The Home Team Flagship Workshop 2005 at Suntec City Convention Centre

The Home Team Flagship Workshop 2005 at Suntec City Convention Centre - Keynote Address by Minister For Home Affairs, Mr Wong Kan Seng, 3 February 2005

Home Team colleagues and partners

Ladies and gentlemen

Good afternoon

2004 has been another eventful year for the Home Team - from the emergency response actions at the Nicoll Highway collapse to the recent tsunami disaster, to continued counter-terrorism actions, even as we sustained crime-busting and drug enforcement actions, preventive programmes and rehabilitation efforts.

Home Team Report Card

2 The Home Team has done a good job keeping Singapore safe and secure. The crime situation remains stable and under control. The total number of seizable offences rose slightly by 3 per cent to 34,480 offences recorded. Much of the increase can be attributed to minor crimes, in particular theft and related offences, as well as a significant rise in drink-driving cases owing to increased enforcement efforts. Such offences can often be prevented if members of the public take the necessary crime prevention measures, and do not drink and drive. Most of the major offences such as housebreaking, robbery, rape, cheating and related offences, registered decreases.

3 The drug situation has improved significantly in 2004. The total number of drug abusers arrested fell from 1,809 to 950, the first time that the number of total drug abusers has fallen below the one thousand mark. Fewer new drug abusers were also arrested, from 730 to 609 last year. Despite the improving drug situation, we should still be wary of synthetic drug abuse which remains an area of concern in other countries. The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) will monitor the local drug scene closely and take decisive action against drug offenders.

4 The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) attended last year to more fire incidents and Emergency Ambulance Services (EAS) cases. There were 4,916 fire incidents last year, a rise of eight per cent or 376 more cases over 2003. Many fire incidents could have been prevented because the bulk of fire cases last year involved rubbish and discarded items left at common residential areas. Last year, the SCDF attended to over 3,800 more EAS cases, bringing the total number of such cases to 82,870, as compared with 66,958 EAS cases in 2000. The number of EAS cases has been rising in the last few years. We cannot leave this rise unchecked because it would degrade the SCDF ambulance's response to emergency cases. The SCDF would step up its efforts to educate the public on not to use the EAS for non-emergency cases.

5 On the immigration front, enhanced security checks have enabled the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to detect 18,255 cases of contraband smuggling. The number of illegal immigrants and overstayers arrested last year is 11,790, 60 fewer persons arrested as compared to 2003.

6 A point which bears reiterating is that the Home Team's continued effectiveness must also be attributed to the community's involvement. Without the community's active involvement, our prevention, enforcement, rehabilitation and aftercare efforts would not be sustainable.

Countering Terrorism for the Long Haul

Making Counter-Terrorism an integral part of each HT agency'sfunction

7 The security situation in the region continues to be of concern. This is going to be the case for some time to come. In the face of a globalised terror threat, our security is affected not just by internal developments but by what happens outside Singapore, in the region and beyond.

8 In Sep 2004, there was a vehicle bomb attack against the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. Although sadly, there were casualties, one observation which security analysts have made is that the preventive and defensive measures taken by the Australian embassy in its building helped to minimise damage to people and property. The lesson here is ? Being prepared has paid off. This is a lesson we should all be mindful of.

9 Home Team officers who are sensitised to the terror threat and who incorporate that knowledge into their work strengthen the effectiveness of our vigilance and policing at the front-line. Having such an enlarged operating sensitivity from counter-terrorism knowledge could also save your lives and the lives of your colleagues. Just 3 months ago, in Yala, South Thailand, a bomb explosion at a foodstall went off and injured several civilians. Less than 90 minutes later, another bomb exploded at the same location and injured 12 policemen investigating the first bomb incident. This is not a new terrorist tactic; it has been frequently used before in various countries in the West, in the Middle East and nearer home, in Sri Lanka and infamously in Bali in Oct 2002.

10 Knowledge and preparedness is the key. The threat of terrorism is relevant to all agencies in the Home Team. Every member of the Home Team will have to play his part. Counter-terrorism training will be an integrated part of the basic training curriculum of officers in the Home Team. The SCDF and Police have started with new trainees. For existing officers, the Homefront Security Office (HSO) will coordinate with the various agencies in the Home Team to develop courses for serving officers. Some of you may have already attended some of these courses. Recently we engaged experts to conduct a course on suicide terrorism and counter-terrorism. These efforts will continue until every officer who needs to be trained is appropriately trained.

