James Stockdale Prisoner of war When did he become a prisoner of war? On 9 September 1965, while flying from USS Oriskany on a mission over North Vietnam, Stockdale ejected from his Douglas A-4 Skyhawk,
What happened while he was a POW?
What happened while James Stockdale was a POW?
On June 5, 1946 he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Naval Academy with the Class of 1947 due to the reduced schedule still in effect from World War II. Academically he ranked 130th among 821 graduates in his class. His first assignment was assistant gunnery officer aboard the destroyer minesweeper USS Carmick (DD-493) from June to October 1946. He next served aboard the USS Thompson (DD-627) from October 1946 to February 1947, the USS Charles H. Roan (DD-853) from February 1947 to July 1948, and the USS Deming (PCS-1392) from July 1948 to June 1949. Stockdale was accepted for flight training in June 1949 and reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. He was designated a Naval Aviator at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas, in September 1950. He was next assigned for additional training at Naval Air Station Norfolk in Virginia from October 1950 to January 1951. In January 1954, he was accepted into the United States Naval Test Pilot School at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River base in Southern Maryland and completed his training in July 1954. There he tutored U.S. Marine Corps aviator John Glenn in math and physics. He was a test pilot until January 1957. In 1959, the U.S. Navy sent Stockdale to Stanford University where he received a Master of Arts degree in international relations and comparative Marxist thought in 1962. Stockdale preferred the life of a fighter pilot over academia, but later credited Stoic philosophy with helping him cope as a prisoner of war. On 2 August 1964, while on a DESOTO patrol in the Tonkin Gulf, the destroyer USS Maddox (DD-731) engaged 3 North Vietnamese Navy P-4 torpedo boats from the 135th Torpedo Squadron. After fighting a running gun and torpedo battle, in which Maddox fired over 280 5-inch (130 mm) shells, and the torpedo boats expended their 6 torpedoes (all misses) and hundreds of rounds of 14.5mm machinegun fire; the combatants broke contact. As the torpedo boats turned for their North Vietnamese coastline, four F-8 Crusader fighter aircraft from USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) arrived, and immediately attacked the retreating torpedo boats. Stockdale (commander VF-51 (Fighter Squadron 51)), with Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Richard Hastings attacked torpedo boats T-333 and T-336, while Commander R. F. Mohrhardt and Lieutenant Commander C. E. Southwick attacked torpedo boat T-339. The four F-8 pilots reported scoring no hits with their Zuni rockets, but reported hits on all three torpedo boats with their 20mm cannon. Two nights later, on 4 August 1964, Stockdale was overhead during the second reported attack in the Tonkin Gulf. Unlike the first event, which was an actual sea battle, no Vietnamese forces were, however, believed to have been involved in the second engagement. In the early 1990s, he recounted: "[I] had the best seat in the house to watch that event, and our destroyers were just shooting at phantom targets--there were no PT boats there.... There was nothing there but black water and American fire power." The next morning, on 5 August 1964, President Johnson ordered bombing raids on North Vietnamese military targets which he announced were retaliation for the alleged incident of 4 August. When Stockdale was awoken in the early morning and was told he was to lead these attacks he responded: "Retaliation for what?" Later, while a prisoner of war, he was concerned that he would be forced to reveal this secret about the Vietnam War. On 9 September 1965, while flying from USS Oriskany on a mission over North Vietnam, Stockdale ejected from his Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, which had been struck by enemy fire and completely disabled. He parachuted into a small village, where he was severely beaten and taken prisoner. Stockdale was held as a prisoner of war in the Hoa Lo prison (the infamous "Hanoi Hilton") for the next seven and a half years. As the senior Naval officer, he was one of the primary organizers of prisoner resistance. Tortured routinely and denied medical attention for the severely damaged leg he suffered during capture, Stockdale created and enforced a code of conduct for all prisoners which governed torture, secret communications, and behavior. In the summer of 1969, he was locked in leg irons in a bath stall and routinely tortured and beaten. When told by his captors that he was to be paraded in public, Stockdale slit his scalp with a razor to purposely disfigure himself so that his captors could not use him as propaganda. When they covered his head with a hat, he beat himself with a stool until his face was swollen beyond recognition. When Stockdale was discovered with information that could implicate his friends' "black activities", he slit his wrists so they could not torture him into confession. Early in Stockdale's captivity, his wife, Sybil Stockdale, organized The League of American Families of POWs and MIAs, with other wives of servicemen who were in similar circumstances. By 1968, she and her organization, which called for the President and the U.S. Congress to publicly acknowledge the mistreatment of the POWs (something that had never been done despite evidence of gross mistreatment), gained the attention of the American press. Sybil Stockdale personally made these demands known at the Paris Peace Talks. Stockdale was one of eleven U.S. military prisoners known as the "Alcatraz Gang": George Thomas Coker, USN; George G. McKnight, USAF; Jeremiah Denton, USN (he graduated with Stockdale from the Naval Academy); Harry Jenkins, USN; Sam Johnson, USAF; James Mulligan, USN; Howard Rutledge, USN; Robert Shumaker, USN (originated the name "Hanoi Hilton"); Ronald Storz, USAF (died in captivity); and Nels Tanner, USN. Because they had been resistance leaders they were separated from other captives and placed in solitary confinement in "Alcatraz", a special facility in a courtyard behind the North Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, located about one mile away from Hoa Lo Prison. In Alcatraz, each of the prisoners was kept in an individual windowless and concrete cell measuring 3 by 9 feet (0.9 by 2.7 m) with a light bulb kept on around the clock, and locked in leg irons each night. Of the eleven, Storz died in captivity there in 1970. CANNOTANSWER
Tortured routinely and denied medical attention for the severely damaged leg he suffered during capture, Stockdale created and enforced a code of conduct for all prisoners
James Bond Stockdale (December 23, 1923 – July 5, 2005) was a United States Navy vice admiral and aviator awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War, during which he was a prisoner of war for over seven years.

