A security scare at Woodleigh MRT station on Tuesday (Apr 18) turned out to be a second false alarm in recent weeks, but experts said the response from the authorities was appropriate.

The suspicious substance that was found at the station turned out to be baking flour, sprinkled at several locations on the concourse. The station was shut down for about three hours while investigations went on. Police later said that the three men responsible for leaving the flour behind used it to mark a path for their running route.

In the aftermath of the incident, some members of the public commented online, questioning if the authorities overreacted. However, experts that Channel NewsAsia spoke to said that the authorities did the right thing in treating the potential threat seriously.

“Every single incident should be investigated as the threat in the region including to Singapore is significant,” said head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Dr Rohan Gunaratna.

Head of Policy Studies and Coordinator of the National Security Studies Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Dr Kumar Ramakrishna echoed that sentiment, adding that it is better to err on the side of caution than dismiss such reports, even if they are false alarms.