Unprecedented Pressures
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Wong Kan Seng
Unprecedented pressures
Not all is right with the ministry he heads after a series of glaring blunders. By Seah Chiang Nee.
June 28, 2008One of the most hard-pressed leaders in Singapore today is probably Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, who heads the police force.
It is an unusual spot for Wong, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, to be in. In fact, no minister in charge of security in this city has been subjected to the kind of pressure that he is facing now.
There is a reason for it.
Since colonial days, Singapore’s police force has had a global reputation for its no-nonsense efficiency and discipline.
For Wong, the trouble started early this year when terrorist leader Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from the high-detention centre by climbing out through a toilet window.
Government leaders, including Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, blamed it on “complacency” at the lower ranks, but not the minister.
Since then, there has been a series of other high profile mistakes, including: -
* Two detainees escaping from a court lock-up after beating up a policeman who was bringing water to one of them. Both were subsequently caught. A breach of procedure was blamed;
* In a rare display of indiscipline, Gurkhas attached to the police clashed over a wage dispute two weeks ago, resulting in eight being injured.
They are part of a 2,000-strong Gurkha contingent which plays a crucial role in safeguarding sensitive areas, including the Istana (the president's official residence), embassies, airports and strategic industries;
* A few days ago, another blunder left a hole in Changi Airport’s high-security image. A retiree, who had mistakenly taken his son's passport, was allowed to enter the restricted passenger's area after getting past the check-in counter and the police stationed outside the departure lounge.
At the immigration counter, Ang Heng Soon repeatedly failed to scan his fingerprint at the machine. He was directed to an officer, who – unbelievably – waved him on.
Upon reaching Ho Chi Minh City airport, he headed directly to immigration authorities, who put him on the same plane back to Singapore.
“I am totally appalled and flabbergasted at this slip-up at the airport checkpoint,” said Wong, who promised to take action against the staff responsible.
All these indicate to Singaporeans that not all is right with the no-nonsense Home Affairs Ministry, the frontline body that overlooks security, including the war on terrorism.
The public has called for the minister to be held accountable for his “complacency”, which has been rejected by the Prime Minister. Some wanted him dismissed, while other said his salary should be docked as punishment.
“The Home Minister is losing control of his internal and external security team in Singapore,” writer Koh Poh Chin said. “This is a wake-up call. Our leaders should take a step back and see what has gone wrong.”
A leader who passes the blame to his subordinates when things go wrong cannot serve the country, he added.
People expect security procedures to be tightened, but not everyone is certain that Wong is the right person to inspire a real shake-up. To be fair, the police are facing a new dimension in an ever-expanding island-state.
Since September 11, it has had to meet the threat of a terror war in an overcrowded island whose residential population is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds. A million foreigners are now working here.
To be sure the force has increased, but so have the tasks it has to keep Singapore safe. They have also become more demanding, ranging from computer scams to complex white-collar crimes.
Twelve years ago the ratio of police to population was 350 to every 100,000 people. In 2006, it had fallen to 205 to 100,000.
There are also fewer policemen on street beat.
Peter J. Arnold wrote: “I wonder what has happened to our policemen who seem to have become invisible.” He said that a visible police presence was a proven deterrent to crime.
More worrying to the public is that, for some time now, the police have been refusing to take action in assault cases unless there are severe injuries.
The victims are instead told to seek justice at the court.
When design executive Kong Lai Meng landed in hospital after being attacked, she was told by the police to file a magistrate’s complaint at the Subordinate Courts.
“So anyone can just hit someone and not be arrested? I want to see some justice done,” the 35-year-old angrily said.
“What kind of message are the police sending to people such as the individual who assaulted me?” she asked.
Hers is just one of several cases, and it is clearly worrying Singaporeans who look upon the police for protection against public assaults.
Apparently to lessen police workload, the government has passed laws to allow soldiers to conduct civilian security operations. They are deployed to help provide security at major events and will have the power to search, detain and use force against suspicious people.
Despite the recent downturn, the police here remain a credible force.
Research firm Political and Economic Risk Consultancy ranked Singapore, the United States and Hong Kong as the top three of 12 countries on the quality of their police and judicial systems.
It is a reputation that the 38,000-strong force here, following recent developments, will have to fight hard to retain.
i think the 2 escape and father-son-passport cases showed the authorities were complacent rather than short-handed.
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Wong Kan Seng should volunteer to resign. He is losing more and more respect and trust. Govt loves to push a lot of stuff to court instead of allowing the police to handle it. Simple issue like neighbourhood matters which police can handle, they (police and pap) conveniently encourage singaporeans to go to court. Tip top in pushing responsibility. It is bad for singaporeans to have a ruling party who refuses take responsibility for the wrong. shake head.