Stockdale was the most senior naval officer held captive in Hanoi, North Vietnam. He had led aerial attacks from the carrier  during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. On his next deployment, while commander of Carrier Air Wing Sixteen aboard the carrier , his A-4 Skyhawk jet was shot down in North Vietnam on September 9, 1965. He served as President of the Naval War College from October 1977 until he retired from the Navy in 1979. As vice admiral, Stockdale was the president of The Citadel from 1979 to 1980.

Stockdale was a candidate for Vice President of the United States in the 1992 presidential election, on Ross Perot's independent ticket.

Early life and education
Stockdale was born in Abingdon, Illinois, on December 23, 1923, the son of Mabel Edith (née Bond) and Vernon Beard Stockdale. Following a brief period at Monmouth College, he entered the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in June 1943.

Naval career
On June 5, 1946, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Naval Academy with the Class of 1947 due to the reduced schedule still in effect from World War II. Academically he ranked 130th among 821 graduates in his class. His first assignment was assistant gunnery officer aboard the destroyer minesweeper  from June to October 1946. He next served aboard the  from October 1946 to February 1947, the  from February 1947 to July 1948, and the  from July 1948 to June 1949.

Stockdale was accepted for flight training in June 1949 and reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. He was designated a Naval Aviator at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas, in September 1950. He was next assigned for additional training at Naval Air Station Norfolk in Virginia from October 1950 to January 1951. In January 1954, he was accepted into the United States Naval Test Pilot School at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River base in Southern Maryland, and he completed his training in July 1954. There he tutored the U.S. Marine Corps aviator John Glenn in mathematics and physics. He was a test pilot until January 1957.

In 1959, the U.S. Navy sent Stockdale to Stanford University, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in international relations and comparative Marxist thought in 1962. Stockdale preferred the life of a fighter pilot over academia, but he later credited Stoic philosophy with helping him cope as a prisoner of war.

