BALI INCIDENT

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan asked the Minister for Home Affairs, following the recent tragic Bali bomb blast, (a) what security measures have been taken and what advisory has been or will be given to individuals, businesses and private security agencies to prevent attacks of similar nature from occurring in Singapore; and (b) given that many Singaporeans are making holiday plans, what advisory will be issued for those travelling overseas.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what lessons can Singapore draw from the recent terrorists' bombing in Bali with regard to alerting Singaporeans' receptiveness to information on terrorists' activities; and (b) what more can the Government do to ensure that Singaporeans shall at all times be prepared for any eventuality and not presume that all is well because the Government is taking care of everything.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Home Affairs what travel directives and additional security measures are being introduced to protect our installations, assets and people working overseas, especially those on the Indonesian islands of Batam and Bintan.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Since September 11 last year, we have already taken various security measures to deal with the threat of terrorism facing Singapore. These security measures are still sufficiently robust.

As I have previously informed this House, Police, and in some instances SAF and Gurkha officers, are deployed at key establishments such as Changi Airport, Tuas and Woodlands Checkpoints, certain Government buildings as well as our oil and water installations. Regular patrols are conducted and physical measures such as CCTVs and security lightings have been put in place to improve security. The Home Team and Mindef have conducted numerous joint exercises and analysed various scenarios to ensure that our contingency response capabilities and resources are ready to deal with any situation.

Security measures at our borders have also been intensified to prevent entry of undesirable persons. Stringent immigration and security checks are carried out at all sea, air and land checkpoints. Police have recently deployed Explosive Detection Dogs (EDD) at the various checkpoints to aid in the detection of explosives. Role of the community

Since the Bali incident, Police have enhanced their presence and increased their patrols to commercial and entertainment establishments. However, the police cannot be at every street corner. The community must also play its part by being vigilant and be on the lookout for suspicious events and characters.

In fact, the critical information that gave ISD the lead in the investigation and eventual arrests of the Jemaah Islamiyah network in Singapore came from a member of the public. While there are no known imminent threats posed by the Jemaah Islamiyah, the general threat of terrorism has not abated. However, we should not allow this to affect our lives. We should not sink into despondency, nor panic and cower in fear. We must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by terrorism. We should respond to these threats in a calm and rational manner. We should maintain normalcy and go about our business as usual; just be more vigilant and alert. What we do not want is for people to play pranks by making false calls and hoaxes to divert the attention and waste the precious resources of the security agencies. We will deal firmly with such pranksters.

Roles of businesses and private security agencies

Following the Bali bomb blast, Police, together with ISD had again briefed the business community and the private security industry on the necessary security measures to adopt. We have also taken steps to raise the professionalism and competencies of the security guard industry. These include the revision of the basic training requirements for licensed security guards. We want to ensure that security guards are not only knowledgeable in security processes, but that they are also able to perform their assigned duties competently. All security guards will be trained to handle bomb threats, deal with suspicious-looking objects and persons, and respond to shootings and other emergencies.

Advisory for overseas travel

There were concerns about whether advisories will be issued to Singaporeans traveling overseas, security measures for business assets and Singaporeans working overseas. MFA will not be issuing a travel advisory at this stage. However, given the current circumstances, we would urge anyone who needs to travel in the region to keep themselves updated on developments in the region and to register with the nearest Singapore Embassy there. Singaporeans can also call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Consular hotline (65 - 332 0000) for emergency consular assistance if required.

Our overseas missions and other Government agencies have also taken appropriate measures to enhance the security of their premises, residences, staff and their families. Our overseas missions are in constant contact with our citizens working, studying or living in the host countries through students bodies, Singapore clubs, warden system and other channels to provide any consular assistance if required.

Singapore companies in Batam and Bintan, especially those in the Batamindo Industrial Park and the Bintan Industrial Estate, have been briefed on the situation and the various security measures introduced by the industrial park operators. Many of our Singapore-based companies are found in these two industrial parks. For those outside the park, plans are underway to brief them as well. There are also arrangements in place to assist the companies and our citizens who are working there during emergency.