HEAD P - MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

Column No : 633

Head P - Ministry of Home Affairs

The Chairman: Head P - Ministry of Home Affairs. Ms Rajah again.

Security and Crime

Ms Indranee Rajah: Sir, I beg to move,

That the total sum to be allocated for Head P of the Estimates be reduced by $100.

I will speak on the topic of security and crime. I note that there was an increase in the crime rate for last year by 19.9%, including all but one of the index crimes. I would therefore like to ask the Minister the reasons for the increase in the crime rate, what measures have been taken to address this and also whether he sees any particular trend arising from this increased crime rate and, if so, how this trend should be dealt with.

I was also particularly concerned about the increase in violent crimes. To be fair, I am actually referring to two instances of violent crimes. But in a place like Singapore, where there are so few instances of violent crimes, each single one appears to be all the more shocking when it occurs. Recently, there was an incident reported in the newspapers of a 59-year-old man who had in an attempted robbery discharged a gun, and then of course more recently the murder of a nightclub owner who was shot five times. The suspect, we understand from the newspapers, has now been arrested in Malaysia.

I would like to ask the Minister whether these incidents are indicative of any trend in violent crimes or whether the Police think that these are simply one-off incidents. I ask because I have a concern that there may be copycat crimes. Certainly, we do not have that phenomenon here in Singapore as badly as it occurs in the US. But there is cause for concern because such incidents could give other criminals ideas. Also, these two particular crimes highlight something which, to me, has a wider implication, in terms of security in general and, in particular, in relation to terrorism.

The first aspect was the use of guns in these two incidents. The first incident, from what I understand, is that the gun had been around for a long time. So, that is not too much a problem. But in the second incident, it is not being indicated publicly the origin or the source of the gun. I am not asking for that because I understand that the matter is still under investigation and that information would probably have to be withheld. But the point I want to highlight though is the fact that the presence of a gun means that there is the possibility or availability of arms or explosives in Singapore. And this has, of course, some bearing on our general security climate and security concerns, especially in relation to terrorism. So I would like to ask the Minister what kind of measures or controls we have in place to minimise the risks of materials that could be used to make bombs, or any other kind of dangerous materials that could be used for terrorist acts, from being brought into Singapore.

The other point that arises out of these crimes but with an impact on the wider security picture is the checkpoint security. In the case of the nightclub owner murder, the suspect was able to escape because the family of the victim was unable to give a description of the suspect until sometime after the incident. Again, I do not have any criticism here of the speed with which the authorities reacted. But the point I am highlighting is, in the event that an incident occurs, whether it is a terrorist incident or some other incident, what kind of measures do we have to deal with checkpoint security, how fast and how quickly can we secure our borders in the event that something happens, how do we react, in terms of border control, in the event that an incident like this occurs? Also, for terrorist attacks, it depends on the nature of the attack. If it is a suicide attack, the immediate perpetrator obviously would be dead or likely to be badly injured. But there may be people who assist them. So these people may seek to escape. The question is, how tight is our border control? On the reverse side, there is also a situation where potential terrorists might come into Singapore. So I wish to know what kind of measures do we have to deal with that and to prevent such people from coming into Singapore.

Quite apart from terrorists coming into Singapore, the London bombings in the middle of last year highlighted another new phenomenon which is that of home-grown terrorists, and that is a disturbing new development in the area of terrorism. I would like to ask the Minister for his views on whether there is a potential danger of home-grown Singapore terrorists and, again, if so, what kind of measures are being taken to address this.

Generally, on a bigger security picture, I would like to ask the Minister what lessons we have learnt from the London bombings and how we can apply what has been learnt from those lessons to improve our security preparedness in Singapore. Also, I would like to ask him what is the current status of our preparedness to deal with terrorist attacks in Singapore. What have we learnt from the NorthStar operation? Will we be having more such exercises and what, in general, can the members of the public in Singapore do to assist the Home Team in dealing with potential terrorist attacks and homeland security?

Homeland Security

Mr R Ravindran (Marine Parade): Terrorism continues to be a serious concern globally, and, regionally, terrorism makes a serious concern for many governments. Sir, I am impressed that the Home Team, together with the Ministry of Defence and the National Security Coordination Centre, has taken various measures to harden Singapore as a target.