Vietnam War

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

On August 2, 1964, while on a DESOTO patrol in the Tonkin Gulf, the destroyer  engaged three North Vietnamese Navy P-4 torpedo boats from the 135th Torpedo Squadron. After fighting a running gun and torpedo battle, in which Maddox fired over 280  shells, and the torpedo boats expended their 6 torpedoes (all misses) and hundreds of rounds of 14.5mm machinegun fire; the combatants broke contact. As the torpedo boats turned for their North Vietnamese coastline, four F-8 Crusader fighter aircraft from  arrived, and immediately attacked the retreating torpedo boats.

Stockdale (commander VF-51 (Fighter Squadron 51)), with Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Richard Hastings attacked torpedo boats T-333 and T-336, while Commander R. F. Mohrhardt and Lieutenant Commander C. E. Southwick attacked torpedo boat T-339. The four F-8 pilots reported scoring no hits with their Zuni rockets, but reported hits on all three torpedo boats with their 20 mm cannon.

Two nights later, on August 4, 1964, Stockdale was overhead during the second reported attack in the Tonkin Gulf. Unlike the first event, which was an actual sea battle, no Vietnamese forces were, however, believed to have been involved in the second engagement. In the early 1990s, he recounted: "[I] had the best seat in the house to watch that event, and our destroyers were just shooting at phantom targets—there were no PT boats there. ... There was nothing there but black water and American fire power."

The next morning, on August 5, 1964, President Johnson ordered bombing raids on North Vietnamese military targets which he announced were retaliation for the alleged incident of August 4. When Stockdale was awoken in the early morning and was told he was to lead these attacks he responded: "Retaliation for what?" Later, while a prisoner of war, he was concerned that he would be forced to reveal this secret about the Vietnam War.

Prisoner of war
On September 9, 1965, while flying from  on a mission over North Vietnam, Stockdale ejected from his Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, which had been struck by enemy fire and completely disabled. He parachuted into a small village, where he was severely beaten and taken prisoner.

Stockdale was held as a prisoner of war in the Hỏa Lò Prison (the infamous "Hanoi Hilton") for the next seven-and-a-half years. As the senior Naval officer, he was one of the primary organizers of prisoner resistance. Tortured routinely and denied medical attention for the severely damaged leg he suffered during capture, Stockdale created and enforced a code of conduct for all prisoners which governed torture, secret communications, and behavior. In the summer of 1969, he was locked in leg irons in a bath stall and routinely tortured and beaten. When told by his captors that he was to be paraded in public, Stockdale slit his scalp with a razor to purposely disfigure himself so that his captors could not use him as propaganda. When they covered his head with a hat, he beat himself with a stool until his face was swollen beyond recognition. When Stockdale was discovered with information that could implicate his friends' so-called "black activities", he slit his wrists so they could not torture him into confession. During the course of his captivity, due to torture, his leg was broken twice.

Early in Stockdale's captivity, his wife, Sybil Stockdale, organized The League of American Families of POWs and MIAs, with other wives of servicemen who were in similar circumstances. By 1968, she and her organization, which called for the president and the U.S. Congress to publicly acknowledge the mistreatment of the POWs (something that had never been done despite evidence of gross mistreatment), gained the attention of the American press. Sybil Stockdale personally made these demands known at the Paris Peace Talks.

Stockdale was one of eleven U.S. military prisoners known as the "Alcatraz Gang": George Thomas Coker, USN; George G. McKnight, USAF; Jeremiah Denton, USN (who had graduated with Stockdale from the Naval Academy); Harry Jenkins, USN; Sam Johnson, USAF; James Mulligan, USN; Howard Rutledge, USN; Robert Shumaker, USN (originator of the name "Hanoi Hilton"); Ronald Storz, USAF (died in captivity); and Nels Tanner, USN. Because they had been resistance leaders they were separated from other captives and placed in solitary confinement in "Alcatraz", a special facility in a courtyard behind the North Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, located about one mile away from Hỏa Lò Prison. In Alcatraz, each of the prisoners was kept in an individual windowless and concrete cell measuring  with a light bulb kept on around the clock, and locked in leg irons each night. Of the eleven, Storz died in captivity there in 1970.

