A Son S Pride A Father S Regret The Navy S Neglect

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Naval cadet, J Soosaimanicckam may have succeeded in his ambition to serve his nation by joining the navy, but today, his father, S Joseph, continues his quest to seek justice for his son.
Soosaimanicckam, aged 27, died on May 19, 2018, allegedly due to the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) negligence and failure in their duty of care and responsibilities towards their recruits.
More tragic is that Joseph regrets even allowing his son to enlist in the military and train at the KD Sultan Idris in Lumut.
Like some other parents whose children also died during military training or at university, Joseph has found seeking the truth and establishing the causes that led to his son’s untimely death an uphill struggle.
Instead of receiving answers, Joseph was met with a wall of silence from the RMN.
Instead of treating Soosaimanicckam’s death with the urgency it deserved, RMN officers issued many denials.
The testimonies of the various witnesses have exposed a shocking culture of systematic bullying, racial abuse, harassment and neglect in the RMN.
Of increasing concern is the level of competence exhibited by some pathologists and coroners. How widespread is unprofessionalism?
Last week, there was a glimmer of hope for Joseph when the Ipoh High Court overturned the coroner’s court’s open verdict on Soosaimanicckam’s death, and reclassified it as homicide.
Justice Abdul Wahab Mohamed said the RMN officer responsible for the cadet’s training had contributed towards his death by denying him medical treatment.
He said: 
Considering all the evidence from the inquest into the cause of death, the High Court has overturned the coroner’s open verdict and changed it to homicide.
He was also critical of the coroner and said: 
With the greatest of respect, the learned coroner took the easy way out (by) coming to an open verdict without considering the evidence before her.
Press reports about the cadet’s death make disturbing reading. They have exposed a catalogue of errors, including in terms of the conduct of the RMN officer who denied medical aid for Soosaimanicckam when he fell ill. They have also questioned the quality of the medical officer (MO) who conducted the post mortem, and the coroner’s conclusion.
During his training, Soosaimanicckam had complained of chest pains and shortness of breath after completing a number of physical training exercises.
Despite his symptoms, he was denied medical help. He defecated while taking a bath and fell unconscious. Only then was he rushed to the Lumut Armed Forces Hospital, but by then it was too late and he was pronounced dead.
According to the testimony of witness Anas Hakimi Mat @ Ahmad, a senior officer called 
Ariff had denied Soosaimanicckam’s request to see a doctor. He alleges that Ariff sat on the cadet’s stomach whilst repeatedly slapping his face.
Although his health worsened the following day, the cadet suffered more beatings, which Anas claimed many others also witnessed.
Despite Major Rahim intervening to stop this assault, he was overruled by the officer-in-charge, Faiz Zanila, who refused to allow a sick Soosaimanicckam time-off, claiming the cadet was 
manja (pampered).
Anas further testified that Soosaimanicckam was targeted by the superiors of KD Sultan Idris, primarily because of his race and his inability to compete with other trainees during training. Their refusal to grant him sick leave was, for them, a means to stop overindulging him.
Another witness, Abdul Muiz Ramli, a quality engineer, testified that Soosaimanicckam’s trainers often picked on him.
Unlike other trainees who would be supervised by only one officer, Soosaimanicckam was designated four second lieutenants who would order him to do push-ups and star jumps, and ridicule him during training.
Forensic pathologist Dr Bhupinder Singh’s testimony was equally damning. He said the cadet had died from multiorgan failure due to leptospirosis, a water-borne disease spread by rat urine.
He said that Soosaimanicckam could have avoided severe complications and death had he been given antibiotics as soon as the symptoms were exhibited.
The senior pathologist disagreed with the post mortem report that Soosaimanicckam’s death had been due to pulmonary oedema. He accused the medical officer (MO) of making a wrong diagnosis and said that he lacked training.
He listed many inadequacies of the MO who conducted the post mortem. He highlighted the MO’s failure to prepare blood and urine samples, including samples of the liver, kidneys, adrenals and spleen for histopathology testing. These were crucial for an accurate diagnosis.
He criticised the MO’s findings and said that Soosaimanicckam’s exposure to contaminated water, and the RMN’s failure to seek immediate medical help, had contributed to a steep decline in his health.
Dr Bhupinder pointed out that other trainees who had been infected from the same area were hospitalised quickly and recovered.
Many questions remain unanswered. Why did the trainers target and bully Soosaimanicckam? Why was he refused medical intervention? How deeply ingrained is racial discrimination? Was this a cover-up or is the MO incompetent as alleged? Why did the coroner declare an open verdict and ignore the inconsistencies cited by another forensic pathologist?
Many parents and recruits will have lost trust and confidence in the RMN. The RMN and the naval hospital need a major overhaul to stop the bullying and improve standards and morale.
We need to weed out incompetent RMN officers, pathologists and coroners. Our cadets deserve more especially as they have sworn to serve the king and country. - FMT
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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