Dr Allan Ooi’s farewell letter and last word before his death: Questions for SAF

[Avantas]

Attached below is an extract of Dr Allan Ooi’s email sent to his family and friends before his death. It was sent to us by his friend:

To: Wayang Party Editors

His suicide letter attached. Blackout from media on this. An inquiry into his supervisors and the whole scholarship process in the SAF should be demanded, someone lost a precious son/friend/brother.

We have elected to reproduce only relevant parts of Dr Allan Ooi’s email. In the last few days, the mainstream media, especially the Chinese dailies have been speculating about the cause of his death.

The Straits Times suggested it was due to over-indulgence in online war games. Lianhe Wanbao claimed that he committed suicide because he lost heavily in gambling. Shin Ming wrote that it may due to some relationship issues. None of these were true.

Like the smear campaign directed against David Widjaja, the mainstream media had been concocting all kinds of unsubstantiated tales to distract attention from the authorities which have yet to provide us with a satisfactory explanation.

The SPH journalists are aware of the content of Dr Allan Ooi’s email. Why didn’t they report the real reason behind his suicide and instead throw all kinds of smoke-bombs to mislead Singaporeans?

In his email below, Dr Allan Ooi stated explicitly that the main reason why he decided to end his life is due to work-related issues:

Read his stunning relevation of SAF here:

http://wayangparty.com/?p=6191

 

[halsey02]

The line, being in a prison, comes to mind of a close friend who wrote to me from a shore far away, on his reason why he left, friends, family to a land; in which he is a stranger.

Being a prisoner in SINgapore, having to serve National Service, looses opportunities & then having to work & serve time in reservist, and looses evern more opportunites, to the ever-growing( at that time) tide of Malaysian FT's.....

My friend, felt SIngapore was a prison, left & never looked back; fortunately he kept a level head & did not die like Dr. Allan Ooi...

I empathise with Dr. Allan Ooi..may his soul rest in PEACE.

 

[metalslug]

PAP Govt must DIE!!!

 

[Nice-Gook]

<style></style>Another youth lost his life for being over worked.No thanks to PAP importation of huge cheap labor to compete with locals.It was the very same PAP policy to drive up the wages so that it can horde the CPF.Under their policy called to make sinkie more quality driven.Now they reverse this policy to make the cost of doing business in sinkie cheaper.But the cost of living keeps increasing.Many of our youth are now trapped in this vicious cycle.Hence the locals are forced to overwork to keep themselves alive.

Some months back a youthful girl died of over work too.This young doctor ended his.

 

[Trout]

The LSA(Med) is a 12 yr bond unfortunately.

6 yrs of medical specialty training (3 yrs BST & 3 yrs AST) mixed in with 6 years of service with the SAF...and any further specialty training (overseas traineeship etc) you undertake will extend your service length...unfortunately most 18 yr olds don't understand what they're getting into when they signed up for it...I know of a MO that's bonded for 18 yrs...

But the thing is, all NUS-trained doctors are bonded to MOH for 5 yrs as well (3 yrs for guys, with the remaining 2 yrs service in NS as MOs)...so really, is there any difference?

 

[Ah Guan]

I still don't understand why he had to kill himself over a lousy job.

He denies being in depression but he must be and doesn't know it.

Sad waste of a young life

 

[SIFU]

is he the only 1 with shit job??

no.. at least he is well-paid and comes from a well-to-do family.. if he decides to kill himself over such trivial matters, then he is letting his family down..

 

[Cthulhu]

I don't believe Dr Ooi killed himself solely over the SAF. His family is rich enough to pay for any bond breaking.

Me suspects he had some other personal issues, such as being a closet gay. This is just my speculation with no disrespect intended towards the deceased.

 

[Trout]

I don't believe Dr Ooi killed himself solely over the SAF. His family is rich enough to pay for any bond breaking.

Me suspects he had some other personal issues, such as being a closet gay. This is just my speculation with no disrespect intended towards the deceased.

you can't break a SAF bond, its not like a PSA scholarship. But there's one guy who successfully got himself out of it...the price is that you essentially cannot work as a doctor in singapore anymore. But he seems happier these days, he's been playing the gold market with a fair bit of success.

 

[Cthulhu]

you can't break a SAF bond, its not like a PSA scholarship. But there's one guy who successfully got himself out of it...the price is that you essentially cannot work as a doctor in singapore anymore. But he seems happier these days, he's been playing the gold market with a fair bit of success.