The Stockdale Paradox
James C. Collins related a conversation he had with Stockdale regarding his coping strategy during his period in the Vietnamese POW camp. When Collins asked which prisoners didn't make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale replied:

Collins called this the Stockdale Paradox.

Return to the United States

Stockdale was released as a prisoner of war on February 12, 1973, during Operation Homecoming.

On March 4, 1976, Stockdale received the Medal of Honor. Stockdale filed charges against two other officers (Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Edison W. Miller and Navy Captain Walter E. "Gene" Wilber) who, he felt, had given aid and comfort to the enemy. However, the Department of the Navy under the leadership of then-Secretary of the Navy John Warner took no action and retired these men "in the best interests of the Navy." Both Miller and Wilber received letters of censure.

Debilitated by his captivity and mistreatment, Stockdale could not stand upright and could barely walk upon his return to the United States, which prevented his return to active flying status. In deference to his previous service, the Navy kept him on active duty, steadily promoting him over the next few years before he retired as a vice admiral on September 1, 1979. He completed his career by serving as the president of the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island, from October 13, 1977, until August 22, 1979.

Civilian academic work and writings

After his retirement in 1979, he became the president of The Citadel. His tenure there was short and stormy as he found himself at odds with the college's board as well as most of its administration, by proposing radical changes to the college's military system and other facets of the college. He left The Citadel to become a fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in 1981. During his twelve-year tenure at the Hoover Institution, Stockdale wrote and lectured extensively. His primary focus was ancient Stoicism and the Roman slave-turned-philosopher Epictetus, whose lessons captured in The Enchiridion Stockdale credited with providing him strength during his ordeals as a prisoner in the Hanoi Hilton. Between 1981 and 1988 Stockdale also served as chair of the White House Fellows under the Reagan administration.

In 1984 Stockdale and his wife Sybil co-authored In Love and War: the Story of a Family's Ordeal and Sacrifice During the Vietnam War which was published by Harper and Row. It recounts Stockdale's experiences while in Vietnam and in alternating chapters also tells the story of Sybil Stockdale's early involvement in the League of American Families of POWs and MIAs which she helped to found and served as its first chairperson. Their story was later made into an NBC television movie under the name In Love and War starring James Woods and Jane Alexander.

Stockdale was a member of the board of directors of the Rockford Institute, and was a frequent contributor to Chronicles: A magazine of American Culture.

Vice-Presidential candidacy
Stockdale came to know businessman and presidential candidate Ross Perot through his wife's work in establishing an organization to represent the families of Vietnam POWs. On March 30, 1992, Perot announced that he had asked Stockdale to be his provisional Vice Presidential nominee on Ross Perot's 1992 independent ticket. Perot intended to replace Stockdale with another candidate, but did not do so before he dropped out of the race in July 1992.

Perot eventually re-entered the race in the fall of 1992, with Stockdale still in place as the vice-presidential nominee. Stockdale was not informed that he would be participating in the October 13 vice-presidential debate held in Atlanta, Georgia, until a week before the event. He had no formal preparation for the debate, unlike his opponents Al Gore and Dan Quayle, and did not discuss any political issues with Perot beforehand.

Stockdale opened the debate by saying, "Who am I? Why am I here?", when responding to a request for an opening statement from debate moderator, Hal Bruno, the political director of ABC News. Initially, the rhetorical questions drew applause from the audience. However, his unfocused style for the rest of the debate (including asking the moderator to repeat one question because he didn't have his hearing aid turned on) made him appear confused and almost disoriented. An unflattering recreation of the moment on Saturday Night Live later that week, with Phil Hartman as Stockdale, cemented a public perception of Stockdale as slow-witted. He was also often parodied for his repeated use of the term "gridlock" to describe slow governmental policy.

