The surname Boey is not a prolific find in the telephone directory.
Combine rare family name with the time when the Singapore Army was led by a general with the same surname and you can guess the questions on my family background that I received during my full-time National Service. It did not help that my father has "Tak" in his name too, just like the then DCGS (Army).
The first query came during Basic Military Training at Pulau Tekong Camp 1, Delta Company, Platoon 15.
Just days into NS, I was summoned for a chat with the Platoon Commander (PC) - an oldish Lieutenant career officer in a camp where Captains were kings and the camp commandant, a Lieutenant Colonel, walked around the camp with an entourage in tow and was treated with almost imperial courtesy.
After the usual greetings, the PC cut to the chase and asked if I knew who or what a DCGS (Army) was. I had read Pioneer magazine since I was 12 and knew the Army's chain of command. Army acronyms were no sweat.
And so I spelt out the title in full and gave him the name of the BG.
Even at that age, unseasoned by years of interviewing strangers which my future career would require, I had a knack for reading body language and sensing what was on people's minds before they said anything. My PC had been reading the dockets of his new recruits and had his curiosity aroused when he came across the rare surname and father's name. Hence the chat.
It did not take a social scientist to figure out where the interview was leading to when the PC mentioned that since my dad also had "Tak" in his name, was I related to Singapore's army chief?
I replied "no" and the PC pressed the point home with a "are you sure?" before I was dismissed and returned to the Company line.
If I got a dollar from everyone who asked me that BG Boey question, I would have left NS with a chunk of change after my 2.5 years as an NSF.
I suspect that when my career as Defence Correspondent with the 90 cents newspaper was in full flower, at least some SAF officers with the same surname must have been similarly asked if we were related.
This is not a sign of a dysfunctional system. It was only natural to ask and anyone placed in a similar situation would probably have done the same.
The current debate over whether Presidential Election candidate Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam had anything to do with his son's NS stint has rekindled net chatter on white horses in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
It is an explosive issue in a city-state where NS is compulsory, when the NS experience isn't always positive and almost everyone has a story to share.
It has also led netizens to cite instances when sons of society heavyweights (minister's, CEOs etc) are said to have received special treatment because of their family ties.
From personal experience, the reality of group dynamics in the Singaporean Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and SAF is that people do make it a point to find out who sits on the upper branches of one's family tree so they can polish the right apples.
I know this for a fact because the BG Boey question stalked me throughout my NS.
I suspect the impact is magnified in a hierarchical military environment where brown nosers up and down the chain of command try to impress or ingratiate so-and-so's father/uncle/god father.
Society heavyweights must be aware this happens because string pulling occurs in the private sector too. They must therefore be savvy enough (to use Dr Tan's choice of words) to take extra care not to allow suspicions of string pulling to crop up in the first place.
White horse debates cause collateral damage to Singapore's national service system when discussants on internet discussion threads bring up stories of alleged abuses of power, privilege or position. Just look at how the ongoing debate over Dr Tan's son has spawned numerous stories from people eager to recount supposed horseplay during their time in NS.
The individuals involved are almost invariably anonymous - some rich man's son, some minister's son, an MP's kid. You get the picture? In most cases, the people who bring up such discussions or jump into the ring with a sarcastic word or two also choose to remain nameless.
Damage is done to NS and commitment to defence because there is no way for officialdom to verify, prove or debunk such hearsay. So the allegations are left hanging in the air and urban myths are born.
I suppose it is too much to ask for discussants to have the intellectual courage that matches the level of their sarcasm and critical views. Doing so would help netizens with the means to do so get to the bottom of things and, if necessary, tear apart people who have been abusing the system.
If, for example, some towkay's son has been receiving special treatment in some SAF camp, wouldn't you want to "out" the bugger to CPIB?
To be sure, our NS system is not fault-free, thanks to apple polishers who spoil MINDEF/SAF's name. We should never desensitise ourselves to such theatrics nor condone it.
But apple polishers in the city-state pale in comparison with show boats in more developed societies where certain companies build their business model on their ability to lobby causes or open doors for a handsome fee. Whichever passport you eventually carry, these brown nosers will exist as humankind has yet to create a worker's paradise anywhere on this planet.
I bet the vast majority of Singaporeans who argue the grass is greener in the land of the free would not survive the hurly burly of real politik in the Washington Beltway and other cities.
It is also easier and less damaging to one's self-esteem to blame missed opportunities in life - didn't get this scholarship, failed to get that internship, couldn't get the dream job - to inequities in the system, real or perceived, rather than on one's own shortcomings.
In Singapore today, there is a family of heartlanders which has done very well for itself. So while internet chatter on white horses is sobering to read and odds are that scions of high society who push their weight around really exist, the real world situation is far from dire.
Three boys who grew up in a HDB flat rose to command appointments in the SAF that even the Lee brothers did not attain. That three brothers made it to the top of their respective Services says a lot about their ability and I would really love to see a cynic have the balls to say infront of their faces that they did not earn their keep.
The brothers are no anomaly or fluke. A Singaporean child has better prospects at raising his/her status in society provided he/she has the commitment and ability to chase his/her dream. Many from humble backgrounds have done so. If anyone has a better way of distributing scholarships or book prizes, please do voice this out.
Everyone is entitled to complain and bitch about life's woes. If venting helps create a better society by rooting out individuals who push their way around or buy favours, then by all means fire away.
But in the vast majority of cases, what we're seeing are anonymous allegations that achieve nothing but chip away at fault lines in society and extract collateral damage on a system which, despite its shortcomings, has kept this country safe.
I really wish MINDEF/SAF would someday declare an open house at Hendon Camp, which is the Home of the Commandos. I wish the complaining citizens would drag their butts to a certain office in HQ Commando and read and reflect on the list of operations engraved onto a wooden plaque bolted to the wall. Many of these operations have never made the news, save for Ops Thunderbolt (storming of SQ 117 in 1991), and the whiners and complaints bureau should spare a moment from their unhappy angst-ridden lives to reflect on why these operations were staged.
The nasties are still there, mind you, lurking beyond the borders in our neighbourhood.
Netizens must be streetwise enough not to play into the hands of mischief makers who mask their identities to push a certain agenda. It is a pity internet discussion boards do not show the IP addresses of posters as this would give one a clearer indication of the diversity of views and from whence they come.
The white horse issue is one that MINDEF/SAF will face time and again.
There is no PR trick or technique the system can use to hedge against people who rail against the system. Let them rail and let every cynical comment serve as a reminder that the system must never take NSFs for granted.
The best defence is a clear and transparent system which can explain to, if not convince, heartlanders that Singapore's NS system is fair and equitable to all, regardless of family background.
If the NS system created to defend the Lion City cannot defend itself from cynics, then people in this fragile city-state deserve the fate they sow.
You make your bed, you sleep in it.
