If you have been to a traditional Chinese funeral, you might have noticed the family of the deceased wearing mourning pins on the sleeves of their clothes as shown below:

According to the website afterlifematters by funeral.sg, these pins, which are also known as xiao, are worn from the first day of the funeral, up to 49 days or 100 days in total, depending on the beliefs of the family.

Pixelated mourning pins

On Nov. 14, artist & designer duo ZeharnZeherng put up a Facebook post, showcasing mourning pins in the pixelated green colour scheme, a design similar to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) uniform.

According to their post, the pins, which are traditionally a symbol of familial relations, were reinterpreted into pixelated green in response to the "7 NSF deaths in the past 14 months".

The pins were also packaged in a manner akin to a product bought from the SAF eMart shop.

In the post ZZ explained that the pins were to call "into question the recurrence of NSF deaths during peacetime operations, as the norm or even a 'necessary sacrifice'".

Source: ZZ Facebook

ZZ concluded with the statement:

"To our fallen soldiers, you have done your duty. To honour you is ours."

Singaporeans react with praise

Many Singaporeans reacted positively towards the move, calling it a powerful statement.

Of course, there were also naysayers, who took issue with how the mourning pins were Chinese-centric and that it was overall in poor taste.

You can see the post in full here:And you can see the product on their website here.

Mindef convened COIs over training deaths

Whenever a training-related death occurs, the Ministry of Defence would convene a Committee of Inquiry (COI).

The COI, according to Mindef, "has full powers and access to information and personnel to investigate fully the circumstances leading to death, to determine the contributory factors and make recommendations to rectify lapses, if any".

The police would also be involved in investigations -- such was the case of full-time national serviceman Dave Lee who died in May 2018.

However, COI findings are usually not made known to the public.

In response to Member of Parliament Alex Yam's calls to make findings public, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen shared in Parliament, in 2012, that in "cases where there are public interest and significance" will be shared.

Mindef, in Aug. 2018, shared the preliminary findings of its inquiry into Lee's death.

Ng had shared in Parliament that training lapses and inadequate casualty management had been contributing factors to the death.

One officer has also been charged in court over the incident.

 

Top image collage from ZZ Facebook