Developing Expert Local Knowledge

11 Home Team officers must also develop a deep knowledge of the areas under their jurisdiction. They must be the local experts. They should have a keen awareness of the characteristics and vulnerabilities of the places and communities within their area of coverage.

12 Therefore, in this year's Home Team Workshop, we have included a mapping exercise on a sector basis. I hope that this will challenge Home Team officers on the ground to know their sectors at a deeper level. For instance, as you map and identify the key vulnerabilities within your Sector, you should also chart an action plan to meet with key persons in these areas and get to know them over the next few months. I am sure some of you may have already done this in your divisions. The challenge now is to expand, deepen and sustain your efforts to cover the entire sector and its people.

Understanding the Terrorism-Crime Nexus

13 The nexus between crime and terrorism is a critical relationship which needs to be understood, detected and disrupted. In the current security environment, illegal passport syndicates are a significant factor not just for reasons of crime but for being a valued resource exploited by terrorist elements. When the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader, Hambali was caught in Thailand, he was in part found out because the security forces managed to apprehend his underling who was trying to procure forged passports for him to escape the country. In the West, security analysts have observed that several suicide terrorists were petty criminals converted to the cause by radical preachers while they were in prison.

14 The terrorism-crime nexus aside, the fact is that enhanced policing and better consequence management on the ground not only addresses the traditional concerns of crime and disaster management but also terrorism as well. For instance, crime prevention teaches us habits of vigilance and the adoption of practical preventive action and measures. These same ideas and crime prevention reflex also naturally contribute to preventive responses to the threat of terrorism. The vigilant resident who report suspicious strangers and behaviour in his neighbourhood serves as a tripwire against both crime and terrorism.

Community Emergency Preparedness and the Home Team

15 Following the positive relations the Police and CNB have built over the years for community involvement to counter crime and drugs, the SCDF embarked on community emergency preparedness even before 9-11 with programmes such as the Exercise Community Spirit involving residents in neighbourhoods.

16 The SCDF has also distributed its Civil Defence Emergency Handbook to residents to spread the readiness message. This handbook contains useful tips on what to expect in an emergency and what one should do. Since 1999, the Civil Defence fire safety and emergency preparedness procedures have also been incorporated into the Social Studies (Safe And Secure Singapore textbook) for primary 4 to 6 pupils and in the Civics and Moral Education Syllabus for secondary 1 to 2 pupils. Hopefully, they will instil a sense of preparedness in our students when they are young. In addition, more than 61,000 residents have attended the Community Emergency Preparedness Programme conducted by the SCDF since Sep 2003.

17 Since Jan 2002, the Internal Security Department (ISD) and Police have briefed at least 15,000 persons on matters concerning counter-terrorism. They conducted more than 180 briefings to expatriate business communities, multinational corporations, foreign missions, international schools, foreign clubs, managers and security personnel of hotels, building complexes and industries, dealers in chemicals, car rental and second-hand car companies, the transport industry, local sailing/yacht clubs, and most recently, taxi operators. Feedback received has been very positive. The ISD and Police will continue to conduct these briefings to reach out to even more sectors.

18 These counter-terrorism briefings have helped the Home Team in our work. For instance, in 2004, about 500 calls about suspicious people or vehicles which may be terrorist-linked, up from around 200 calls in 2003, were received from members of the public. In one case in Apr 2004, a caller saw a man behaving suspiciously outside the fence of an army camp. The caller had seen the same man on two separate occasions. He informed the police because he was concerned that the army camp was being targeted. In another case in Nov 2004, a taxi driver informed the police of four suspicious foreigners who had hired his taxi. The four had asked the taxi driver to drive them to various locations, including Shenton Way and some Government buildings. The taxi driver found the foreigners suspicious because they carried a large amount of cash and they took notes on the location of the various buildings.

19 It is clear that there is generally good public awareness of the threat of terrorism. From the letters to the press and the information given by the public on suspicious behaviour, there is a good number of people who have internalised the counter-terrorism message and are sensitised to the threat. However, our very success in counter-terrorism has also been an obstacle. This is because many are confident that the Government will always be able to prevent any terrorist incident. Moreover in the face of other problems including bread and butter issues, people's attention and priorities are focussed on these immediate issues rather than on security.

