Synopsis (for speech): DPM Jayakumar spoke of the importance of business and economic resilience. Even though we enjoy racial harmony, we also need to continue to build up resilience at both individual and community levels, so that racial conflicts will never happen here again.
SPEECH BY PROF S JAYAKUMAR,DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, COORDINATING MINISTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AND MINISTER FOR LAW, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY FOR THE SECOND ASIA-PACIFIC PROGRAMME FOR SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICERS (APPSNO), 14 APRIL 2008, 9.30 AM AT THE SENTOSA SPA AND RESORT
1 It is my pleasure to be here this morning for the opening of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO).
2 This is the second year in which we have opened the course to international and regional partners, and I am glad that we have participants from 17 countries this year.
3 I commend the National Security Coordination Secretariat and the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies for convening this important meeting of security experts from different backgrounds, disciplines and countries. It provides a unique opportunity for you to share experiences on security issues and challenges which confront us all.
4 As you have just heard, APPSNO will focus on the theme of resilience this year. I agree with RSIS Dean Barry Desker that this topic is extremely relevant and important today.
5 Resilience is important because the threat situations which we face are constantly evolving. The terrorist movement has shown an uncanny ability to survive and find new ways to launch attacks despite the best efforts of the international community. While the core Al-Qaeda leadership may have been weakened, the extremist radical ideology remains alive. This can be seen through the various incidents in Madrid, London, Glasgow and Jakarta.
6 Apart from terrorism we also have to be prepared for other catastrophic threats. New strains of bacterium and viruses emerge from time to time, and natural disasters can also strike suddenly.
7 Any terrorist attack will be traumatic not only for the individuals killed or maimed but for society as a whole. It also instils fear and alarm in the populace. It causes disruption to the economic and social fabric of the society. Indeed terrorist acts are designed to de-stabilise societies. Terrorism is not an attack on a government, but on the people and indeed the way of life.
8 Whether we are preparing for the contingency of terrorist attacks, disease pandemics or natural disasters, it would be a serious error to conceive of solutions as a package of measures by the Government and security agencies.
9 Of course, it is the responsibility of the Government and security agencies to put in place the necessary effective security apparatus, to formulate the necessary plans and SOPs for various contingencies, and to make available adequate funds to get the personnel and technology which are required.
10 We can have the best formulated plans for various scenarios – threats to aviation security, maritime security, public transport security and threats to key installations. We can harden these targets with additional security measures and personnel. We can have the best trained security personnel and the latest technology. But it will not be enough.
11 That is not enough because there will always still be vulnerable soft targets in the community. Therefore, we need to harness the support and cooperation of key groups in society. We need the public to be vigilant to look out for suspicious individuals, suspicious acts and suspicious material. For social resilience, we need to engage the community and get their support, understanding and cooperation for our efforts. Business and economic resilience is another important area, especially for a financial and business centre like Singapore, where a terrorist attack (or disease pandemics, disasters) can cause huge disruptions in tourism and other sectors of our economy.
12 For example, our experience in dealing with the SARS epidemic in 2003 shows that it was not just a public health issue, but one that impacted the sense of security among the people, and disrupted the economy. This national crisis underscored for us the importance of securing the support and cooperation of our people for special extraordinary measures like temperature screening in the face of uncertainty and disquiet.
13 Clearly therefore, national security strategies cannot rest alone on the pillar of deterrence and protection, but also on building up resilience and strengthening the citizens’ psychological resolve to overcome crisis. This mental toughness and preparedness is essential for the society to recover to a state of normalcy as soon as possible.
14 The true test of resilience of a society and its people is seen in what happens in the aftermath of an actual attack. The crashing of airliners into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in 2001 and the bombing of London’s transport system by a homegrown terrorist cell in 2005 were especially shocking. How individuals respond in the face of such adversity is telling and critical. In the United States and the UK, we saw that their people, although shocked, took it in their stride, and recovered quickly from those attacks. Relief funds were set up for the victims and blood donations went up. After the London bombings in 2005, the British people showed a steely resolve and confidence to carry on with their lives, and not to be cowed by the terrorist attacks.
15 Threats and disasters can come in many forms and therefore resilience must be developed in a variety of ways. Different countries may have their priorities, as well as special problems, in addressing this issue. For example, for our multi-racial and multi-religious Singapore, we have paid special attention to preventing a terrorist attack from inflicting irreparable damage on the multi-racial harmony we have built up carefully over four decades. The foreign participants, I am sure, will be briefed on our Community Engagement Programme, which draws in community leaders to play their part in calming and re-assuring their respective constituencies, and is an essential part of our social resilience.
16 In a globalised world, the task of strengthening and developing community resilience is becoming increasingly difficult and challenging. With increasing migration, societies are getting more complex and diverse in terms of racial composition, cultural practices, and religious beliefs. On top of these social complexities, there will also often be added problems of economic differences in terms of wealth and incomes.
17 Building resilience cannot be done overnight. It takes years to build up understanding, trust and confidence. For example, we have been nurturing racial and religious harmony in Singapore for some forty years. Yet we still do not take it for granted, as we realize that we have to continue to build up resilience at both individual and community levels, so that racial conflicts will never happen here again. Our security agencies need to be constantly vigilant, to deal promptly and effectively with potential issues that affect our security.
18 Many of you serve in security agencies in different countries. You will know that from time to time, security agencies experience setbacks.
