MHAW’21 Guest Talk: “The Silent Killer” by BG Chua Jin Kiat

by Max Yeo

On 12th August, Brigadier-General Chua Jin Kiat reflected upon the rapidly changing society we live in, with its increased awareness of mental health. A strong student both in secondary school and in JC, he was shocked when he failed almost every exam in his first year at Cambridge. Describing it as the “lowest point of [his] life”, he risked losing his scholarship and disappointing his family. However, he resolved to pull up his grades and recovered from the incident. Today, however, he doubts that youth would be able to move on from such an incident. According to BG Chua, society has greatly changed – life moves at a faster pace and youth are subject to more pressures and stresses.

The military has adapted to greater awareness about the importance of mental health. Faced with increasing numbers of full-time national servicemen (NSFs) who experience stress both at home and in the workplace, several changes have been made to help them cope. For instance, every division now employs a trained, full-time psychologist, and a care hub has been set up to help NSmen adapt to the rigours of army life. Changing attitudes from leadership have led the way in reducing stigma, such as by being more willing to give NSFs time off to recover. Though some no doubt abuse this new approach to “chao keng”, BG Chua acknowledges it is a tradeoff that must be made to help those who genuinely need it.

His advice to young people? Remember that you always have options. Today’s youth have access to jobs which didn’t exist when he was younger, he notes, and we have much more freedom today to choose what we want in our work and life. Don’t be limited by what you study in university – make full use of this freedom, and keep your options open.