I would like to compliment the Minister for the efforts taken by the Ministry in having public exercises which prepare Singapore and also non-public exercises to make our agencies more efficient and well-prepared. I would like to ask the Minister, given the fact that there are concerns in the region about terrorist acts, particularly with the report that there is a breakaway faction from the JI which has now emerged, what is the assessment of the Ministry as far as terrorist threat is concerned, both in the region and within Singapore. Secondly, what is the state of cooperation between the Police agencies and the intelligence agencies of Singapore and the neighbouring countries? Thirdly, what are the measures that have been taken within Singapore to prepare Singaporeans to react in a manner that we would like them to react in an event of a terrorist attack?

Replacing NRIC

Mr Ong Kian Min (Tampines): Sir, I think it is about time that we adopted a more intelligent identity card, and it is opportune now in the light of the threat of terrorism. Take, for example, the security of our office buildings. From time to time, I have to visit other offices for meetings. I notice that the security checks at these buildings range from non-existent, which is not satisfactory for security reasons, to having a manual register that visitors have to fill in their particulars, and I have seen people writing names like Superman and Wonder Woman, and no one bothers to verify whether the particulars are true and accurate, to security guards demanding that visitors produce a photo ID in exchange for a temporary visitor pass. Such manual security checks create a lot of hassle, impede the movement of people and cause inconvenience to visitors. For all the hassle, the security checks are not effective at all because, even if the visitor is required to produce his NRIC and this is in exchange for a visitor pass, his particulars are seldom physically recorded down. This is because manual recording is time consuming and requires a lot of work. When the visitor leaves the building, he takes his NRIC with him and leaves. So it does not serve any purpose because, at the end of the day, I am sure the security guards do not know or do not have any record of who has entered and left the building in the course of the day.

If a terrorist incident were to occur, there is little information about who has been in the building. The reason for this is that the information on our NRIC, in its present form, is passive. Our existing NRIC is a rather dumb device in the sense that personal information of the holder is merely printed on a piece of plastic. Information has to be copied manually from the NRIC to another medium. So the transfer and recording of information are not efficient or fast enough. I would like to propose that we replace our NRIC with one that has a smart chip embedded in it that can store a lot more information about the owner and certain particulars can be transferred instantaneously and contactlessly by tapping on the detector, like our ez-link cards.

Terrorism

Mr Ahmad Khalis Bin Abdul Ghani: Sir, earlier this year, we had a very high profile emergency preparedness exercise involving five MRT stations, transport services, more than 20 agencies, thousands of individuals, including members of the public. It was Exercise NorthStar V (North 5). There was NorthStar I, II, III and IV which members of the public might have forgotten or not aware of. Indeed, there will be many similar exercises in the future, maybe on a smaller scale and in different settings.

Sir, in the light of these exercises and lessons learned from incidents in London, Madrid, Bali and elsewhere, what is the state of readiness of our agencies in the event of such emergency, including terror attacks? In the event of a terrorist attack, besides injury to individuals and damage to property, we can also expect disruptions to businesses and jobs. Are our businesses prepared to react in the event of an attack? I understand that the Ministry has formulated a corporate First Response Scheme for this. How well has this scheme been taken up by our businesses and companies?

In general, the public support the need for exercises such as NorthStar V. Some have suggested more exercises and even at peak hours. Is it because they feel that the public are not mentally prepared and are still not very sure of what to do in the event of an attack? Looking ahead, what exercises - a same question was asked earlier - does the Ministry intend to hold, to improve or expand on NorthStar V?

Another adverse effect of a terrorist attack, perhaps one that is capable of the most harm, is to our inter-community relations. We cannot afford to wait for something to happen before deciding what to do. What is the role of community leaders in the aftermath of a terrorist attack? What efforts are being made to roll out the Community Engagement Programme (CEP) and how well is the public responding to the current effort at CEP and what kind of projects can the public expect from it?

Community Engagement

Mdm Ho Geok Choo (West Coast): Sir, in the context of the changed global, political and social environment, the rise of religious militancy, the decline of economic growth and with its resultant loss of jobs, the social climate requires a rethink of the way we approach race relations and community bonding.

Sir, relationship, and, for that matter, race relations, is akin to a three-level process. At the first level is the normal routine activities organised for maintenance. At the second level is the need to attain some desired ones. This is the engagement level. Couples will swear that this is the most satisfying stage of a lifelong relationship, even more than the married state, which, although gives meaning, is also very prone to strains and cracks

when familiarity breeds contempt. To sustain the phase of engagement, couples often go back to exchange vows, so that they will remain on this engagement stage.