Really? Now I feel his pain. Nevertheless, it's a pity someone so handsome and elite killed himself. He has a rich man's attitude, if I may be so blunt. Many lesser mortals are also stuck in shitty jobs they don't like. Unfortunately, they can't quit for more bread and butter reasons.

 

[Nice-Gook]

The LSA(Med) is a 12 yr bond unfortunately.

6 yrs of medical specialty training (3 yrs BST & 3 yrs AST) mixed in with 6 years of service with the SAF...and any further specialty training (overseas traineeship etc) you undertake will extend your service length...unfortunately most 18 yr olds don't understand what they're getting into when they signed up for it...I know of a MO that's bonded for 18 yrs...

But the thing is, all NUS-trained doctors are bonded to MOH for 5 yrs as well (3 yrs for guys, with the remaining 2 yrs service in NS as MOs)...so really, is there any difference?

<style></style>Well SAF holds that answer.Isn't that obvious.Everyone in NUS medical faculty must be aware of their bond.But having to sign a legally binding contract at the age of 18 !!!!!....Therein lies the the problem.This government gets you signed in the dotted line the moment you reach the legal age.Why even Singtel ,Starhub and HDB too gets you into debt trap.Lock you for years.Thereafter its just work work work to pay pay and pay.

 

[Mdm Tang]

I still don't understand why he had to kill himself over a lousy job.

He denies being in depression but he must be and doesn't know it.

Sad waste of a young life

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Wednesday, July 23, 2008
ST: Still adamant that scholarship holders serve their bonds
From the Straits Times on 24 July 2008:
Still adamant that scholarship holders serve their bonds
By Zakir Hussain

MR HECTOR Yee, one of three public-sector scholarship holders who were named and shamed for breaking their bonds 10 years ago, now works at Google's headquarters in California.

So does Mr Philip Yeo consider him a loss to Singapore?

Clearly not, suggests his answer to the question. In fact, he is glad Mr Yee is not here.

Mr Yeo, chairman of Spring Singapore, is well-known for taking a tough line against government scholars who do not return to serve a single day of their bond.

Mr Yee, now 32, was such a bond-breaker. He had accepted a scholarship from the National Computer Board (NCB) to do an undergraduate degree in computer science at Cornell University in the United States.

In 1998, when he was 22 and about to complete his four-year course, he decided to stay on - sparking a controversy when his name was made public.

The issue was widely debated in the press and in Parliament.

Recalling the incident yesterday, Mr Yeo said: 'He wrote back by e-mail: I'm not coming back because I want to stay in America for the next 15 years. I see my role in life to serve the world and not Singapore alone.'

Then, in a typical no-holds-barred retort, Mr Yeo added: 'What bullshit is that, right?

'I don't think he's a loss. Thank goodness he's not here.'

Mr Yeo then went on to explain what got his goat.

'It's the attitude,' he said.

Mr Yee had asked for - and was given - an extension of one year to do a master's degree. But he later said he was considering a PhD after that. NCB advised him to get work experience first.

He then broke his bond.

Mr Yeo, then chairman of the Economic Development Board, had warned that bond-breakers would be named in public as a deterrent because of their growing numbers.

He remains adamant that scholarship holders have a 'moral obligation' to serve their bonds as the money comes from taxpayers.

Mr Yeo was himself a Colombo Plan scholar who did engineering at the University of Toronto in Canada. He returned in 1970. 'Because we are forced to come back, we helped build Singapore.'

To further underline his point, he gave this example: 'I got 100 scholars. I allow one to stay for five, 15 years, I make a mockery of the 99 guys who come home.

'At the end of the day, there's a thing called equity. If you don't want to have the obligation, don't take the scholarship...Borrow from Citibank if you want to.'

Philip Yeo's view on scholarship bond breakers are well-known but I'll just comment on one of them: namely, that scholarship holders have a 'moral obligation' to serve their bonds as the money comes from taxpayers.

I'm not really sure about the cogency of this argument. Government scholars who break their bonds usually pay the monetary penalty (principal plus interest which is above the prime rate). So, where is the actual loss to the taxpayers? PRC students absconding to the US without serving a day of or paying off their bonds are a greater loss to the Singaporean taxpayer.

Also, it's not as if the government had to cut social welfare spending in order to fund the scholarships. For some reason, I'm not convinced that the we would have fewer septuagenarians collecting old cardboard boxes in Singapore if Hector Yee didn't break his bond or that when he paid off his scholarship bond, the sum was paid back with interest to the taxpayers.

