Assaults Involving Teens

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs in light of the grievous attack on two students at Potong Pasir Avenue 1 on 1 December 2011 (a) what steps are being taken by the enforcement agencies to prevent similar incidents by youths; and (b) what steps are being taken to discourage, address and tackle similar/related incidents involving youths.

Mr Teo Chee Hean: Police treats all cases of violence very seriously and will respond firmly, regardless of the age of the perpetrators. Police conducts regular patrols at popular youth congregation areas to maintain law and order and to prevent youth crime and violence. To prevent at-risk youths from turning to or becoming victims of crime, Police writes to parents to inform them if their children are found loitering in public after 11.00 pm under the Youth Hanging Out Late (YHOL) initiative. Since the initiative started in 2006, about 20,000 such letters have been issued. In addition, under joint efforts, such as the Citizens-on-Patrol scheme, resident volunteers patrol the neighbourhood with Police officers and act as eyes and ears on the ground.

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These measures have kept youth crime in check. The number of youth arrests has remained stable at around 4,000 per year for the last five years. From January to November 2011, the number of youth arrests was 2,890. Police takes a serious view of such incidents of violence. The perpetrators of the Potong Pasir incident were swiftly arrested, and will be dealt with by the law. Following the incident, Police also stepped up patrols, conducted spot-checks on more than 250 youths and distributed YHOL letters to parents of more than 74 youths in the neighbourhood.

Enforcement measures alone are not sufficient. Youth crime is a complex problem requiring a multi-agency approach. Many intervention programmes are co-ordinated under the National Youth Guidance and Rehabilitation Committee (NYGR) and include prison visits, the Guidance Programme and the StreetWise Programme to divert youths away from crime and gangs. The Central Youth Guidance Office was also formed under the MCYS in July 2010 to enhance outreach to at-risk youths and co-ordinate inter-agency intervention services at the local level.

In addition, Police also works closely with schools and MCYS to implement the Youth Engagement Programme which aims to steer at-risk youths away from crime through character-building activities and participation in talks against gangs, crime and drugs.

More will be done. The Working Group on Youth Gangs has recommended a suite of measures to tackle youth crime and youth gangs. These include setting up a new Police Youth Offenders Unit and strengthening the Police-Schools-MCYS liaison framework to enhance intervention efforts and identify at-risk youths for the appropriate diversionary programmes. More residents in the Reformative Training Centre and Singapore Boys' Home will benefit from programmes to help them deal with anger and related issues, and to strengthen their ties with their families.

When youths go astray, parents are our first line of defence. Families can, and should become part of the solution. It is the parents who can best guide the youths back onto the right path.

While the Government will put in place the necessary intervention measures, youths who cross the line, and cause hurt, harm and distress to others must be prepared to face the full brunt of the law. With the involvement of families, social workers and the authorities, we can help steer our youths away from crime and prevent incidents of violence from occurring.