6.00 pm

Sir, I am advocating for this engagement phase euphoria to ensure sustainability of our community engagement programmes. No more should we just rely on a replay of what was done previously, such as loads of people to go round visiting cultural sites of other races. Instead, we need to inculcate a philosophy and process of doing things. This brings me to a point and an example which I want to raise.

Given the threat-intensive environment that we live in today, the time may be right to muster women and give all of them some form of basic training in first-aid. I am not advocating something as structured as National Service for men. What I am putting across is to set up a framework where all women can be given first-aid skills which they will also find useful in their private lives. The bonus in this exercise is that this is to be done at a national level and it will bring together women of all races.

Mr Chairman, Sir, I urge the Minister to organise more of such big-scale programmes, besides the recent emergency exercise.

The Chairman: Mr Chew cannot speak. I am here. Mr Chiam is not here. Mr Steve Chia.

Checkpoints

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong: Sir, the ICA had collected immigration and travel pattern data over many years for the Causeway and Tuas checkpoints. They should be able to know by now when and where the peak periods of the week and the peak seasons of the year are.

The ICA officers should be able to use these past travel pattern data to do advance planning of manpower deployment during these expected peak periods, so as to reduce the long jams at these checkpoints during all these super peak periods. Yet, nothing was done in these areas. ICA continues to be caught by surprise by these peak arrivals during festive seasons, and I think they are not doing their job well. Despite the need for tighter security to prevent illegal entries at the checkpoints, the ICA also needs to do a good and fast job clearing the travellers fast.

I hope the Minister can take a closer look into this matter and resolve the problems as soon as possible. It is with great fear and apprehension for anyone to drive into and out of Malaysia during festive seasons. They are all afraid of being caught by these massive jams.

Ms Eunice Elizabeth Olsen (Nominated Member): Mr Chairman, Sir, there are now eight private marinas in Singapore. One of the eight is currently undergoing rebuilding to be the first public marina in Singapore and will be ready next year. Most of the marinas provide facilities not just to their members, they also house restaurants that cater to the public.

Recently, at Sentosa Cove, One Degree 15 played host to the round-the-world clipper fleet, a competing group of sailing vessels which included our very own Singaporean team. Not only do marinas provide recreational sea sports and club facilities, let us not forget they also serve as key entry points onto our shores. Sir, with the step-up to increase security measures at all the various entry points into Singapore, this is a call for the tightening up of checkpoints security for all pleasure crafts entering into and leaving Singapore. Currently, there does not seem to be an adequate system of security checks for vessels berthing at marinas. This leaves us open and exposed to possible security threats.

Sir, this observation is based on consultation with persons in the marina industry. In addition, I have also personally experienced the lack of security measures on board a pleasure craft at one of the marinas and I will elaborate later on. A pleasure craft or sailing vessel entering into Singapore waters has two different ways of obtaining immigration clearance. Pleasure crafts berthing at the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club and Raffles Marina have access to on-site checkpoints, while vessels that berth at other marinas are cleared at offshore checkpoints. In both situations, it seems that the vessels are not subjected to any security checks whatsoever. Both checkpoints seem to operate for the sole purpose of immigration clearance only.

There were a few instances when I was on board a vessel at one of the marinas which provided for on-site checkpoint clearance. On one occasion, the immigration officer came down to the vessel to check our passports and, on another, we left the vessel to go down to the marina office to meet the officers. Sir, I am also told that there are instances where the skipper just takes all the passports down to be stamped and his crew does not necessarily follow him. In this case, the immigration officer would not be able to find out if the passports matched the passengers on board. On both occasions, our passports were cleared, but the vessel was not subjected to any security checks. I would like to ask whose job is it then to run thorough security checks on all the vessels that enter and leave our marinas.

Sir, the following are two suggestions to address this security concern.

Firstly, develop a more detailed system of security checks and procedures to thoroughly inspect every vessel entering and leaving Singapore's marinas. We have in place proper checks at the airport, ferry terminals and at the Causeway. Why not the marinas as well?

Secondly, to install more on-site checkpoints at marinas so as to adequately provide for effective security and immigration clearance to minimise unnecessary commute.

