World on Alert after Manchester Blast

The New Paper

24 May 2017

Security experts here warned of Singapore’s vulnerability in light of upcoming large-scale events, even with the implementation of nationwide anti-terror movement SGSecure, launched last September.

While some experts wondered if Singaporean social resilience and unity would come alive after an attack, Centre of Excellence for National Security Research Fellow Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman, however, believes that like the Manchester spirit, the Singapore spirit will show in such a scenario.

“We have fortunately been untested so far, and some negative responses would be inevitable. But I think that Singaporeans are more likely to be supportive of one another, as we have seen through the popularity of crowdfunding activities recently, where unrelated Singaporeans have come forward to help one another.”

Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna, Head of Policy Studies and Coordinator of the National Security Studies Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, pointed out that initiatives like SGSecure help Singaporeans deal with emergencies.

Experts also pointed to recent preventive measures taken by the authorities to respond to the rising terror threat. In March, amendments to the Public Order Act were tabled in Parliament, requiring organisers to notify the police a month beforehand if they expect a crowd of more than 5,000 people at an event. Instructions will then be issued to ensure stringent security measures are put in place.

Dr Ramakrishna stressed that good intelligence and law enforcement would be crucial in stopping terror attacks.

He said: “Once we come to the large-scale crowded event itself, being able to detect potential terrorists would be that much harder. Good intelligence is vital to ensure that law enforcement is aware of known persons of interest, who can then be tracked by measures both human and technical.”

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