As his introduction to the large segment of American voters who had not previously heard of him, the debate was disastrous for Stockdale. He was portrayed in the media as elderly and confused, and his reputation never recovered. In a 1999 interview with Jim Lehrer, Stockdale explained that the statements were intended as an introduction of himself and his personal history to the television audience:

It was terribly frustrating because I remember I started with, "Who am I? Why am I here?" and I never got back to that because there was never an opportunity for me to explain my life to people. It was so different from Quayle and Gore. The four years in solitary confinement in Vietnam, seven-and-a-half years in prisons, drop the first bomb that started the ... American bombing raid in the North Vietnam. We blew the oil storage tanks of them off the map. And I never—I couldn't approach—I don't say it just to brag, but, I mean, my sensitivities are completely different.

In a 1994 HBO comedy special, Dennis Miller gave an impassioned defense of Stockdale's debate performance:

Now I know (Stockdale's name has) become a buzzword in this culture for doddering old man, but let's look at the record, folks. The guy was the first guy in and the last guy out of Vietnam, a war that many Americans, including your new President, chose not to dirty their hands with. He had to turn his hearing aid on at that debate because those fucking animals knocked his eardrums out when he wouldn't spill his guts. He teaches philosophy at Stanford University, he's a brilliant, sensitive, courageous man. And yet he committed the one unpardonable sin in our culture: he was bad on television.

Perot and Stockdale received 19 percent of the vote in the 1992 presidential election, one of the best showings by an independent ticket in U.S. electoral history, although they did not carry any states.

Military awards
Stockdale's decorations and awards include:

Medal of Honor citation
Stockdale's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

Later life and death

Stockdale retired to Coronado, California, as he slowly succumbed to Alzheimer's disease. He died from the illness on July 5, 2005. He was 81. Stockdale's funeral service was held at the Naval Academy Chapel and he was buried at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery.

Legacy
The Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership is a United States Navy award established in 1980 by United States Secretary of the Navy Edward Hidalgo to honor the inspirational leadership of Stockdale. The award was first made in 1981.

The U.S. Navy has named a number of structures after Stockdale, including the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer , christened on May 10, 2008. At the Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, California, the main gate (inaugurated on August 30, 2007) and the headquarters building for the Pacific Fleet's Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school were both named in his honor. In July 2008, a statue of him was erected in front of Luce Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy; the hall which houses the Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership.

In 1976, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

Stockdale Center, the student center at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, which he attended prior to transferring to the Naval Academy, was dedicated in his honor in 1989.

He was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2002.

The Admiral James & Sybil Stockdale Arena at South Kent School was named after Stockdale and his wife in April 2014.

In October 2014, Airbase Arizona of the Commemorative Air Force placed on display a restored Grumman AF-2S Guardian (BuNo 126731) flown by VADM Stockdale early in his Navy career with his name on the canopy rail and all markings as they were when he flew the aircraft in the 1950s.

Stockdale's naval experiences and his leadership decisions while senior Naval officer in prison in North Vietnam are an integral part of every Midshipman's educational experience at Annapolis.

A luxury suite at the Loews Annapolis Hotel, where Perot announced his candidacy, was named in Stockdale's honor.

The Abingdon-Avon High School Auditorium in Abingdon, Illinois, has been named "Stockdale Auditorium" in his honor.

Electoral history
1992 election for U.S. President/Vice President – popular vote share
Clinton/Gore (D), 43.0% (370 Electoral Votes)
Bush/Quayle (R), 37.7% (168 Electoral Votes)
Perot/Stockdale (I), 18.9% (0 Electoral Votes)

Writings by James Stockdale
 Books
Taiwan and the Sino-Soviet Dispute, Stanford, California, 1962.
The Ethics of Citizenship, University of Texas at Dallas, 1981, Andrew R. Cecil lectures on moral values in a free society featured Stockdale and other speakers.
James Bond Stockdale Speaks on the "Melting Experience: Grow or Die", Hoover Institution, Stanford, 1981 speech to the graduating class of John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.
A Vietnam Experience: Ten Years of Reflection, Hoover Institution, Stanford, 1984, .
In Love and War: The Story of a Family's Ordeal and Sacrifice During the Vietnam Years
1984 Original, Harper & Row, New York, .
1990 Reprint, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, .
Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus's Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior, Hoover Institution, Stanford, 1993, .
Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot, Hoover Institution, Stanford, 1995 .