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After the second jail break - which was unsuccessful compared to MSK escapade - an internal investigation concluded that the system had all the guidelines correctly in place, except that the personnel has to be correctly supervised to ensure that standing guidelines are correctly executed.
Is this complacency evident only in the Home Ministry ?
It seems that following the two NS deaths - MINDEF had stopped training for three days to allow them to check the causes of the deaths, and to ensure that enough and correct safeguards are in place.
After the three days, MINDEF reported that the system has all the necessary and correct guidelines and safeguards in place, and all have been observed.
Unfortunately, for the two families there was no conclusive MINDEF finding as to the cause of the two NS deaths.
It now seems that the fears expressed - by retired Senior Civil ‘Ngiam Tong Dow’. - in 2007 and recently - are now being vindicated in that "this generation of PAP government is flying on 'auto-pilot' - with the present Ministers believing themselves to be little Emperors in the image of MM LKY".
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...people are not deaf dumb and blind... the best people will not join a force expected do dishonorable deeds in the interest of despots....
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andrew.... you sound like LKY leh... what you mean by "the best people" sounds like LKY's elitsm system...
its said that... the more you hate someone.. the more you become the person you hate....
next time when you see the mirror... you might see LKY.
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Originally posted by Atobe:
After the second jail break - which was unsuccessful compared to MSK escapade - an internal investigation concluded that the system had all the guidelines correctly in place, except that the personnel has to be correctly supervised to ensure that standing guidelines are correctly executed.
Is this complacency evident only in the Home Ministry ?
It seems that following the two NS deaths - MINDEF had stopped training for three days to allow them to check the causes of the deaths, and to ensure that enough and correct safeguards are in place.
After the three days, MINDEF reported that the system has all the necessary and correct guidelines and safeguards in place, and all have been observed.
Unfortunately, for the two families there was no conclusive MINDEF finding as to the cause of the two NS deaths.
It now seems that the fears expressed - by retired Senior Civil ‘Ngiam Tong Dow’. - in 2007 and recently - are now being vindicated in that "this generation of PAP government is flying on 'auto-pilot' - with the present Ministers believing themselves to be little Emperors in the image of MM LKY".
NGIAM for president!!!
wait... ngiam actually propose the majority of the people to pay more tax leh.... he said singapore is over dependent on the small minority of rich people and should reduce such reliance by passing the tax burden from the rich to the poor.....
i think i prefer ngiam to remain retired.
2 people die in hospital... lets shut down all the hospital.
2 people die on the road... lets shut down all the road in singapore.
2 people die on mrt track... lets shut down the mrt.
many many many many people die in singapore everyday... from many reason... not just old age... so lets shut down singapore until nobody dies!!!
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Originally posted by Civilgoh:
Wong Kan Seng should volunteer to resign. He is losing more and more respect and trust. Govt loves to push a lot of stuff to court instead of allowing the police to handle it. Simple issue like neighbourhood matters which police can handle, they (police and pap) conveniently encourage singaporeans to go to court. Tip top in pushing responsibility. It is bad for singaporeans to have a ruling party who refuses take responsibility for the wrong. shake head.
malaysian girl got raped by malaysian policeman inside the malaysian police station....
will syed hamid as the home minister of malaysia be charge with rape?
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Originally posted by tripwire:
NGIAM for president!!!
wait... ngiam actually propose the majority of the people to pay more tax leh.... he said singapore is over dependent on the small minority of rich people and should reduce such reliance by passing the tax burden from the rich to the poor.....
i think i prefer ngiam to remain retired.
2 people die in hospital... lets shut down all the hospital.
2 people die on the road... lets shut down all the road in singapore.
2 people die on mrt track... lets shut down the mrt.
many many many many people die in singapore everyday... from many reason... not just old age... so lets shut down singapore until nobody dies!!!
This must be a very unusual Sunday morning for the tripwire - after a bad night out being tripped ?
Your suggestion at closing TTSH may well come true - when the 'First Lady' should take her final trip - after 'The First Family' trip over your idea - as so far there must be quite a few cadavers in the coldroom at TTSH.
This must be the time of the month when the tripwire makes his regular burst into pompous prominence in the Speakers' Corner - shooting out of the dark in a burst of light, burning like a meteor and leaving a trail of useless dust - only to peter out like a dying star.
Expressions of frustrations will only cloud your vision - can you see through the trail of your own star dust that you have kicked up ?