Sir, in the interest of safeguarding Singapore's national security, this is an area that should be dealt with more seriously, lest it be a loophole for abuse. This is especially so with the opening of Marina at Keppel Bay, which is situated near the heart of the city and juxtaposed with the integrated resorts, and this is an area where compromise is not an option.

Crime

Mr Ahmad Khalis Bin Abdul Ghani: Sir, statistics show that there were significant increases in the crimes of cheating, including offences related to it, and housebreaking and snatch theft in 2005 over 2004. Is this the trend for such cases over the last 10 years? May I also ask the Minister to what extent are the victims themselves to blame for these offences? There has been a marked increase of thefts involving handphones in recent years and, in many cases, it seems that handphone owners tended to leave their handphones around or to use them to book seats at hawker centres. Can more be done to educate the public to be more security-conscious for their companies, shops, homes and personal belongings? On the other hand, is there a need for legislative changes to deter these crimes and arrest the rising trend?

I also understand, Sir, that not an insignificant number of housebreaking offences were committed by serial housebreakers. I wish to ask the Minister what special efforts, if any, are being made in the rehabilitation of these serial housebreakers.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Mr Chairman, Sir, the crime statistics compiled by the police show a 20% increase in overall seizable crimes in 2005, amounting to an increase of 6,081 cases more than in 2004. There have been very significant increases in snatch theft at 47%, rioting at 35.1% and robbery at 31.7%. In the case of rioting, the police has noted that there has been an increase in rioting taking place in public housing estates, either in the common areas of HDB blocks or along the streets of housing blocks. Also taking place in the common areas of HDB blocks are outraging of modesty cases which rose by 19.3% in 2005. It raises the question about the safety of our neighbourhoods. We are also aware of the two recent cases of firearms being used in the course of committing robbery, which Ms Indranee Rajah raised. I have the same concerns.

Sir, the obvious questions to ask are: is the crime situation expected to worsen further? Does the police have sufficient resources to be effective to meet these challenges? In this regard, Sir, it is not comforting to read the financial estimates presented to Parliament for the current year 2006. The Ministry of Home Affairs is expected to spend 6.4% more in fiscal year 2006, compared with 2005. But this extra expenditure is not expected to increase the effectiveness or efficiency of the police. According to the key performance indicators in the financial estimates, the police appears to have lowered its expectation in 2006 in that the percentage of urgent incidents responded to by the police within 15 minutes is expected to drop from 90% to 87%; the percentage of non-urgent incidents responded to by the police within 30 minutes is expected to drop from 92.5% to 90%; the percentage of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds is expected to drop from 97.4% to 90%.

I understand that FY2006 will be even more challenging for the police, as we are hosting the IMF meetings in September and are anticipating not only protecting the many VIPs but also handling protests expected from visiting non-governmental organisations. Is the Minister satisfied with the current crime situation and level of police resources? Have we compromised community safety by deploying manpower to counter terrorism and hosting international meetings? Has the headcount policy taken an unhealthy impact on the police force, resulting in lower efficiency and readiness in combating crime by the Home Team?

Key Performance Indicators

Mr Charles Chong (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Chairman, Sir, I would like to thank the speaker who spoke before me for asking nearly all the questions that I had wanted to ask. I would, therefore, just like to confine my question to the KPIs for the clearance of travellers at the airport checkpoints as well as the clearance of containers at our ports. The timeframe given for the KPIs was eight minutes.

Sir, could the Minister also consider setting a key performance indicator for the clearance of travellers and vehicles at our land checkpoints at the Causeway and the Second Link?

Loan Sharks

Dr Tan Boon Wan: Sir, recently, legislation was tightened to rein in the activities of the loan sharks. In spite of the heavy penalties, their activities continued. Innocent victims are still targeted by the runners. I would therefore like to ask the Minister for an update on the loan shark situation. Has the amended legislation restrained loan shark activities? Has anyone been charged under the strengthened legislation? Does the police have enough resources to curb the activities of the loan sharks?

Child Sex

Ms Indranee Rajah: Sir, I would like to ask the Minister about two related topics. One is the status of proposed legislation on sex with minors overseas, and the other is on the measures that would be taken to deal with commercial sex with minors in Singapore.

