WHEN dealing with the threats of today – such as terrorism, cyber warfare and epidemics – government efforts alone are not enough, Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry S. Iswaran said yesterday.

The private sector and general public must play their part, he added, while governments also need to talk to one another.

Speaking at the opening of the eighth annual Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers yesterday, Mr Iswaran said today’s threats have three things in common – they cross borders, can develop quickly, and are difficult to resolve.

… Mr Barry Desker, dean of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies which is organising the five-day event, called for “a mindset shift” and an acknowledgment by stakeholders that today’s complicated threats cannot be eliminated totally, but “managed and maintained at acceptable levels”.

… The Singapore Government also realised that in order to fight extremism, it needed the help of the wider community, such as progressive and independent Islamic scholars, said terrorism expert Kumar Ramakrishna, who heads the Centre of Excellence for National Security here.