The Singapore Armed Forces treats all its servicemen in a "fair and equitable" way and takes action against anyone who has breached its regulations, regardless of who he is, said the Ministry of Defence.

The Ministry issued a statement today in response to recent media reports and letters to the media on a complaint raised by Second Lieutenant Li Hongyi, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's second son, about the lack of disciplinary action against another SAF officer, whom he had reported to his immediate superiors for being twice absent without leave.

2LT Li was reprimanded by the SAF for not following proper procedures in e-mailing his letter of complaint to many other servicemen.

The Mindef statement said that there are established procedures for SAF servicemen to seek redress. These are set out in the Recruit's handbook, which is given to all enlistees.

"Any serviceman who thinks himself wronged by a superior can raise the matter up his chain of command, and up to the Armed Forces Council (chaired by the Minister for Defence) if the serviceman is dissatisfied with the action that has been taken by his commanders," said the statement.

"In this case, the complainant, 2LT Li, raised his concerns, and the complaint was investigated in accordance with the SAF's procedures, and disciplinary action was taken against the officers who were reported.

"However, the complainant also broadcast his complaint via e-mail to many other officers and servicemen. This contravened the General Orders of the Ministry of Defence which require complaints to be brought up through the proper channels and procedures. The complainant was therefore formally charged and reprimanded for this. "

In his letter, 2LT Li had complained that another officer had been absent without leave on two occasions. He added that although he had reported the matter to the officer's supervisors, no disciplinary action was taken.

Mindef said last week that the AWOL officer would be court martialled, and that the two supervising officers had been issued letters of warning for "poor judgment in administering inappropriate disciplinary action."

2LT Li himself was pulled up for the way he had disseminated his complaint. He was formally charged and reprimanded after a summary trial earlier this month.

His e-mail complaint was also posted on several websites and set off a buzz on how the authorities would respond.

It also prompted letters to the newspapers. One reader who wrote in to The Straits Times, asked who was the officer who went absent without leave and if he was "a princeling".

The writer, Chan Hwa Loon, said in his letter: "Reading the article, one is troubled by whether the officer is the son of some hotshot who thought he could get away with such a serious matter as AWOL. And were the supervising officers so concerned about their careers that they rendered 'poor judgment in administering inappropriate action?

"While it is understandable that the Ministry of Defence would not want to divulge names, still it should say whether the AWOL officer is the son of some high-level politician, a big-shot businessman or some other very important person - in other words, a "princeling."

"This is so that the public can be satisfied, and senior officers in the SAF will take to heart, that no matter how privileged one's background is, such a serious transgression as AWOL will not go unpunished, and that it shouldn't take a Prime Minister's son going to great lengths in order for such things to be exposed."

In its statement today, Mindef said that SAF treats all its servicemen in a fair and equitable way, "with each one receiving nothing more, nor less, than what any serviceman is entitled to."

It added: "As a disciplined force, the SAF investigates all complaints that are not anonymous and takes action against any serviceman who has breached its regulations, regardless of who the complainant and the servicemen involved are. Proper procedures are in place to maintain discipline, uphold morale and to protect confidential information, as is necessary in a military organisation. "