On the first topic, it would be recalled that sometime ago in this House, the Senior Minister of State said that the Ministry would look into this issue of Singaporean adults who go abroad and engage in sex with minors overseas. The Ministry was at that time looking into it, and although the initial answers had been that this was something that we would not be doing, the last status indication was that this is something that was under review. I would therefore like to know what is the current status on this and whether legislation will be introduced to deal with this problem.

It is a difficult problem because of the evidentiary difficulties. In Singapore, we have strict laws to deal with the problem. If somebody engages in sex with a minor in Singapore, we can handle the evidence and the police can prosecute it. It is within our control. It is much more difficult, of course, when an adult goes abroad, because the act occurs overseas, the witnesses are overseas, the child is overseas. The difficulties of prosecuting are clear. But that by itself does not mean and should not be a reason for not having legislation to deal with this problem.

Firstly, having legislation would send a strong signal to people that we regard it as wrong. There is something particularly abhorrent about this kind of offence because it takes a particularly horrible kind of advantage over young children. What is worse is that the offenders who do this are the sort of people who present a respectable front in the society where they are known but yet they go abroad, engage in this kind of acts, come back and then put back their front. So, one, it sends a signal.

Secondly, because there is the possibility of prosecution in Singapore, it would make them think twice about it and, therefore, act as a deterrent. So, I just wanted to ask the Minister where we are on the status of this proposed legislation and whether or not the Ministry will be introducing it.

6.15 pm

A related topic but slightly different in context is what measures would be taken to deal with people who engage in commercial sex with minors in Singapore. This problem takes on

significance when you consider the number of teenagers who get onto the Internet and the possibility of making contact with these teenagers. Teenagers nowadays have an adult view of life. They have exposure to many things which many of us would not have had when we were children. They are curious about sexual activity, and some of them, quite openly, when you read in the newspapers, have no qualms about engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money or some other form of consideration or benefit.

I would therefore like to ask the Ministry whether it is taking steps to deal with this. What measures are being looked into and in which direction it thinks it would be taking steps to deal with this problem?

Penal Code

Mr Charles Chong: Mr Chairman, I have already raised this issue for quite a number of years and I hope that this year would indeed be the last time that I would be raising this.

Last year, the Senior Minister of State informed us that the Ministry of Home Affairs would be able to take steps to amend the Penal Code within two to three months. We were also informed that the Law Society would be consulted on the draft Bill and that the Bill would be put up for public feedback. Could the Minister let us have an update on the status of this exercise and also inform us the reasons for the delay in the review of this very important statute?

The Chairman: Mr Tan Soo Khoon and Mr Chiam See Tong are not here. Mr Arthur Fong, you can take both cuts together.

Crime Preventive Education

Mr Arthur Fong (West Coast): Sir, the uptrend on crime remains a great concern to me. Last year, there was a 20% increase in recorded cases. So crime trends, in general, are on the uptrend.

In the first half of 2005, youths arrested for crimes were up by 9%, compared to the same period in 2004. By the end of the year, the youth crime figures were 4,594, which was 122 youths less than 2004. However, I note with concern that although the numbers have fallen, youth crime in the three most common offences is up: rioting, 483 cases in 2005, which is more than double the 2004 figures; shop theft, 1,423 cases, which is up by almost 50% from 2004; and other thefts, 787 cases, which are up by 50% from 2004. Youth arrest has accounted for 22% of all arrests, even though they make up about 15% of our population according to the Police.

Sir, if we take some data in perspective, we may be able to see how important it is to nip the problem in the bud. Even if 10% of students, who do not make it through to complete secondary school, turn to crime, and each of this 10% pools together a small gang, we are looking at staggering numbers of potential gang members.

Sir, the data is worrying. We have to stem the tide of our youths turning to crime. Perhaps, they do not appreciate the seriousness of their actions at an early age and what implications they can have later in life. I applaud the Home Team in keeping the overall numbers in check. The Inter-ministry Committee on Youth Crime has come up with several programmes to check youth crime. Its effectiveness is measurable. In 2004, MCYS conducted a study on the cohort of youth offenders discharged from the IMC on Youth Crime Guidance Programme (GP) in 2000. The number who returned to crime went down from 30% to 7.5%.

