The last time a riot happened in Singapore was in 1969. We have not had a riot since for some 44 years. The peace has just been broken by the riot that occurred in last night. It is almost unbelievable. Singaporeans are waking up this morning shocked and shaken. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the riot was a “very grave incident”.
He’s damn right it’s a grave incident. But I’m also shocked at how this “grave incident” translated to only 27 arrests, out of 400 rioters. That’s not even 7% of the rioters. It’s alright that you eventually formally charge fewer people in court, but surely at the early stages, it makes sense to round up more people for questioning and investigation. Look, you can tell us there are some 400 rioters, surely that’s good enough grounds to round up say a hundred of them?
Were the police overwhelmed to be not able to round up the rioters? We’re reading that there were some 300 policemen deployed. Our 300 policemen were only capable of nabbing 27 people?
What sort of signal is the police sending? That they are ineffective? Or they are not treating the incident seriously enough?
One of the major plus points of living in the stressful and fast paced city of Singapore is its security. There are few serious crimes. The streets are relatively safe. We tell our overseas friends about how safe Singapore is.
This riot is really unprecedented in our modern history. Police vehicles are overturned and set on fire. Even ambulances, which are there to save lives, are not spared the attacks from rioters. This is truly blatant disregard of the law and total disrespect of the law enforcers. Most Singaporeans, at least for those not older than 44 years, have never ever seen anything like this. These are scenes that you associate with other countries, never something you could imagine will happen in Singapore.
The government has been, in my opinion, overreacting to the recent spate of cyber-attackers. Our Prime Minister even said that they will spare no effort to bring culprits to justice. Those are just minor incidents that have no real impact.
This riot is totally different. It has, at the least, shaken our beliefs of a Singapore that is safe and peaceful. The authorities will need to deal with this incident in the right manner to restore confidence. It’s probably alright with us that a flood happens once in 50 years (yeah, but it’s happening every year nowadays); but not a riot once in 44 years.