Top military shooters to fire away as Asean Armies Rifle Meet kicks off in Singapore

Top military shooters from the region are in town for the latest edition of the Asean Armies Rifle Meet, a diplomatic tradition that goes back 26 years to 1991.

In all, 550 army shooters from South-east Asia will be firing away after the week-long event kicked off on Monday (Nov 13) at Nee Soon Range.

They are aiming for a total of 15 trophies that will be awarded to the best shooters across five categories: carbine, rifle, machine gun, pistol (men) and pistol (women).

All 10 Asean members are represented in this year's competition. Each country takes turns to host the annual competition, and Singapore last hosted the event in 2009.

Colonel Andrew Lim, 44, who is in charge of the event's steering committee, said in a media briefing last week that a "healthy dose of competition goes a long way to build relationships and deepen trust".

The annual competition will also "avoid all the second-guessing that will potentially take place if (we) don't meet often enough", added the infantry chief.

At the opening ceremony on Monday, Brigadier-General Siew Kum Wong said that the rifle meet is an important avenue for Asean countries to renew relationships.

"It provides the platform for professional military ties to be established and deepened," he said.

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