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Clicking and rustling could be heard in the drill yard of the fire station, as fire helmets were unbuckled and taken off. The firefighters held their helmets firmly tucked under their left arms and a few of them lightly touched the red and blue ribbons that were pinned on their fire jackets. For a moment, the air was silent and still, as the SCDF officers bowed their heads in unison and honoured the emergency responders who have fallen in the line of duty. They may no longer be with us, but their sacrifices will never be forgotten.
On 22 March 2023, more than 300 personnel from various agencies, including the SCDF, Singapore Police Force (SPF), Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), JTC Corporation, ExxonMobil, Keppel Infrastructure, Jurong Port Universal Terminal (JPUT), Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Ministry of Health (MOH), and Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), took part in Exercise Northstar XI at Jurong Island.
On the evening of 14 April 2023, eager whispers could be heard from the Istana lawn, where over 400 guests had gathered. SCDF officers, volunteers and strategic partners were there for the SCDF Garden Reception, which commemorates SCDF Day, marking the merger of the Singapore Fire Service and SCDF on 15 April 1989. At the same time, SCDF officers who went beyond the call of duty to keep Singapore safe were also given recognition for their dedication and commitment to duty. The event was graced by President Halimah Yacob.
In this concluding segment of our two-part feature on SCDF's Operation Lionheart (OLH) mission in Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye, Rescue995 spoke to Colonel (COL) Chew Keng Tok, Commander of the OLH Contingent, and officers from the Emergency Behavioural Sciences & CARE unit (EBSC), Home Team Specialist (HTS) Ms Khoo Swee Giang, Lead Psychologist, and Lieutenant (LTA) Khoo Chong Wee, Emergency Readiness Officer, who reflected on the contingent’s accomplishments and experiences during the deployment.
The Operation Lionheart (OLH) contingent, comprising 68 members and led by COL Chew Keng Tok, Commander of 2nd SCDF Division, returned to Singapore on 18 February 2023, after a 10-day deployment in Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye. The team was deployed to assist in the rescue efforts, following the Türkiye-Syria earthquake on 6 February 2023. Rescue995 spoke to four members of the OLH contingent, who recounted their experiences on the rescue of a child and a man in Kahramanmaraş province, Türkiye. They are LTA Abdul Rashid Bin Abdul Karim, WO1 Fendilato Bin Mohamad Tahir, WO1 Muhammad Faris Bin Mohammad and SGT3 Tamimi Bin Mohamad Mamsi.
For the first time in two years since the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation celebrated its 57th year of independence with a full-scale National Day Parade (NDP22). In preparation for NDP22, the marching contingents started sharpening their foot drills since 7 May at the Seletar Camp. Combined rehearsals for the ceremonial parade were subsequently held at the Marina Bay floating platform from June 2022 onwards. Rescue 995 interviewed two chief trainers for the SCDF and National Civil Defence Cadet Corp (NCDCC) marching contingents, as well as a student cadet from the NCDCC marching contingent, who shared their memorable experiences in being part of this year’s National Day celebration.
Meet SWO (RET) Selamat Abdul Jalil spent over two decades of his life as a firefighter and five years as a Senior Instructor at SCDF’s Civil Defence Academy (CDA). During his posting at CDA, he provided Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) training not only to local firefighters, but also to international trainees from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In 2014, he began a new chapter in his post-retirement career as a Tactical Advisor at the Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Academy (ADCDA). Rescue 995 caught up with him through a virtual call this month and engaged him in an exclusive interview on his experiences at ADCDA as well as his memorable postings in SCDF.
You would have seen or heard about SCDF’s latest Mandarin drama serial, ‘In Safe Hands’ (with English subtitles), which was aired daily on Mediacorp channel 8 from 7 March to 18 March this year. The making of ‘In Safe Hands’ was a challenging but truly enriching experience for the Mediacorp production team, artistes and several SCDF officers. Rescue 995 goes behind the scenes in this exclusive interview with Loh Woon Woon, the Executive Producer; Oh Wei Ting and Lau Ching Poon, the script writers; two SCDF advisers namely Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Khaisarah Mansor and Major (MAJ) Shafi Rafie, as well the SCDF casts: LTC Ryan Hoo Wei Kun, Staff Sergeant (SSG) Gregory Ryan and SSG Kamarul Arifin. Read on to find out more about their experiences in the making of ‘In Safe Hand’.
You would have seen or heard about SCDF’s latest Mandarin drama serial, ‘In Safe Hands’ (with English subtitles), which was aired daily on Mediacorp Channel 8 from 7 March to 18 March this year. During its premiere, the action-packed drama wowed the audience with adrenaline pumping scenes featuring SCDF’s latest ops-technological gadgets, fleet of emergency appliances as well as our very own officers of different ethnicity acting alongside the Mediacorp artistes. In case you missed it, the 10-episode drama is still available for free on meWATCH and you can catch it here. And now, Rescue 995 welcome the main casts to take centre stage on this exclusive interview as they share their experiences on the production of the drama serial.