RALLIES IN PUBLIC STADIUM (Employment of CISCO guards)

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Home Affairs why is there a need for organisers of public rallies held in a public stadium to employ CISCO guards to be present at such rallies where there is no imminent danger of a breach of the peace.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, Mr Chiam is probably referring to the condition for CISCO guards employed for the public rally the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) held on 23rd September 2001.

Sir, this condition is not new. Other organisers of mass public events have complied with it. Any event involving large crowds of people has the potential to lead to law and order problems. The safety of those attending is of paramount importance. Hence, it is a standard condition that Police imposes on the organiser of any event involving a large crowd of people to employ the necessary resources to maintain the orderly conduct of the event. This condition is imposed not only on events organised by all political parties but applies also to other mass events such as football matches and rock concerts.

Sir, in approving the application by SDP, the Police had specified a minimum number of CISCO officers to be present. These officers have the necessary police powers to deal with any potential law and order problem. The number of officers required was determined after a ground recce Police conducted with the organisers.

Sir, this is a professional matter which the Police is well equipped to handle.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, can the Minister of State cite one example of a rally where there was law and order problem?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, the purpose of having CISCO guards is to prevent law and order problems. The presence of CISCO guards, for example, will deter trouble-makers from coming to the stadium and, indeed if they are there, from creating trouble. I am sure Mr Chiam must know that political rallies do elicit emotional responses. You get all kinds of people who are attending. You get speakers making speeches which are probably critical and attacking policies and so forth. I think we should be on the safe side. Mr Chiam is a veteran of many political campaigns and of many general elections. I am sure he has seen political rallies where there have been such high emotions. Indeed in past elections, there have been rallies, particularly of Opposition parties, that attracted thousands of people, and some people have been unruly. So I think we should be on the safe side.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, I attended many rallies but I think there should be a distinction between election rallies where the fever runs very high and non-election rallies. These days, it is difficult even to get interest in such rallies. So how can there be law and order problems?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Mr Chiam should not complain that it is difficult in getting people to be interested. I think it all depends on the party that is holding the rally. If they have interesting speakers and they are able to hold the participants' interest, there could be a high interest. It is the intrinsic nature of political rallies. Like I have said, it is the nature of the speeches being made and the fact that the audience can be a mixed audience - some are supporting you, some are not. So I think it is better to be safe than sorry.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Sir, would the Police impose the same condition of requiring CISCO guards during elections? Secondly, why is the Police or the Government treating political parties the same as any other organisation? Basically, political parties hold rallies to disseminate certain information and to institute public debate. By imposing the condition of requiring the hiring of CISCO guards, does the Minister of State not think that it will restrict the ability of political parties to organise rallies, given the fact that it costs a lot of money to employ CISCO guards? Is this one way to restrict and curtail the ability of the Opposition in having activities like rallies and dissemination of information?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, first of all, the general election (GE) is a national event. So political rallies during GE do not require the hiring of CISCO guards. The Police takes charge of that.

The other point is that Police takes a professional attitude towards all these events, whether it is organised by any political party or by any other organisers where there is potential law and order problem. It is a professional judgment that must be made because, ultimately, law and order must be maintained. Like I have said, in particular, for political rallies, given the nature of the topics being raised and the mixed crowd involved, Police professional judgment is that there is potential for law and order problem and hence the need for CISCO guards. Like I have said, this is not just for political rallies but also for other events as well. For the Singapore International Marathon and the recent football international match between Singapore and Liverpool, Police made the same judgment. This is not to say that we are trying to prevent the Opposition from reaching out to their supporters and Singaporeans, because there are many other ways of doing it. And indeed Opposition parties are doing it through various means - Internet, publications and so forth. To require political parties, in this context, the SDP, to pay about $3,400 for 13 CISCO guards, which works out to about $65 per hour per officer is, I think, not asking too much. I am sure any organiser will want to avert any problems, because that will also reflect on the organisation.