 Other writings
Stockdale on Stoicism I: The Stoic Warrior's Triad
Stockdale on Stoicism II: Master of My Fate

See also

List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Vietnam War
List of United States presidential candidates (1856–present)
List of Mount Holyoke College people
List of United States Naval Academy alumni (Medal of Honor)
List of prisoners of war

References

Online sources
Interview with Jim Lehrer on 1992 Vice-Presidential debate
Hoover Institution Biography (archived)
Washington Post obituary for Stockdale July 6, 2005

The Guardian report on Stockdale's death July 2005
Admiral Stockdale's Personal Webpage (archived)
Memorial Service for Admiral James B. Stockdale (archived)
Naval Academy Tribute to Stockdale
United States Navy Announces the Death of Retired Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale (archived)

Naval War College: Past presidents
Oil Portrait of James B. Stockdale (archived) by Margaret Holland Sargent

Additional references
Apart from the works written by Stockdale himself, the following work refers extensively to Stockdale's involvement in the Tonkin Gulf:
Edwin E. Moise, Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War UNC Press North Carolina 1996 

The following book is based on the series of lectures delivered for the course in moral philosophy established at the Naval War College by Admiral Stockdale in 1978, when Stockdale was president of the college. The course was designed by Stockdale and Professor Joseph Brennan, who continued to teach it after Stockdale retired from the Navy. The Foreword was written by Stockdale.
Joseph Gerard Brennan, FOUNDATIONS OF MORAL OBLIGATION: The Stockdale Course, Presidio Press, Novato, California (1994)

External links
 

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Writers from Illinois
Shane Pow (, born 4 October 1990) is a Singaporean actor and was named as one of the 8 Dukes of Caldecott Hill. Pow was represented by Mediacorp's The Celebrity Agency until 4 May 2021 after his contract was terminated due to his second drink driving incident and breach of COVID-19 safe distancing measures.

Education and early life
Pow has an elder sister. He was educated at Woodlands Ring Secondary School and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Pow is an avid sportsman and has represented the Singapore National Youth Basketball team in international competitions before an unexpected injury forced him to stop competing competitively.

Career

Early career 
When Pow was 19, he was a part-time presenter for SPH RazorTV’s sports segment “Livewire”. He was talent scouted by a modelling agency, he began doing photography shoots such as the “Get Your Sexy Back” Campaign to encourage responsible drinking. In 2011, Shane signed up for  Manhunt Singapore 2011 contest. He was managed by Beam Artistes, which also had organised Manhunt Singapore 2011. After ManHunt, Shane secured cameo roles in numerous local dramas.

Mediacorp artiste 
In 2012, Pow signed a contract with MediaCorp as an artiste after he had completed his National Service obligations. His breakthrough role came in 2012 as B Niu (B牛) in the local drama It Takes Two. He was also nominated for the Best Newcomer in the Star Awards 2013. He slowly rose to fame and obtained more significant roles in dramas such as Love At Risk and The Recruit diaries.

In 2014, Pow ventured into hosting, where he hosted Cheap and Good and also Style Check-in 4. He has also filmed Serve H.O.T, Against the Tide and Three Wishes that has awarded for Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes in Star Awards 2015, 2016 & 2017. In 2015, he has filmed Family On The Edge and The Journey: Our Homeland. In 2016, he has filmed House of Fortune, Beyond Words & Peace & Prosperity and two toggle original series, I Want to Be a Star where his first leading role & Soul Reaper. 

In September 2016, Pow, appeared on television in blackface after a casting director fails to find a person of African descent for a role in the drama series I Want to Be a Star. Pow's father in the series, played by veteran actor Chew Chor Meng, had said Indians and Africans are "all the same". In the following month, the episode was pulled from Mediacorp's online streaming service Toggle following a public outcry on social media for being racist.

