\n<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: Anxiety gripped him as the roaring racket of waves echoed throughout the vessel. It was, after all, the first time Kee Jie En was in the closed confines of a submarine diving deep into the sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t normally hear water crashing above you,\u201d said the 23-year-old Military Expert (ME1) in the Singapore navy. \u201cSo the sounds that you hear in the beginning can be a little more frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n
But his instincts honed through training kicked in and soon he was going about his duties as a platform systems operator. What also helped was valuable advice from close to home: His own father Kee Kian Peng is a 35-year navy veteran who retired from uniformed service in 2023 as a senior lieutenant-colonel.<\/p>\n
The 54-year-old is currently deputy director of the crew training wing at the submarine training school; before that, he commanded Singapore\u2019s first- and second-generation submarines.<\/p>\n
The father-son duo\u2019s naval journeys mirror Singapore\u2019s growth in the submarine domain, from the pioneer batch trained overseas in the 1990s to the self-sustaining force today.<\/p>\n
Still, the submarine community remains somewhat enigmatic, for reasons of operational security. Little is known about the duration of their operations, the areas where they operate and, for that matter, what they actually do.<\/p>\n
Public appearances have also been rare. The one time Singaporeans caught a glimpse was during a National Day maritime review in 2000, when RSS Conqueror participated in a sailpast.<\/p>\n
It was Singapore\u2019s first submarine, purchased in 1995 from the Royal Swedish Navy. The elder Kee was part of a pioneer crew who trained in Sweden\u2019s Karlskrona city in 1996.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt snowed on the day that we arrived. So it gave us really a foretaste of what to expect while we’re in Sweden \u2013 the unforgiving winter, the tough Baltic Sea conditions and the Swedish language that we were unfamiliar with,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cFortunately, the Swedish instructor could speak some English and of course, we also had to moderate the pace of our Singlish.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the RSS Conqueror entered service in 2000, Mr Kee was the communications officer. He rose through the ranks to become commanding officer in 2004. In 2014, he became the commanding officer for the RSS Archer.<\/p>\n
His son ME1 Kee was in primary school when he saw a submarine for the first time, at a family day event. It left a lasting impact but signing on as a regular was never on his radar, until a career talk during his basic military training changed his mind. He has been in the navy for three years now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the opportunity came to learn and operate the navy\u2019s newest platform, I jumped at it,\u201d said the crew member of the RSS Invincible, one of two modern and customised submarines commissioned in September last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdded to that as well, I get to learn more about my dad’s job. I think the decision is pretty meaningful and special to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Kees have not been able to reveal much about their jobs to loved ones, beyond general aspects.<\/p>\n
Mr Kee usually points to movies such as Crimson Tide and The Hunt for Red October, which he described as \u201cactually a very good snapshot\u201d of life onboard a submarine. The younger Kee meanwhile tells his peers that he\u2019s simply an engineer ensuring machines keep running smoothly.<\/p>\n
What is obvious to all is that submarine life involves being away from home for long spells, and being in a confined and limited space.<\/p>\n
To occupy their free time, some submariners bring dumbbells and barbells to work out; others download Netflix shows onto their phones. With no internet connectivity on board, it also means adapting to not being able to contact friends or family.<\/p>\n
Each submarine has at least two trained para-counsellors on board, to help with the crew\u2019s psychological welfare if loneliness and other mental challenges set in.<\/p>\n
Crew members also become a \u201csecond family\u201d, said Mr Kee. \u201cWe actually bond very closely with one another, because we are literally eating together, we are working together, and we are sleeping in close proximity with one another. This camaraderie is really what keeps us going.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n