Other programmes, such as the Streetwise Programme, involve prison visits for those youths at risk, in tandem with CID. Arrangements are made with the Prisons Department for identified wayward youths to visit the Changi Prison and Changi Women Prison respectively. Sir, I propose that such visits be extended to all students. The visit offers youths an opportunity to see for themselves the tough regime that prisoners have to undergo and the spartan conditions in prison. Personal glimpses into the harsh life behind bars also serve as a strong message to the youths, warning them of the freedom that they would lose if they persist in getting into trouble with the law.

I hope the Minister would consider extending such programmes to more youths to nip the problem in its bud as the youths would be reminded, in no uncertain terms, that having a prison record would close some opportunities for them, notwithstanding the Yellow Ribbon Project which is the subject of my next cut.

Rehabilitation of Prisoners

According to SCORE, about 11,000 ex-offenders are released from the various prisons and drug rehabilitation centres every year. SCORE is the key agency that seeks to rehabilitate and help re-integrate offenders to become responsible and contributing members of the society. Its Yellow Ribbon Project established in 2004 was well received by the public. I understand that some 90,000 students and teachers were involved in the "Wear a Yellow Ribbon" Project. Employers also played their part in the Yellow Ribbon job fair where 150 soon-to-be-released inmates were successful in their job interviews.

In the report on "Youth: Creating Our Future" consultation exercise by MCYS, ex-offenders had called for society to be more understanding and for more rehabilitation and employment opportunities so that they can re-integrate and participate in contributing to the society. If we cannot serve their needs, then, coupled with the stigma that society places on them, the offender might be dragged into a vicious cycle of criminalisation. Minor offenders, through incarceration, may find themselves too estranged from society to re-integrate. I ask the Minister to share his plans to prevent this cycle of criminalisation of the 11,000 ex-offenders released each year. Would the Minister share with us how many have been successfully re-integrated and what is the relapse rate?

Neighbourhood Police Centres

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Mr Chairman, one of the prominent structures within our housing estates in the 1980s was the Neighbourhood Police Posts (NPPs). Feedback from residents then was that they saw and felt the presence of Police within the community. Directional signs showing where NPPs were gave a sense of comfort and confidence that the Police was just a shout away. Residents were familiar with the men in blue patrolling the estates on bicycles. However, since 1996, many of these NPPs have given way to larger and more consolidated Neighbourhood Police Centres (NPCs).

Sir, the Minister for Home Affairs had, in 2004, informed the House that the NPCs are more cost-effective as they enable more Police officers to be deployed on neighbourhood patrols. It was argued then that a more mobile Police would more effectively project Police presence on the ground. Feedback that I have received in the last couple of years, however, seems to indicate that the public is feeling less of Police presence now than the days when the NPPs were operational. We may argue that the actual effectiveness of the Police, for example, more patrols and all, is more important than people's perception of Police presence. We can also argue, however, that people's perception of Police presence may also have a deterrent effect on potential criminal behaviour.

In this regard, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister if MHA has studied the public's perception of Police presence in the community and how this perception can be improved to give them a better sense of safety and security. We have introduced the CSSP to encourage greater community involvement but I think we still need to address this sense of security with or without the presence of the Police in the neighbourhood.

Sir, the crime rate last year, as mentioned by many Members, rose by 19% compared to 2004. The index crimes like house-breaking, robbery, snatch theft all registered significant increases. I would like to ask the Minister if MHA tracks the crime rates by location, ie, the extent to which crimes are committed within HDB housing estates, especially the index crimes that have increased. I ask this to ascertain if NPCs' presence or lack thereof has an effect on crimes committed in housing estates.

Sir, a related question raised by the public is that Police patrolling has been reduced since the NPCs took over and that the Police has less manpower. They have fed back that the NPCs have taken a longer time to investigate cases and to address their concerns. Here, I would like to ask the following questions: what is the difference in terms of the number of personnel assigned to the housing estates now as compared to when the NPPs were more prominently located in the housing estates? What is the ratio or population norm of the number of Police personnel to the residents in the estates that the NPCs are responsible for, ie, how many policemen to how many people in a particular geographical location? Does the Minister feel that the number of personnel in the NPCs is adequate or are there plans to increase the manpower in the NPCs?

Sir, the NPCs have been around for 10 years now since its inception in 1996. I would like to ask the Minister what are the key performance indicators of these NPCs apart from the crime rates, for example, the Police's relationship with the public, community involvement in crime prevention, time taken to investigate cases, etc. How have these NPCs performed vis-a-vis these indicators? How have they performed compared to the NPPs?

