by Dominique Goh and Shereen Ng (River Valley High School), SG United Journalists
SINGAPOREANS must continue to be vigilant against the threat of terrorism and extremism, despite the economic downturn.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng reminded Singaporeans not to let their guard down when he delivered the opening address at the annual National Community Engagement Programme (CEP) Seminar held on 18 May.
With the threat of the current economic downturn looming, the concern of most Singaporeans is job security. Nonetheless, the threat of terrorism remains and Mr Wong observed that "it is naive to think that we are immune to extremism and bigotry". An example was the case of the self-radicalised Singaporean Abdul Basheer. He was detained in 2007.
Mr Wong reminded that the work of the CEP was never ending. He said, "It will always remain a key resource which enhances our national unity, social cohesion and resilience."
Five hundred participants, including CEP community leaders and student leaders, attended the seminar.
Mr Wong shared with participants the progress of the CEP and was glad that various ground-up initiatives have made the CEP more real and relevant to its audience. An example of such initiatives was the "Kampung Spirit@Eunos" programme launched in 2007, the programme continued and recently went on to a series of skit performances in the schools in the Eunos area to promote inter-racial harmony.
A key aspect of the CEP is to develop capability among the community leaders, and so far more than 110 CEP community leaders have undergone training under the Community Engagement Executive Development (CEED) programme. Other community leaders have undergone customised training programmes offered by the various CEP cluster leads. These community leaders from the various domains will be primary mobilisers in a time of crisis.
Radio deejays have also embarked on a "CEP training journey". 75 deejays from Mediacorp Radio have visited the Home Team Academy and the Civil Defence Academy to deepen their understanding of emergency preparedness and counter-terrorism strategies. Mr Wong commented that deejays are at the frontline in a crisis and they are looked upon for "calming advice in times of chaos and uncertainty."
Since the launch of the CEP in 2007, it has progressed considerably and is looking ahead to equip each constituency with a baseline level of preparedness. The Constituency CEP Ready Certification programme was introduced last year as a means to track the systematic upgrading of preparedness among the constituencies. The People's Association is working towards having all 84 constituencies to be CEP-ready by the end of this year.
The new challenge for the CEP is extending its reach to the youths. As part of the outreach effort, a SG United Journalists' Club was set up to engage student journalists through the reporting of CEP events and projects. A Youth CEED programme is also being planned.