Now, if people are breaking their scholarship bonds, doesn't that suggest that there is something wrong with the scholarship-awarding organization? If your employees are resigning left and right after one month in your company, I think you should examine your HR policies rather than call people ungrateful. Maybe you shouldn't award so many scholarships.

Or even have a scholarship scheme in the first place.

Or you can redirect the funds for scholarships towards raising starting salaries or improve staff welfare.

Or hire more competent HR officers.

Or re-examine your scholarship policies.

There are so many ways to skin a cat. Calling people immoral or ungrateful certainly isn't one of them.

Posted by Fox at 10:59 PM
Labels: Philip Yeo, politics, scholarship bond, singapore
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[scroobal]

I still don't understand why he had to kill himself over a lousy job.

He denies being in depression but he must be and doesn't know it.

Sad waste of a young life

I share the same view. His family can pay off the bond at a drop of the hat. It also looks odd that he recently completed an aviation medicine course for which he had to sign for an additional bond.

Usually family members and close friends are the last to know if something occurs in the workplace and end up of going to the press and opening up a can of worms without first checking with those in the know.

 

[Harry Lee]

This guy wants to practice Medicine, but have no patients in the army?

Then volunteer as a doctor in any of the Free Clinics operated by the social/religious groups lor...... give free medical consultations to the poor.

Won't this be more noble?

Killing himself is a selfish act that benefits no one

 

[Mdm Tang]

is he the only 1 with shit job??

no.. at least he is well-paid and comes from a well-to-do family.. if he decides to kill himself over such trivial matters, then he is letting his family down..

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http://ips.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/1/7

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[Mdm Tang]

Really? Now I feel his pain. Nevertheless, it's a pity someone so handsome and elite killed himself. He has a rich man's attitude, if I may be so blunt. Many lesser mortals are also stuck in shitty jobs they don't like. Unfortunately, they can't quit for more bread and butter reasons.

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http://sg.search.yahoo.com/search;_...ers+by+publishing&y=Search&fr=yfp-t-web&rd=r2



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[scroobal]

you can't break a SAF bond, its not like a PSA scholarship. But there's one guy who successfully got himself out of it...the price is that you essentially cannot work as a doctor in singapore anymore. But he seems happier these days, he's been playing the gold market with a fair bit of success.

Thats not true. Any bond can be broken and its a question of paying a penalty. Bonds are broken each year and its not a few. Many take out easily available loans to pay for the penalty.

The only release from SAF that is difficult to obtain is for pilots to join SIA. They however can join any other airline as the Govt does not have any hold on them.

Pilots obviously want to be based in their own country and therefore prefer to join SIA.

 

[scroobal]

This guy wants to practice Medicine, but have no patients in the army?

Then volunteer as a doctor in any of the Free Clinics operated by the social/religious groups lor...... give free medical consultations to the poor.

Won't this be more noble?

Killing himself is a selfish act that benefits no one

The last place you want to practice medicine is the SAF. They don't run their own hospitals so what patients are we talking about other than outpatients and malingerers. They however need specialised medical experts in Naval Diving and Aviation but the actual practice of medicine would be very limited. SAF should have a partnership program with one of the hospitals to specialise in Aviation and Compression Sickness medicine rather than handling this by themselves.

 

[saratogas]

Phew! he over worked(six month lobo)? he hate bond (can break, Rich parents)? hate SAF (everyone also) sucide to end everything (loser).

Live a life off golden spoon still dare to complain life is hard! You know, you face pressure, I face pressure, everybody faces pressure. This is not resolved!

 

[Nice-Gook]

I share the same view. His family can pay off the bond at a drop of the hat. It also looks odd that he recently completed an aviation medicine course for which he had to sign for an additional bond.

Usually family members and close friends are the last to know if something occurs in the workplace and end up of going to the press and opening up a can of worms without first checking with those in the know.

<style></style>Oh really! Than why award scholarship to such filthy rich in the first place?....Even if based on so called meritocracy why award scholarship to persons who can easily break the bond as he or she is cash rich.What than is the use of a bond.Something smells pretty bad here.Its not a question of bond per ce.Its a question of how this government enslaves youthful lives under the name of bond...Simply putting this government puts local youth under extreme pressures while awarding bond free scholarships to foreigners.Hence I speculate the young doctor knowing no other way freed himself from slavery by ending his life.