285 / 409
STAFF AND TRAINEE DYNAMICS
269
THIRTEEN
I. SENSITIVE SUBJECT MATTER
Some of the contents of this chapter will seem insensitive because of their critical tone and
because, despite the anonymity accorded to the individuals involved, they are likely to be
identified more or less accurately. However, four factors argue strongly for the inclusion of
the contents in a record of the experience of the first intake at SAFTI, Pasir Laba.
Firstly, there was never, to the knowledge of any graduate among the First Batch, any overt
disrespect shown to any individual among the staff of SAFTI at any time (including Lance
Corporal Amzah bin Jas, the storeman at ‘A’ Company who was oblivious to his real clout).
The limitations exposed were taken in the spirit of live and let live. The trainees themselves
were a cross-section of Singapore’s eclectic population, with little claim to airs. Many had
not experienced flush toilets and showers at home, latex mattresses, the luxury of two
pillows, nor even three square meals a day. Their backgrounds would have ruled most out of
the world’s elite military academies. Besides military expertise, however flawed, being able
to speak English well already placed every officer in SAFTI on a higher social plane than
some 60-70% of the trainees. Regardless of how they came to be a part of the management
of SAFTI, they were accepted as such and it was for the individual staff or instructor to
come to terms with his role, limitations and personal predispositions in the experiment of
creating Singapore’s own military academy from scratch. Inevitably, for some it would be a
comfortable fit, for others, a loose rattle.
Secondly, the relations between the trainees and their minders are part and parcel of the
education process. They impart their own lessons—both positive and negative—especially
in a leadership-training environment, as officer cadet training uniquely is. To exclude the
issues that pervasively modulated the lives of the trainees is to hollow out the experience and
sterilise the account of its social interaction—its richest human element. If not addressed
in a record of a year’s training in a highly charged atmosphere, the reader would be obliged
to accept the astonishing proposition that trainees—daily subjected to uncommon stress
and life-threatening hazards—submitted to those empowered to demand their unfailing
compliance without privately evaluating these agents.
Thirdly, the dynamics in question are applicable in every similar situation. Hundreds of
leadership and management courses are conducted in the military and in other forums in
Singapore. The specifics change but the choreography is similar. Personalities get in the way
of the process, they are either passengers, or enhance it. Past experiences can demonstrate
the importance of selecting the right mix of trainers and preparing them and help alleviate
systemic problems.
STAFF AND TRAINEE DYNAMICS