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News Room |
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The Official Launch of Grassroots Emergency Response Guide Book
Grassroots Emergency Response Guide Book
Date : 12 November 2006 Synopsis Emergencies can happen any time, anywhere and without warning. The threat of extremist terrorism will remain a serious one for a long time. While the government is doing all that is practical, the grassroots leaders and the community have an important role to play.
Colleagues Good morning. Ready in Emergencies 2 Emergencies can happen any time, anywhere and without warning. The threat of extremist terrorism will remain a serious one for a long time. While the government is doing all that is practical, the grassroots leaders and the community have an important role to play. Emergency Preparedness – Active Grassroots 3 Over time, our grassroots organisations (or GROs) have taken on a more active role in preparing for emergencies. For instance in the organisation of the Emergency Preparedness or EP Days at the grassroots, they have taken over from SCDF, in conceptualising, planning and organising the EP Days, with the SCDF and Police giving support. Today’s Community Emergency Exercise is a good example. It is planned and led by a team of dedicated grassroots leaders and Community Emergency Response Team (or CERT) members from Toa Payoh East. Grassroots Emergency Response Guide Book 4 In support of the bigger role of the grassroots in emergency preparedness, the People’s Association (PA), in consultation with the grassroots network, has produced a Grassroots Emergency Response Guide Book. The Guide Book offers information on emergency-related organisations and systems within the PA and grassroots, as well as guidelines on developing an emergency response plan. I urge GROs to use this Guide Book as a reference to actively develop their respective emergency response plans and conduct exercises to familiarize themselves and their residents on what to do during an emergency. Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) 5 However, for a community emergency response to be effective, it cannot depend on GROs alone. Accounts of real-life crises around the world show that many survivors of large-scale disasters were in fact rescued by those who were around them. It was with this in mind that in 2004, PA set up the Community Emergency Response Teams (or CERTs in short) at the Resident Committee and Neighbourhood Committee level. CERT members receive training on first aid, civil defence skills and security routines to help members prevent and mitigate loss and damage, alleviate sufferings, and save fellow residents during an emergency. I hope more will sign up to be CERT members. Harmony and Cohesion among the People 6 Terrorist attacks would have an impact on our social harmony and could lead to communal tensions. The recovery process is therefore not limited to treating the injured, repairing damaged physical infrastructure or resuming public services. We need our people to remain united and resilient after an attack, so that our social cohesion remains intact and life can return to normal as soon as possible. Therefore, our emergency preparedness efforts must include the dimensions of social and psychological resilience, which are critical in ensuring that terrorist incidents do not tear our society apart. 7 The grassroots network has done much over the past four decades to maintain racial harmony and social cohesion, by promoting interaction and understanding among residents. But in our multi-racial, multi-religious society, the peace and harmony we enjoy is fragile. We must never take it for granted. All of us must help strengthen cohesion, trust and confidence among the different communities, generation after generation. 8 Following the launch of the Community Engagement Programme in February this year, the clusters – the grassroots organisations, religious groups, voluntary welfare organizations, clan associations, businesses, unions, educational institutions and the media - have been working to set up the necessary framework to support the programme. To help the various clusters, the Ministry of Home Affairs has produced training resource materials such as a booklet and a video on the Community Engagement Programme to explain what the programme is about. The booklet will be available at the exhibition today. 9 PA and other government agencies involved in the programme will be conducting workshops for their cluster leaders to discuss the roles they can play and how they can contribute to the programme in a real and practical way. This will be followed by a national-level workshop in the first half of next year when clusters will share their response plans and ideas on how to further enhance the community engagement efforts.
10 Prior to the EP Day today, the grassroots leaders of Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC participated in a table-top exercise to discuss and work out possible responses in the event of a bomb attack by terrorists. During the exercise on 28 Oct, the participants had to deal with and manage racial tension issues. The exercise highlighted the importance of having strong ties at various levels among the grassroots leaders and key leaders of religious and ethnic organisations, so that should a crisis arise, they can work hand in hand to calm the ground. Such exercises and the EP Days, both in planning and in actual participation, help to raise awareness of community engagement and of how it can materialise in practical responses unique to their own neighbourhood. 12 I would like to thank the Toa Payoh East GROs for their efforts in organising today’s Community Emergency Exercise. We are also encouraged by the good response from the residents. 13 Let me leave you with this thought - Governments alone do not defeat terrorism. It is the leaders and communities that defeat it. So every Singaporean – you and I – must be an active stakeholder in Singapore’s security. Thank you. |
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