SINGAPOREANS' PREPAREDNESS FOR MAJOR DISASTERS

SINGAPOREANS' PREPAREDNESS FOR MAJOR DISASTERS: 10.

Ms Ellen Lee asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether Singapore is prepared for similar major disaster of magnitude and impact as the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan; and (b) besides Total Defence, National Education and the Community Engagement Programme, are there any other plans to foster the calmness and resilience of our people and community for similar major disasters.

The Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, Sir, the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan recently was of an unprecedented scale. As we have just heard from Senior Minister of State Zainul Abidin, the death toll has exceeded 13,000, with many thousand survivors having to rebuild their lives almost from scratch.

Sir, notwithstanding the scale of the disaster, what has made a deep impression on many is the fortitude and resilience of the Japanese people. There was a general calm and support for one another. People queued in an orderly fashion for food and other essentials. There was no outbreak of looting or hysteria.

Singapore is fortunate in that we are relatively unaffected by earthquakes, and our geographical location makes it highly unlikely for us to be affected by tsunamis. Nevertheless, this does not mean that Singapore is immune from other hazards, such as major accidents or terrorist incidents. Such incidents will test our society.

Whether we will pass the test depends on three factors. First, are we prepared for a crisis? The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) co-ordinates the entire Government effort to prepare for various crisis scenarios, including a terrorist incident, flu pandemic and others.

Our civil defence and disaster management agencies are also constantly improving their operational capabilities to handle disasters and crises.

The second factor is whether our leadership will be able to respond effectively during a crisis. The Government has in place a crisis management system designed to prepare for and respond to a wide variety of hazards, including terrorist attacks, major accidents and other homefront crises that could affect Singapore on a national scale. In a crisis situation, the Homefront Crisis Management System (HCMS) is activated. The Ministry of Home Affairs takes the lead, but works closely with other Ministries and Government agencies to coordinate a Whole-of-Government response.

The third factor is how Singaporeans will respond in a disaster and how quickly we will recover from it. This is the nub of Ms Ellen Lee's question. How resilient are Singaporeans? Will we be able to respond with fortitude and strength in a crisis, coming together as a nation, or will relations be strained and ultimately break?

Sir, under an ongoing Community Engagement Programme (CEP) launched in 2006, the Government engages various sectors of the community, including the business sector, religious and community leaders, and grassroots organisations among others to bolster community resilience and preparedness. The CEP just celebrated its Fifth Anniversary last month. Good progress has been made in all sectors but because this is a continuing effort, we are pushing ahead on all fronts.

In addition, over the years, the Home Team has introduced a variety of programmes to better prepare the community for emergencies. These include outreach programmes to educate the public on emergency preparedness and training the community with basic first aid, fire-safety and emergency preparedness skills. For example, annually, the SCDF works closely with key grassroots organisations to organise about 48 Emergency Preparedness (EP) Day exercises that typically instil in participants the mindsets and skills required to respond to a major incident occurring in the neighbourhood.

We also adopt a focused approach to reach out to various segments of the community. Hence, under the Safety and Security Watch Group (SSWG) programme, the Home Team works closely with key partners such as Residents' Committees and Neighbourhood Market Associations. Under the SPF's Project Guardian initiative, private security personnel receive training on key emergency functions such as traffic control, emergency communication and evacuation. With these additional skill-sets, these security officers are able to provide a critical first response during a crisis situation, prior to the arrival of the authorities and also to render immediate assistance to anyone in need nearby.

At the individual level, more Singaporeans and Permanent Residents are now learning first aid and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPF), with many doing this at SCDF's four Division Headquarters. Increasingly, grassroots leaders have taken ownership of community emergency preparedness by actively participating in scenario planning exercises, walking through the types of responses required in crisis situations and helping to conduct them when ready. Indeed, I had officiated at one such large-scale multi-agency exercise just a few months ago at Yishun.

These programmes and initiatives complement platforms such as the Total Defence, the National Education and the Community Engagement Programmes.

Sir, our efforts at enhancing preparedness and resilience in Singaporeans are wide-ranging and continue to be a work-in-progress. But we all know that to derive maximum outcomes from these efforts, they cannot just be driven centrally by the Government, with Singaporeans just completing activities or attending courses. Whilst these are useful, what must undergird them is a mindset and social compact that we will continue to look out for one another. In short, we can only be resilient as a society if each one of us recognises the need for us to all do our part, take steps to be prepared and stand ready to rally together should a disaster strike.