In 2017, he had filmed When Duty Calls that gains his nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Star Awards 2018. On 12 December 2017, Pow signed on a management contract with Mediacorp, thus ending his working relationship with Beam Artistes. In 2018, he has filmed Mind Matters and Toggle original series, Die Die Also Must Serve and Love At Cavenagh Bridge.  

Pow was among a few celebrities who had breached the safe distancing measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore in an incident that took place on 2 October 2020 while celebrating fellow artiste, Jeffrey Xu's birthday. At the time of the celebration, group gatherings exceeded the maximum number of five participants. He was subsequently fined $300 and disciplined.

2021: Contract termination with Mediacorp
Pow was linked to two drink driving incidents. He was convicted of drink driving on 30 July 2014. On 17 September 2020, Pow was allegedly caught drink driving with 49 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath, surpassing the legal limit of 35mcg. Pow was charged on 22 April 2021 with one count of driving under the influence of alcohol.

On 26 April 2021, Mediacorp announced the termination of their contract with Pow after his second drink driving incident and breach of COVID-19 safe distancing measures. Pow would complete his pending work with Mediacorp's The Celebrity Agency until 4 May 2021. At the time of termination, Pow had roles in two upcoming dramas, Soul Old Yet So Young and The Heartland Hero. While his role in Soul Old Yet So Young was not affected due to the drama being in post-production stages, he was replaced by James Seah midway through the 130-episode The Heartland Hero as the drama is still being filmed. Pow would appear in the first 30 episodes, while Seah would be in the rest of the drama.

A day after the termination of his contract, Pow apologised for his actions. Actor Mark Lee also offered Pow a place in his company. Pow pleaded guilty on 14 July 2021 and was sentenced to five weeks in jail, fined $6,000 and banned from driving for five years.

Before the sentencing, Pow was seen in a livestream by Mdada, a livestream sales company headed by Addy Lee, Pornsak Prajakwit and Michelle Chia. The livestream had beauty products sold and demonstrated. After Pow's release from jail, Pow joined Li Nanxing's management agency.

Filmography

Television Series

English Series

Mandarin Series

Compilation album

Accolades

References

External links
 
 Shane Pow profile on The Celebrity Agency (archived)

Living people
1990 births
Singaporean male television actors
Ngee Ann Polytechnic alumni
Singaporean people of Chinese descent "Pow 2011" (often capitalized as POW 2011 or POW! 2011) is a single by grime MC, Lethal Bizzle, featuring fellow grime artists Jme, Wiley, Chipmunk, Face, P Money, Ghetts and Kano – who are usually credited as Grime All Stars. The single is a sequel of Lethal Bizzle's hit single, "Pow! (Forward)" which was released in 2004. The single is produced by Teddy, also known as Silencer. "Pow 2011" was released on 6 February 2011 for digital download. It was the first single from Bizzle's compilation album, Best of Bizzle. Soccer AM used the song for the background music to a part of the show called 'Frimponged'.

Background 
The song was premiered by Tim Westwood on 18 November 2010. Each artist who is on the song wrote their own verse. The re-make is produced by Teddy, also known as Silencer – whose trademark is heard at the beginning of the song. He stated that he decided to re-make the original Pow beat, and make it "Teddy-style".

It was announced by Lethal Bizzle on Twitter that he would be re-releasing "Pow!" on 13 December 2010, to try to get the Christmas number 1 in the UK Singles Chart, like many people were trying to do by using Facebook campaigns. On 18 November 2010, Lethal was interviewed by Grime Daily. Bizzle revealed: "The whole Pow 2011 thing started as a joke. I was on Twitter one day and I said 'You know what? Pow for Christmas number 1'. And bare people retweeted it and someone was like 'Bizz you should do an updated version to go with it.'" Lethal (saying to another source) said: "I felt the original was still relevant, 6 years on it's still one of the biggest club tunes, so it was kind of a no brainer. I was messing around on Twitter about doing a new POW and getting it to the top of the charts- and the reaction was so crazy I thought wow I actually have to make this happen..."