Police Force

Mr Ravindran: Sir, the Singapore Police Force has an excellent reputation among the public. They have been at the forefront of crime prevention, crime detection and in the maintenance of internal security. However, Sir, the first generation of Police officers who joined the Force around the period of independence will soon be retiring or many have retired, and a whole new generation of young officers are now joining the Police Force.

My concern is whether, with a higher educational requirement for entering into the Police Force, many of the young Police officers who are entering the Police Force will have the many skills and talents which were prevalent amongst the older Police officers, particularly in the area of detection and intelligence at an early stage of a crime before it is committed or even after a crime has been committed. So far, the track record has been good. I am hoping to see whether such a track record can be continued and how do we enable our officers to have this ability to have the network on the ground to detect crime at an early stage.

Sir, the second point that I would like to raise is, with many officers being deployed to undertake many more tasks, and maximum work being performed by our officers, whether they have enough time to go for further training to develop their professionalism. And with the move of the Police Academy to its new campus at Chua Chu Kang, can we now enable more resources to be put in to enhance the professionalism of the Police officers who are joining as new officers and also those who are already in the Police Force? How can we enhance their professionalism?

Police Academy

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: Mr Chairman, Sir, policing today is no longer about crime prevention, crime investigation and preservation of law and order. Police's role is multi-faceted and the Police have to be trained in people-to-people relations, dealing with minors and be conscious of the rapidly changing social environment within the community.

Training in soft skills aside, it is also good that we continue to work on the image of the Police Force as one that reaches out to the public and not necessarily as tangkap Police, giving them a very hard and tough image that will not help to build trust and confidence with the public.

Sir, care must be taken in handling minors so that their emotional and mental welfare will not be jeopardised. For example, for runaway kids, can the Police training help to strengthen the minors' family ties? Will the Police partner the MCYS, for example, and the parents to study into the coincidence of runaway kids and families with step-parents, as reported in today's Straits Times ?

The Police Academy that has been set up and is now providing centralised training may consider conducting special courses on how to deal with juveniles, since statistics indicated that crimes committed by young people have been on the uptrend, so that they can have a better understanding of the social and emotional development of young people. The course may cover areas, such as behavioural science, with emphasis on understanding juvenile behaviour. Counselling of juveniles is another course that should be included as part of the basic training for Police officers.

Finally, in terms of the career prospects for Police officers, the Academy may want to consider tie-ups with the universities to allow these officers, who want to pursue their interest in behavioural science, to go on to take degree courses. In this way, our Police officers can actually progress on their studies and pursue degree courses related to criminology and other related disciplines dealing with people-management skills.

6.30 pm

The Chairman: Mr Wee Siew Kim is not here. Mr Arthur Fong.

Vehicle Breakdown

Mr Arthur Fong: Sir, Singapore has one of the best transport infrastructures in the world. In a densely populated city like Singapore, we have maintained competitively high standards of road safety, with an average of 200-250 fatalities annually since the 1980s. However, some key concerns remain, as highlighted by the National Road Safety Action Plan - lack of lane discipline by many motorcyclists, particularly young riders; tendency of elderly pedestrians to avoid the use of pedestrian crossing facilities provided; cyclists and motorcyclists who ride in a manner that risks their own safety when interacting with other road users.

I understand that the Land Transport Authority undertakes regular road safety audits on the highways and arterial roads. However, one area highlighted by the recent tragic loss involving a Home Team member when his Rhino was involved in an accident needs urgent attention.

Sir, I submit that we need to step up education for our road users, particularly in respect to how road users should respond to emergency vehicles that are travelling on our roads when they are responding to emergency or an incident. I ask that the Minister share how our drivers can be educated through a comprehensive campaign to ensure safety of road users and also respond appropriately when emergency vehicles are on our roads.

Sir, we often see the ugly side of drivers on brinkmanship and opportunist take-over when a better sense of safety and consideration for other road users should be present.

Emergency Preparedness

Mr Ahmad Khalis Bin Abdul Ghani: Sir, on emergency preparedness, namely, fire, I note that no one else this year filed a cut on fire emergency. I believe the SCDF must be doing quite well. So, is it true, Sir, that the number of fire incidents has been showing a downward trend and, if so, can the Minister share with us the reasons for this trend?