Beyond Awareness to Action

20 We should consider how we can take public consciousness and awareness a step further. We should look beyond awareness and understanding and encourage our people to acquire a measure of ownership and self-reliance. The more people take it upon themselves to prepare for an emergency, the greater the sense of ownership and self-confidence. This requires a certain empowerment through knowing the threat, knowing what needs to be done and how to do it in an emergency. Such empowerment is the key to our society's resilience. While a vigilant Singapore is ready to fight any threat; a ready and prepared Singapore enables us to survive any incident and swiftly return to business as usual.

(a) Stakeholder and Ownership

21 People are stakeholders in the security of their homes, families and loved ones. Our experience with the Community Safety and Security Programme or CSSP shows that there is already an active citizen participation in crime prevention. Indeed, 4 out of 10 arrests made last year, for selected major offences, were public-assisted. Vigilance in counter-terrorism is in fact a variant of crime prevention because both are about being alert to suspicious activities in the neighbourhood and taking action against such activities.

22 Since 1997 when CSSP was introduced, over 3,200 CSSP projects have been developed and implemented. Apart from CSSP there is the Neighbourhood Watch Zone scheme where civic conscious grassroots leaders and residents in the community disseminate crime prevention information to their fellow residents through joint house visits with the Police.

23 Today, more than 93 per cent of all neighbourhoods in Singapore are served by Neighbourhood Watch volunteers. In addition, there are more than 200 active Citizens on Patrol in various neighbourhoods. Each Citizens on Patrol is a grouping of members of the community who patrol their own neighbourhood to look out for suspicious characters and deter them from committing mischief. By expanding their scope to cover vigilance against terrorism, the CSSPs, Neighbourhood Watch and Citizens on Patrol would reach out to a large segment of Singapore.

(b) Knowledge Empowers

24 When you know what to do, you will not panic in a crisis. We need to share with our people information on terrorist threats and measures in place to deal with such threats. The security briefings by the ISD and Police help to do that.

25 The Security Watch Group or SWG is a good example of how knowledge empowers. The SWG is a programme the Police started in Sep 2003 to involve building management and owners in target-hardening measures. The SWG has 402 members from the commercial sector. It is a forum where business owners and the Police exchange ideas on how to harden commercial premises against terrorist attacks. The counter-terrorism measures that commercial premises put in place are not dictated by the Police but are initiatives that the business owners have introduced themselves.

(c) Emergency Preparedness as a Way of Life

26 Finally, Singaporeans should be encouraged to practise emergency preparedness as a way of life. Without action, knowing what to do remains passive knowledge if not theoretical. The challenge to us is how to get residents to take home the preparedness message and practise it as a way of life. At the Home Team Sector Workshops last week, one of the topics discussed was a checklist for a READY Bag.

27 The READY Bag contains essential items like a radio, torchlight and first-aid items, which could come in handy in an emergency. The READY Bag is not meant to be a comprehensive toolkit for every emergency. While there will be some basic items like a radio and a torch which will facilitate people to follow the dictum of ?Stay In, Tune In? during an emergency, other items depend on the householder and his family members. Some may for instance consider it prudent to have special medication needed by, say, a family member. Many may consider it practical to have a list of their family particulars and photos and any special medical requirements like medical allergies packed in a water-proof pouch.

28 Whatever it is, the point of the READY Bag is a simple idea to promote preparedness. A householder who customises the contents of his READY Bag takes into account the needs of his family members and at the same time also takes ownership in preparing for emergencies for his family.

29 As members of the Home Team and as adult members of your own households, we want your feedback and suggestions on what should be included in the READY Bag checklist and how we should go about encouraging people to pack their own READY Bags are valuable. A team from MHA HQ and SCDF is currently working on finalising this checklist which would incorporate your feedback and suggestions to develop the basic or generic READY Bag.

Moving Ahead

30 We live in challenging times. Our track record has been good and the Home Team can take pride in the fact that we have contributed to Singapore's security. However, we must be committed to always doing better; we must transform challenges into opportunities for us to scale even greater heights. But we must never forget that no less than acquiring greater experience, stronger skills and better technology, a most precious asset we enjoy and must continue to nurture and maintain is the trust, support and confidence of the community whose security depends on us and which we are all committed to preserve.

Thank you.