News broke on Jan 20 that actor Aloysius Pang Wei Chong had been seriously injured while on an exercise in New Zealand as part of his national service.
Corporal First Class (NS) Pang, 28, had been carrying out repair work on the Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer.
The operationally ready national serviceman (NSman) was taken to Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, south of Auckland, where he was monitored in the high-dependency unit.
Three updates were given by the Ministry of Defence over the next three days, with the last announcing that the armament technician from 268th Battalion Singapore Artillery had died from his injuries.
The episode ignited public discussion on training safety in the Singapore Armed Forces.
Questions were raised in Parliament on what happened in the Howitzer cabin, whether commanders are penalised for safety breaches and whether the design of the gun was flawed.
Some questioned whether NSmen who go through a few weeks of training a year should operate heavy machinery, while others defended the important roles that national servicemen play.
Tributes poured in for the young actor, who made his television debut at the age of nine and was slated to play the male lead in Channel 8's romantic drama My One In A Million.
A two-day wake was held in MacPherson Lane, with thousands turning up to pay their last respects, including strangers and celebrities. Many more expressed sorrow of his death online.
Findings later disclosed in Parliament showed that all three servicemen who were in the gun cabin at that time, including a gun commander and a regular technician, committed lapses, causing the incident.
For instance, CFC Pang did not move to a safe position, despite being warned that the gun barrel was going to be lowered.
He suffered crush injuries as a result of being caught between the end of the barrel and the interior of the cabin.
Another breach occurred when the gun commander went ahead to move the gun barrel despite noticing that CFC Pang was not in a safe position.
Safety practices were reviewed and measures implemented to enhance safety.
For instance, safe areas and hazardous areas in the Howitzer cabin have been demarcated with bold markings. Before operations, the crew rehearse all emergency-stop procedures, including using the emergency-stop buttons.
The two servicemen with CFC Pang at that time were charged in military court in July. Military Expert 2 Ivan Teo Gee Siang, 35, and Third Sergeant (NS) Hubert Wah Yun Teng, 31, were fined last month after pleading guilty to their charges.
Regular technician Teo faced three charges under the SAF Act: one of disobedience of general orders, and two of negligent acts that endanger life.
Gun commander Wah faced two charges - one of causing death by a negligent act under the Penal Code, and the other of a negligent act endangering life under the SAF Act.
Why it matters
The incident involving CFC Pang came after the deaths of three full-time national servicemen in separate training incidents from September 2017.
Third Sergeant Gavin Chan, 21, was thrown out of a Bionix armoured fighting vehicle during a training exercise in Australia in 2017.
CFC Dave Lee, 19, died of heatstroke on April 30 last year, after completing an 8km fast march in Bedok Camp.
CFC Liu Kai, 22, died after a Bionix vehicle reversed into and crushed a Land Rover he was driving during a training exercise at the Murai Urban Training Facility on Nov 3 last year.
CFC Pang's death led to wide-ranging changes to improve safety.
A day after his death, the military leadership announced that, for the first time, the SAF would lower its training tempo across all services to renew its focus on safety.
This meant that the duration, intensity and frequency of training would be reviewed, said the Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Melvyn Ong.
A top-level Inspector-General's Office, which reports directly to the Chief of Defence Force, was also set up.
It has full authority to scrutinise and enforce safety processes and practices at all levels of the Singapore Armed Forces.
It is headed by the Chief of Staff-Joint Staff, Brigadier-General Tan Chee Wee.
BG Tan said that one of his priorities was to make it second nature for soldiers to flag lapses without fear of reprisal to make training safer.
An armywide safety timeout that lasted two weeks was declared in January. This affected training for some troops, including a batch of recruits that did a 12km graduation route march instead of 24km, as they could not complete their build-up training in time.
The Safra Singapore Bay Run and Army Half Marathon, which is organised by the Singapore Army and Safra, were called off this year to enable the army "to better manage the overall tempo for a busy year".
The announcement came after Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen responded to a question by Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh in Parliament on Feb 11, on whether "non-operational responsibilities" like the runs would be reviewed.
Dr Ng said that certain activities have been reviewed, but the announcement on what will be dropped so that "bandwidth to focus on safety" can be given will be made later.
What lies ahead
Servicemen who were involved in the other training incidents could have their cases heard in court next year. Captain Tan Baoshu, 30, was charged last month with causing death by performing a rash act, including failing to evacuate the victim in a timely manner.
He was the Officer Commanding of Support Company, 1st Guards Battalion, who also supervised the 8km fast march that CFC Dave Lee took part in before he collapsed.
Tan could be jailed for up to five years and fined if convicted of causing CFC Lee's death by performing a rash act.
There is also the case of Captain Ong Lin Jie, who was in command of the Land Rover that CFC Liu was driving when he was killed.
Ong, 28, has claimed trial after he was charged with doing a rash act causing death. He allegedly failed to keep a safety distance of 30m between the Land Rover and a Bionix Infantry Fighting Vehicle.
Ong could be jailed for up to five years or fined, or both.