Sir, like many disasters, fire prevention is hugely better than cure. The SCDF has, in recent years, stepped up public education to prevent fire very considerably. More and more Civil Defence Executive Committees (CDEC) are being formed and I would like to encourage more citizens to participate in CDECs or form new CDECs.

May I ask the Minister what more are being done to better educate the public to prevent fires and to better prepare them to react appropriately when there is one? I wish also to ask what is the SCDF's target in making Singapore emergency-trained. Is it one person for every 100 persons or one household per block or one household per floor, maybe? Perhaps the Minister could enlighten us on this and how the Ministry intends that the SCDF achieve this target.

Drug Abuse

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Mr Chairman, the decline in the number of drug addicts, specifically heroin addicts, over the last few years has been very encouraging. After many years of the two-pronged approach of supply reduction and demand reduction, we can see the results. However, recently, press news of the emergence of subutex as an alternative to heroin is rather worrying. There have been reports of negative effects of subutex like gangrene, leading to limb amputation, which is far more serious physically than the effects of heroin.

Sir, one of the issues raised is the perception that subutex is what is called a legal drug, ie, it is classified as a drug listed under the Poisons Act rather than as a controlled drug listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act. What was also reported was the emergence of a black market for subutex. If this is so, it seems that the heroin abusers are not using subutex as a treatment that it is supposed to be but, rather, it is used as an option and alternative drug to be abused.

Sir, I would like to ask the Minister what is the current state with respect to subutex abuse. Is MHA or MOH tracking the number of subutex abusers? Does CNB see the abuse of subutex as a worrying phenomenon? What is CNB's position and strategy with regard to handling the subutex abusers? Is it going to use similar strategy as it did with heroin abusers over the last couple of years? How does CNB intend to address this problem of the black market, if it is true that it exists?

Finally, Sir, as subutex is becoming a drug of abuse and has negative effects, I wonder if MHA is considering classifying subutex as a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Currently, also with regard to treatment, subutex abusers are treated at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), but I think the capacity at the IMH is quite limited. I do not have the number of cases of subutex abuse. I would like the Minister to share with us if there are figures on the number of subutex abusers. And if the number escalates, has CNB any plans to treat subutex abusers as they did for heroin abusers?

Immigration

I would like to now take the cut on the topic of immigration. Sir, we are an open society. We welcome foreigners, whether they are working here or they want to continue to live here. With this open society, I think, anecdotally, we see an increase in the number of Singaporeans marrying foreigners. But, time and again, we see cases coming to our MPS appealing for foreign spouses to be allowed to stay here for longer periods, be it appeal for long term visit passes or for permanent resident status.

I would like to ask the Minister if ICA is seeing an increasing trend in the number of Singaporeans marrying foreign spouses and whether there is also an increasing trend of requests for foreign spouses to be given long term visit passes to enable them to settle down or perhaps to secure employment. At the same time, is there an increasing trend of requests for permanent residency amongst foreign spouses?

In relation to that also, Sir, I think many Singaporeans who are keen under the option of marrying foreigners - because sometimes they do find it difficult to marry Singaporeans and we want to encourage them to marry and have children subsequently - would like to have a better idea as to what the implications are. Because sometimes they come to see us, after they married a foreigner, to say it is so difficult to have the foreigner stay here, and some of them do have children. The foreign spouses do bear children for them and for whatever reasons that are unknown to them, their spouses are asked to go back. Sometimes they go back with their children, and sometimes the children are left behind, and it creates a lot of uncertainty for these families. If we want to encourage Singaporeans to have an open mind to consider foreigners as potential brides or bridegrooms, we have to give them some education with regard to what is expected and is required, and explain to them what is the policy with regard to foreigners marrying in Singapore, and give them a clearer idea of what they need to do in order to facilitate the process of settling down.

I understand that there are a lot of issues. We want to make sure that these marriages are genuine marriages, that they are not bogus marriages and, therefore, we do not want to grant permanent residence almost immediately. But I think it would be good if we can help Singaporeans understand and, therefore, they can plan. If they find a potential partner, looking at what are some of the criteria, they may be in a better position to decide when they should marry, and how to go about trying to settle down. That, I think, will make it a lot easier for these individuals and, hopefully, our marriage rate can go up and our procreation rate will go up too.

The Chairman: Mr Loh Meng See is not here.