Emergency, Would Singaporeans react well?

• Raptor937

  3 Apr 05, 21:22

  FireIce recommended that I shift this here. 3rd time I've posted this
  
  Please forgive me if this has been done before. Just wondering what do people think about this.
  
  We always say how prepared the SAF is, the government is prepared, the Civil Defence Force will be able to respond well etc.
  
  But what about the General Public? Are Singaporeans prepared?
  
  How do you think Singaporeans would react to a major emergency ie. Terrorist Attack, Earthquake, Viral Outbreak, War, your general Sh1t-Hits-The-Fan situations? (I'm coming up with BS situations so work with me )
  
  -How many people you know have knowledge about basic First-Aid?
  -Do people know where the bomb shelters are? (Newer homes with the built in bombshelters not included... find the idea rather odd in the first place but that will be another topic)
  -Do you have a First-Aid kit at home
  -Reactions of the general public after any emergency/major situation? (Terrorist attack, people start blaming local Muslims for it. Looting when Law & Order breaks down etc.)
  
  The Government has been encouraging Singaporeans to get a 'Ready Bag', just in case of an emergency. And there has been a increase in talk about being prepared for an emergency since the Dec 26 Tsunami. Generally talk about be ready for an emergency.
  
  My question at the Singapore Armed Forces forum in the topic "CAn singapore really defend itself??", not much response from that end.
  
  Here's the post
  

  Here's my question might be a little off-topic, How would the situation be like among the civilian population in Singapore once the fighting reaches our shores or even before? Your average Singaporean isn't even prepared for a minor incident let alone a full scale war. If the war is a long one we will be in deep trouble.
  
  If there is a long term conflict, food supplies would run low once the ships stop coming, the government may have set aside a certain amount of food just in case the brown stuff hits the fan but how long can the supplies last. Soon after the supplies run out, you'll have people fighting over food and I doubt your local NTUC would still be stocking up food by then and I think they would run out of stocks once war is declared. Like the rush to buy masks during the SARS period.
  
  Why would people fight over food? Why should your child eat while mine starve.
  
  Would there still be Law and Order on the streets even with panic among the population? Once law and order breaks down the situation may go from bad to sh1t. Looting?
  
  I'm confident in the SAF, what I'm not so sure about is the local population.

  So as the topic describes 'Would Singaporeans react well?'
  
  There is no need to flame, I just wish to see the opinions of people.
• oldbreadstinks

  3 Apr 05, 22:59

  I'm confident in the SAF, what I'm not so sure about is the local population.

  the saf IS the local population
• av98m

  4 Apr 05, 14:22

  The SAF will suffer heavy casualties while the rest of the remaining civilian population fight and kill each other over simple necessities like food and water. There will be utter chaos unless marshal law is declared and the police and military demonstrate that they are not afraid to shoot to kill. After the first few hundred die order will be restored. The entire government would already have been airlifted to some safe location out of singapore from which they will issue orders. All the FT would have fled of course.
• dragg

  4 Apr 05, 14:31

  my understanding is this ;
  
  we are too small a country to fight a prolong war. we can only last 24-48 hrs. SAF is a firm believer of pre-emptive strikes, something we learnt from the israelis. regular forces will be used for attacks, mainly to wipe out our enemy's defences and military installation.
  
  our people might not be ready but trust our govt. we have contingency plans for almost everything.
• yoongf

  4 Apr 05, 16:09

  Originally posted by dragg:

  my understanding is this ;
  
  we are too small a country to fight a prolong war. we can only last 24-48 hrs. SAF is a firm believer of pre-emptive strikes, something we learnt from the israelis. regular forces will be used for attacks, mainly to wipe out our enemy's defences and military installation.
  
  our people might not be ready but trust our govt. we have contingency plans for almost everything.

  I do not know who u mean by "We" but every serious reservist from the SAF will know that the above situation is not the SOP.
  
  It's true that there are contingency plans drawn up for every situation, but blind compliance by the general public to such plans is really the unknown issue.
  
  
• dibilo

  4 Apr 05, 16:21

  just randomly ask someone abt what they understand of total defence...
• dragg

  4 Apr 05, 22:55

  Originally posted by yoongf:

  I do not know who u mean by "We" but every serious reservist from the SAF will know that the above situation is not the SOP.
  
  It's true that there are contingency plans drawn up for every situation, but blind compliance by the general public to such plans is really the unknown issue.
  
  

  the 'we' i mentioned is of course singapore. what i posted is merely my understanding. our situation is exactly the same as israel's. in fact no country in this world has as much experience as the israelis in dealing with war in the modern era.