TNP Interview with DPM Wong - This is how many reports S'poreans make a week - 34
28 January 2007
By Leong Ching 29 January 2007
DPM Wong Kan Seng tells Leong Ching why he welcomes such calls someone out there (It could have been you) senses a possible terror threat every week, and acts on it. SOMEONE out there (it could have been you) senses a possible terror threa tevery week, and acts on it.
How? By reporting it.
Even Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng gets two e-mail messages every week giving details of suspicious acts or articles.
An average of 34 reports are made during the week, which works out to about 136 reports a month.
Someone might have spotted a suspicious bag.
Or overheard a suspicious phone call.
So they sound the alert.
It is, what Mr Wong calls, a 'security reflex'.
Paranoid behaviour?
No, the minister regards this as a potent weapon against terrorism.
When it's impossible for the authorities to watch every nook and corner, it must rely on four million pairs of eyes.
'We are living in a different world,' noted Mr Wong, who is also Minister for Home Affairs.
'Terrorists exist and the threat is real'.
This is why the Government will be providing more resources to the CEP or Community Engagement Programme, which is a 'long-term effort to strengthen social cohesion'.
The idea is to get Singaporeans from different communities involved in plans to deal with potential communal tensions following a terrorist attack.
CEP members will learn counselling, conflict resolution and how to draw up continuity and contingency plans.
He explained: 'I have an objective in mind and it is this. Suppose there is an explosion in Singapore.
'There is fear and confusion among the people. But this panic is a state of mind.
'When that happens, who else - apart from the Government - should come forward to calm the people?
'You depend on all the relationships that had been built by leaders of the various sectors - ethnic, religious, union, business, clans, grassroots and educationists.
'What do you do? Who can you call? A crisis should not be the first time you see or talk to each other.'
Singapore is learning from Britain's experience when there was a six-fold increase in racially-linked crimes after a major terror attack.
This was the work of four young British Muslims who detonated homemade bombs on three underground trains and a bus in London in July 2005.
Said DPM Wong: 'We asked ourselves how our people would react after a terrorist attack in Singapore - especially if the perpetrators were home-grown.'
DPM Wong revealed that the CEP has 'several hundred' members now.
How many volunteers are needed?
'As many as possible,' said Mr Wong.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What would be a terrorist target?
Parliament House - Protected
Newton Circus - Protected
Holland Village - Protected MRT network - Protected
'BUT NO PLAN IS PERFECT, SO...'
TO CATCH one, think like a terrorist.
This passes constantly through the mind of DPM Wong Kan Seng.
After the terrorist attack on New York's World Trade Center, Singapore began beefing up security in government buildings.
Then came the next thought: 'What about soft targets?'
So security was tightened in crowded areas like Newton Circus and Holland Village.
The Bali bombing, in which tourist hotspots were targeted, came soon after.
'And then I thought, what about hotels?,' recalled DPM Wong.
'And what about the MRT?'
Since then, there has been the bombing of a hotel in Jakarta, and bombs on the London Underground.
But even with all these efforts, Mr Wong acknowledged that 'there is no perfect plan'.
When a crisis arises and the plan is executed, 'you don't know what will happen next'.
Hence the importance of citizen power.
The CEP is regarded as one of the key pillars that the Government will depend on to help people recover from an attack.
One of CEP's recent initiatives is to work with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports to 're-align' the mission of the Inter-Racial Confidence Circles or IRCCs to the CEP.
Mr Gurcharanjit Singh, chairman of the IRCC in Bukit Timah, said: 'The name CEP says it all - you want to involve almost everyone in the community. IRCC isn't just about grassroots but about temples, clans and representatives from all races and faiths.'
Said Mr Singh, 38, a lawyer: 'Basically, it is about building a network of trust and involvement.
'If there is an explosion, we would have to move very fast... Instead of panic, anxiety and confusion, the IRCC can mobilise the community leaders so calm and order can prevail.'
