All Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) camps have been checked to ensure camp security is adequate, following the incident involving an Awol corporal who walked out of a camp with a rifle and ammunition, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said in Parliament on Monday.

An audit found that all SAF camps comply with the relevant orders and procedures, and the recent incident is a problem localised to Corporal Dave Teo Ming's unit, said Mr Teo.

"Nonetheless, the SAF has stepped up the frequency of security audits of all SAF camps to ensure compliance with stipulated camp guard procedures," he added.

The Minister took questions from two MPs who wanted to know how Teo, a full-time National Serviceman, got out of his army camp carrying a SAR-21 assault rifle and ammunition. His disappearance while on guard duty on Sept 2 at Mandai Hill Camp triggered a 20-hour island-wide manhunt that ended with Teo's arrest the next day at Orchard Cineleisure shopping mall.

The minister said Teo absconded by jumping off from the second floor of his guard room onto the car park outside his camp.

He said the criminal case involving Teo, which is now before the courts, led to a thorough review of the incident by a High Board of Inquiry to assess how it could have taken place.

This was complemented by a security review of SAF military installations to plug weaknesses in the design of existing camps to ensure military personnel cannot sneak out.

The SAF also reviewed current procedures that govern how arms and ammunition are handled by SAF personnel.

Teo faces three charges: for carrying a firearm in the Orchard Cineleisure toilet where he was arrested, unlawfully possessing eight rounds of rifle ammunition, and possession of a 40cm knife in public in April.

The Minister said the inquiry board concluded that although the SAF's systems and procedures were generally adequate, there were three lapses that led to the Cpl Teo incident.

These were:

- Weaknesses in the implementation and supervision of Guard Room procedures at Mandai Hill Camp that night.
- Weaknesses in the physical construction of Mandai Hill Camp also enabled CPL Teo to slip out without being detected.
- There was non-compliance with reporting procedures which require the quick reporting of all serious incidents, such as those involving missing arms and ammunition.

"There are clear procedures, laid out in detail, for all activities under the purview of the Guard Room," said Mr Teo.

"These procedures were not carried out properly on the night that CPL Teo was on duty. If they had been properly enforced, it would have been extremely difficult for him to have left camp undetected, and even if he had managed to slip out, his absence would probably have been detected and reported earlier.

Earlier, the Minister told the House that Teo was serving as an infantryman in the 1st Battalion, of the Singapore Infantry Regiment.

His service record during full-time NS since his enlistment did not indicate behaviour that warranted "disqualification from bearing firearms."

"Cpl Teo was observed to have performed well during his units overseas proficiency evaluation exercise in April," added Mr Teo.

But when his platoon commander interviewed him in June, he noted that the NSman was stressed over relationship problems with his girlfriend. In the subsequent interviews, the last being in August, he did not raise the issue of his failed relationship again.

"During the two weeks prior to the incident on 2 September, neither his Platoon Commander nor his bunk mate noticed any unusual behaviour by CPL Teo," said the minister.

CPL Teo was on Guard Duty and assigned patrol duties at Mandai Hill Camp on the night of Sept 2 . In line with procedures, he was properly issued his personal firearm, a SAR 21 rifle, and five rounds of 5.56mm ammunition at the start of his shift at 8 pm.

His Guard Commander realised that he was absent from his place of duty at 11.59 pm, when he did not return his firearm and ammunition at the end of his shift. This triggered an island-wide manhunt which led to this arrest.

His firearm and eight rounds of ammunition were recovered. But investigations have traced three 5.56mm tracer rounds to a batch of ammunition that was used during a section live firing exercise that CPL Teo took part in two weeks earlier, in August.

The police and the SAF are still investigating exactly how he acquired the additional three rounds.