Lethal then discussed how the collaborations came together, saying that he was not serious about recreating Pow at first: "Wiley phoned me from Australia or Jamaica, he was in another country somewhere – and he was goin' "bruv, what's this about you doing another Pow? I wanna be on it!" When I said I was joking he was like "No! Biz, you have to do it." Then some 1Xtra DJ called me and said "bruv, you need to do that!" I was just like "are you bein' serious?" Then I thought alright, I'll phone a few people, see who's on it. So I phoned Jme, he's like "yup, I'm on it, 1000%", I phoned Chipmunk, he's like "yup, I'm on it, 1000%". I was just like rah, people really want this!"

Lethal said that there were other people who he asked to do a verse but were taking too long. Other Grime artists, Sway and Maxsta were originally supposed to be on the final version. Bizzle was also going to ask Tempa T (also known as Tempz) to do a verse but was touring with Chase & Status. Rumours went around that Chipmunk told Bizzle to not put Maxsta on but Bizzle declined those rumours. Kano, another Grime artist that is featured on Pow 2011, recorded a 16-bar rap – when originally everyone was expected to do an 8-bar. Sway recorded his verse but decided that he was not going to be on the song because of Kano's verse being a 16-bar. Sway did, however, record his own version containing 72-bars, named Wow 2011, which he uploaded on his YouTube channel.

Music video 
The music video was uploaded to YouTube on 24 December 2010 and is directed by Carly Cussen, who has directed other music videos for 360 Records since the age of 17 (notably Tinie Tempah's early debut, "Wifey"). The storyline focuses on all the artists (except for Wiley, who is not in the video, however a picture of him is shown during his verse) successfully robbing a vault full of money. The police split up and chase after each of them. In the behind-the-scenes video, Bizzle described the storyline briefly; "We're trying to make some money with this big plot while breaking in the vault. Everyone's got their own role to play in terms of trying to get the 10 million pounds."

Lethal Bizzle plays the look-out, Jme being the distraction (who is captured and interrogated, then escapes), Chipmunk and Face collect the money and P Money plays the getaway driver. Two vans are shown – one with the money and one without (in order to fool the police). Ghetts drives the distraction van during his verse, who is then cornered. The policemen open the back of the van showing a goat. The van with the money, which is being driven by P Money, stops at a warehouse where Kano is shown hiding the bags of money. The rest of them arrive, take the bags, put them in the van and drive off – with some parts showing the van with the goat, along with the confused policemen. During Wiley's verse, Jme is shown being further interrogated and all the artists together outside the vault. Other scenes include Bizzle rapping alone outside the vault and at some points all of the artists together as shown during Wiley's verse.

While talking about the video and Carly Cussen, Bizzle said: "..;it was all her idea. Amazing, it was so funny – when we had the meeting, and she was like "OK I've got this idea" I'm sat there like cool. She says "basically there's gonna be police; police chases, we're gonna rob a bank, we're gonna be on top of a roof..." I was like is this girl being serious? Then she done a script and got all the locations and somehow we did it man! Incredible and yeah, me and her are working together to do the whole sequel thing, so look out for that!"

Track listing 
Digital download
"POW 2011" (Radio Edit) – 3:00 *
"POW 2011" (Big Beats Productions Remix) (Radio Edit) – 3:23 *
"POW 2011" (Original Edit) – 3:43
"POW 2011" (Original Edit Instrumental) – 3:43 *
"POW 2011" (Big Beats Productions Remix) – 4:30
"POW 2011" (Original Edit) – 3:43 *
"POW 2011" (Accapella Original Edit) – 3:29 *
"POW 2011" (Big Beats Productions Remix) – 4:30 *
"POW 2011" (Skream Murky Mix) – 3:41 *

Notes;
 * – explicit version.

Chart performance

References 

2011 singles
Lethal Bizzle songs
Kano (rapper) songs
Chipmunk (rapper) songs
Wiley (musician) songs
Jme (musician) songs
Songs written by Kano (rapper)
Songs written by Wiley (musician)
2011 songs
Songs written by Chip (rapper)
Songs written by Lethal Bizzle