The "famous David Boey" shares thoughts on military security in Singapore

I was 22 when I first learned that my name had been mentioned at a security awareness talk by Singapore's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).

According to reliable accounts, the talk mentioned how yours truly was observed loitering outside Paya Lebar Air Base (PLAB) (true). It was said that I would spend hours waiting for aircraft to return (also true). When warplanes approached PLAB on short finals, I would "pop up" (their words) and photograph aircraft as they swept past at low level :-). The MINDEF storyteller must have been quite talented because on hearing his description of how I popped up with camera in hand, the audience burst out laughing.  

In today's context, the activities that got me on their watch list would hardly raise eyebrows.

But this was in the early 1990s. There was no Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or any of those intrusive social media channels. Being the first Singaporean appointed as Singapore Correspondent by Jane's Defence Weekly made me a person of interest.

Those in the audience who knew me from school were shocked. I was always the quiet nerd, the last person you would expect to be singled out for mention by the security services.

I was shocked too. Who wouldn't feel that way at age 22?

More than 30 years later, I wish to share some lessons from this episode.

First, the MINDEF anecdote suggested I had picked up a "tail". Someone was watching but I was blissfully unaware. From that day on, I learned the importance of being self-aware. It drilled home the usefulness of knowing how to clear my tail in the real world and later, as the internet evolved, also in the cyber world. I am no IT expert. I am, however, fortunate to know experten and can count on their counsel.

Second, it showed me that of the four main buckets from which one can learn things - open source, people, photo and technical - the people bucket has consistently proven to be my preferred mode. A warm body tipped me off about that security talk, which others verified. In hindsight, I would rate people as my No.1 source of news breaks during my reporting days many years back.

Third, I credit that particular department as my best publicity agent. Their security awareness talks made sure my exploits were well-known in Singapore's defence ecosystem over 30 years ago. If you were a MINDEF/SAF officer who served from the 1990s to early 2000s, you would probably have heard about me. While some officers avoided me as if I had some infectious disease, there were other, more confident individuals who had no qualms interacting with me. And I find the underground fan base most endearing. Ex-SAF personnel whom I met in my previous jobs (and my current one) know me as the "famous David Boey". The Streisand Effect is indeed real.

Having crossed the mid-50s, I am happy to report that my interest in defence matters has remained strong over the decades.

I hope people have come to accept my passion. I am therefore heartened whenever I see my social media timelines filled with military-related content from kindred spirits whose activities, if carried out 30+ years ago, would probably have made that particular department and DO Olympus rather busy indeed.