19 On 12 Oct 1984, the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb at the Grand Hotel in the British resort city of Brighton. The IRA was hoping to kill then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was staying in the hotel for the British Conservative Party conference. That bombing killed 5 people, but not PM Thatcher. After the attack, the IRA claimed responsibility and their statement said:
"… Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always…"
20 I could not help recalling this chilling warning when recently one of our security agencies – the Internal Security Department – (ISD) suffered a major setback. The leader of the Singapore JI network Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from their custody on Wednesday, 27 Feb 08.
21 Singaporeans were shocked and alarmed, and understandably so. They were critical of our Home Team and the Internal Security Department. Again, understand­ably so, because for Mas Selamat to escape, there must have been a serious security lapse at the detention centre.
22 The circumstances surrounding Mas Selamat’s escape are being thoroughly investigated by a Committee of Inquiry led by a retired High Court Judge. The Criminal Investigation Department is also looking into whether there was any criminal wrong-doing related to the escape. I shall therefore await their conclusions and will not speculate on those matters.
23 However, in the context of resilience, I would like to comment on the response, by the Home Team agencies, as well as the general public, to Mas Selamat’s escape. I am heartened that Singaporeans have come together in a common effort to locate the fugitive. The Singapore public helped the authorities by putting up posters, sharing information on possible sightings and even offering rewards from their own pockets. Their patience and understanding over the delays caused by the tightened security at the immigration land checkpoints made the security agencies’ task that much easier.
24 I commend the thousands of officers and men from the Home Team agencies – the ISD, the Singapore Police Force, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, and other agencies, as well as those from the Singapore Armed Forces. They have maintained high levels of vigilance and mounted sustained operations in the on-going efforts to capture Mas Selamat.
25 ISD officers who have been working on the JI case must feel keenly, even more so than the public, what a serious setback Mas Selamat’s escape has been. It is a blot on the security agencies’ copybook, a dent in Singa­pore’s reputation, and a reverse in keeping Singa­pore secure from terrorist attack. But the ISD officers have not been paralysed or demoralised. They are as determined now as they were seven years ago when they first identified the JI threat and took prompt action before the JI could perpetrate any terrorist acts in our country. They have continued working patiently and resolutely with the detainees, their families, and the Malay community. These are critical yet delicate tasks, and the officers deserve our full support.
26 Let me come back to chilling words of the IRA which, to put it simply, mean that Government and security agencies must be successful 100 per cent of the time, whereas the terrorist has to succeed only once. Why do I say I was reminded of this in the case of Mas Selamat’s escape?
27 It is because I am concerned that this one episode and all the criticisms that have come in its wake of that incident, may lead us to forget or overlook the truly outstanding work done by our Home Team and the Internal Security Department in safeguarding Singapore’s security all these years.
28 As Coordinating Minister for National Security, I know that this warning by the IRA of the constant need for security agencies to "get it right" all of the time, has been held close to heart by all our security forces in the fight against terrorism.
29 While we are understandably shocked by Mas Selamat’s escape, and justified in criticising this lapse, we should not lose our perspective. Let us not forget that the ISD has a long record in keeping Singapore safe and secure. Since 1966, men and women from the ISD have dedicated themselves to fighting threats to Singapore’s domestic security. These threats have included the Communists, various communal and religious extremist groups as well as a number of international terrorist groups, including the Japanese Red Army, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the LTTE.
30 We know about some of ISD’s successes, such as the discovery of the Jemaah Islamiyah network in the region and in Singapore. The ISD broke up the local JI network, in a series of arrests from Dec 2001. The JI cells had been plotting several bomb attacks in Singapore, and had these not been exposed in time, Singapore would have suffered disastrous consequences. The ISD relentlessly pursued those intent on doing harm to Singapore and neutralized them. ISD also provided information to foreign intelligence agencies on two foreign terrorists who helped to plan the bombing. They were eventually arrested by the foreign governments. In 2007, ISD arrested several self-radicalised individuals. It also tracked down others who were at risk of becoming self-radicalised, warned them and kept watch on them.
31 Most of the time, however, the men and women of ISD work away from the public eye. They deal with sensitive security issues, as well as issues which affect our racial and religious harmony, and do their best to nip problems in the bud. Despite the current set-back, I have full confidence in their continued dedication to their duties, and their commitment to Singapore’s security. A competent and professional organization will learn from its mistakes and move on, stronger than before. I can well imagine the British security forces must have been thrown into disarray by the Brighton bombing. However, the British security agencies have learnt from their mistakes and have become world leaders in fighting threats to domestic security.
32 I am confident that the Home Team and ISD will also learn from the Mas Selamat incident, put right the shortcomings which this incident revealed, and persevere with their indefatigable efforts to keep Singa­pore safe and secure.
33 As security officials from different countries you may have experienced your own Brighton or Mas Selamat kinds of situations. So you surely know that you will be judged by the highest standards and when mistakes are made you will be put under public scrutiny and held to account. I have no doubt that you make important contributions in your home countries. The hard reality you have to live with is that, whereas your mistakes will be noticed, most often your good work will go unpublicized and unrecognized.
Conclusion
34 Over the course of this week, I understand that participants will hear speakers, each elaborating on different areas, such as counter-radicalisation, the business and economy, and strategic communication. I think these are useful aspects which will help in our understanding on how to build a nation’s resilience. However, at the end of the day, when a country faces the threat of a terrorist attack or crisis in the economic, social, political or security realm, it is the ability of its various communities, to close ranks, remain steadfast and be united, and therefore, I am very glad that for this year, you have chosen this very pertinent topic. I wish all of you a fruitful and successful programme.
