed early this year to inspect NS camps nationwide and report on improvements that needed to be made. To date, they have closed down three sub-standard camps.
“We are being more stringent now, and if the camps don't follow our requirements, we will take action, including shutting them down,” he notes.
By HARIATI AZIZAN
- The Star
Subject: Community service proposal for dodgers of PLKN 
Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:28 am
