The total number of deaths should be around 23 including participants and trainers, when including this tragedy. Will the Pakatan Rakyat take up the cudgels to stop these senseless deaths of our young ones, in a farce called the National Service? How about our Pakatan Rakyat MP's ask these 17 questions in Parliament calling for an urgent motion.

Here is another letter from a father who fears for the lives of innocent children from Prof Dr M Tajuddin M Rasdi May 9 08 4:54pm in Malaysiakini

My heart goes out to the parents of Too Hui Min from Selangor. How many National Service deaths does that make? I have lost count. They are dying right in front of our very eyes. Wake up or are you dead too? Never mind our different races, religions and socio-economic status. We are parents and we are patriotic Malaysians who love our country dearly. But that does not mean we automatically trust those who are in power. Far from it. I wish to do a content analysis of two news report today, one from The Star and the other from Berita Harian. We can see a clear pattern emerging on how the news media and their political masters think about these deaths.

In The Star report, the story was carried on page 3 with an announcement of the death made on the front page. The Star also made another report on a camp infested with dengue cases where many NS trainees were warded. The Berita Harian report was placed way back on page 19 with no announcement in the front page. The Berita Harian did not carry any other NS story. This probably shows that The Star people are very concerned about the incident and the Berita Harian people mungkin tak berapa kisah sangat. Is it about ‘protecting the National Service or simply that the victim is - dare I say it? - is a non-Malay? Your guess is as good as mine.

The Star quoted the victim’s parents in saying that their daughter informed them several days ago about her stomach pains and the parents wondered aloud why the camp officials did not react earlier. The Berita Harian report contains no quotes by the parents. But the Berita Harian report has a very interesting quote from an unnamed officer at the Slim River Hospital Forensic Unit as follows: ‘Pegawai Unit Forensik Hospital Slim River mengesyaki penyakit itu dihidapi Too sebelum mula menjalani latihan di kem berkenaan, 18 Mac lalu." which says that Too contracted the condition before joining the camp.

So very convenient! So very nice for the NS director-general! No investigation is done yet and the conclusion is probably half way made already! This, as usual, will absolve all the camp officials of responsibility of the death. Listen parents. To me they seem to be intoning their standard mantra again - ‘It’s YOUR FAULT that your son or daughter died. Lain kali make sure dia sihat dulu sebelum masuk kem lah. What gall.

The story in Berita Harian seems to follow the same pattern as other reports I have read where it is made as if the victim ‘suddenly fell sick’ and suddenly died before the camp officials could react.

The Star report says that an internal investigation will be conducted. I don’t remember reading any report of all these ‘internal investigations’ in the media. Even if I did, as an academic I would not give much credence to a single source, totally non-independent committee report.

So parents, please, wake up. I send this message to YOU. The NS director-general is not going to listen. The political leaders don’t seem to care. So it is up to US. What should we do? Never mind the trainees are Malays, Indians, Chinese, Kadazans, Dayak, Iban or what-have-you. They are all OUR children. We must demand a full independent and public inquiry made up of professionals selected by us and not appointed by those camp people. I am not anti-National Service. I am totally anti the camps’ leadership and management team. They should all be sacked and if they are proven cases of pure neglect, they should be prosecuted. No less.

In the mean time heed my words carefully. Call your children in the NS camps every two days. Don’t take any chances if your children call in sick. Go to the camp. Demand to see your children. Take them to your doctor. If the camp people refuse to give permission, camp outside the camp and make yourself a bloody nuisance until they do. These tips will probably safe your children’s lives.

On NS trainees: safety, health main priorities

Ex-Army Doctor: Although, the director-general, National Service, Ministry of Defence has stated that there are very strict and clear protocols on managing health problems among trainees of the National Service programme, without proper implementation, all the protocols are useless.

In one paragraph he states: ‘The trainee will be provided with the highest medical attention and diagnosed for levels of their illness. Under the Protocol, should the problems continue or the initial diagnosis is chronic, the Medical Officers will immediately refer the case to the nearest hospital for further treatment.’However in the next paragraph, he states that a Medical Unit comprises three Medical Assistants and two training nurses. So where did the Medical Officers come from?

The level of medical care and attention depends on the competency of those giving the attention. How can Medical Assistants and training nurses give the ‘highest medical attention’? His statements are contradictory, to say the least. He further implies that the problems arose from the trainees not being honest in declaring the state of their health. Obviously, he is out of touch with reality. Most parents do not want their children to participate in this National Service, and would seek any form of exemption. If their children has any form of chronic illness, they would quickly obtain a certificate from their doctor to seek exemption.

All Army battalions have a Medical Officer (Regimental Medical Officer) attached to the unit to take care of the health of 600-700 fit young men. The Medical Officer is supported by a Medical Assistant, a Staff Nurse and a number of Army Medical Corpmen. I do not see how the medical and health needs of these National Health trainees, who did not undergo a vigorous medical examination (unlike soldiers), can be taken care by Medical Assistants and training nurses.

I have great respect and appreciation for Medical Assistants but, unfortunately, they are not doctors and cannot be expected to give the highest medical attention. Malaysiakini