S'pore can learn and draw inspiration from crises responses, says DPM Teo
By Tan Qiuyi | Posted: 20 March 2011 1432 hrs <LINK rel=image_src href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/phpUooaKk.jpg">
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SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said Singapore can learn from the way people in Australia and Japan responded in crises.
He said their stoicism in the face of adversity and determination to rebuild their lives serve as inspiration for Singaporeans.
"If you look at what's happened in Japan during the crisis, the way they've come together to help each other is really quite dramatic. It shows the strength of the community spirit, and this has to be built up over a period of time," said Mr Teo.
He said this at the launch of a nation-wide emergency preparedness programme specially for private estates on Sunday morning in Serangoon.
Coordinated by People's Association, the Emergency Preparedness 123 programme has three elements.
First, it offers subsidised courses like life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills for residents. Second, it will engage the community to form emergency response teams to patrol their estates and third, it encourages residents to reach out and exchange numbers with their neighbours for help during emergencies.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Advisor to Serangoon Grassroots Organisations, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, said at the core of the programme are community thinking and action.
"The whole idea is to get people to think beyond themselves, and to see how they can mobilise each other...we all run very busy lives these days, so unless we all put in an effort to know each other and to see that there can be larger interests to be served, it's going to always be a challenge because people value their privacy and do not see the benefit of knowing their neighbours," said Mrs Lim.
More than 50 Neighbourhood Committees of private estates pledged to undertake the Emergency Preparedness 123 programme on Sunday.
The programme targets 55,000 unique households in private estates over the next five years, or about 20 per cent of all private households in Singapore.
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By Tan Qiuyi | Posted: 20 March 2011 1432 hrs <LINK rel=image_src href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/phpUooaKk.jpg">
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SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said Singapore can learn from the way people in Australia and Japan responded in crises.
He said their stoicism in the face of adversity and determination to rebuild their lives serve as inspiration for Singaporeans.
"If you look at what's happened in Japan during the crisis, the way they've come together to help each other is really quite dramatic. It shows the strength of the community spirit, and this has to be built up over a period of time," said Mr Teo.
He said this at the launch of a nation-wide emergency preparedness programme specially for private estates on Sunday morning in Serangoon.
Coordinated by People's Association, the Emergency Preparedness 123 programme has three elements.
First, it offers subsidised courses like life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills for residents. Second, it will engage the community to form emergency response teams to patrol their estates and third, it encourages residents to reach out and exchange numbers with their neighbours for help during emergencies.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Advisor to Serangoon Grassroots Organisations, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, said at the core of the programme are community thinking and action.
"The whole idea is to get people to think beyond themselves, and to see how they can mobilise each other...we all run very busy lives these days, so unless we all put in an effort to know each other and to see that there can be larger interests to be served, it's going to always be a challenge because people value their privacy and do not see the benefit of knowing their neighbours," said Mrs Lim.
More than 50 Neighbourhood Committees of private estates pledged to undertake the Emergency Preparedness 123 programme on Sunday.
The programme targets 55,000 unique households in private estates over the next five years, or about 20 per cent of all private households in Singapore.
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