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Updated: 02/19/2014 15:15 | By Channel NewsAsia
COI on Little India riot puts focus on fatal accident on day 1 of hearing
Singapore: The Committee of Inquiry hearing into the Little India riot resumed Wednesday afternoon with forensic scientist Dr Michael Tay presenting his findings.
Dr Tay who was engaged by the Singapore Police as an independent forensic scientist said the overall bus speed when the accident occurred, was under 10 km/hr and that the man was in the driver's blind spot when he fell, but would have still been visible on bus CCTV.
He said 33-year-old Indian national, Sakthivel Kumaravelu, fell and was crushed as the bus turned out to the main road from Tekka Lane.
Dr Tay also said Kumaravelu had briefly touched the bus with his right hand before he fell with his head about 33cm from the front of the bus, where the vehicle's left front wheel went over him.
He added that the man had been seen walking in a slightly unsteady manner outside the bus and that the likely reasons why he fell include intoxication, a wet road surface, and the curved path of the turning bus.
Dr Tay is the first witness to testify at the hearing.
Twitter - Little India Riot
The bus driver and the female bus timekeeper also turned up this afternoon but they are scheduled to testify later at the hearing. - CNA/sf
"Fearful" bus timekeeper tells COI on Little India riot, she was stern but not rude to workers
SINGAPORE: Bus timekeeper Wong Geck Woon said on Thursday she was assaulted by foreign workers after the fatal traffic accident that sparked the Little India riot on December 8 last year.
She was the first witness to testify on the second day of the hearing by the Committee of Inquiry hearing into the Little India riot.
"I was fearful," said Madam Wong -- who has been a bus coordinator and timekeeper at the Tekka Lane area for the past five years -- while relating the events of December 8.
Recounting the events that led up to the fatal accident and riot after the death of 33-year-old Sakthivel Kumaravelu, she said passengers on the bus that ferried foreign workers between Little India and their dormitories, had complained that a drunk Indian worker had "jumped queue".
On the bus, she saw the Indian national with his trousers down and asked him to get off the bus, which he obliged to, before the bus door closed and began to move off slowly.
Describing the foreign workers as generally well-behaved with more getting drunk on the first weekend of the month after being paid, Mdm Wong told the hearing that bus drivers had decided two years ago, among themselves, not to ferry drunk workers after many incidents of them urinating and vomiting on board the buses.
"And so these drunk workers had to take a taxi back or some bus drivers were kind enough to ferry them to their dormitories," she said.
Of the fatal accident, Mdm Wong said two workers on the bus had told her that the bus had knocked down someone.
She said she saw a man under the bus, and later, as she went back to the bus, she was hit by a beer bottle and a stone thrown from outside the bus.
She managed to board the bus where she asked bus driver to close its doors and both of them hid there as metal railings and beer bottles were thrown into the bus.
Video footage from that day showed two men climbing into the bus through a shattered window, and she claims one of them assaulted her.
When police with shields came and escorted them off, Mdm Wong had been hit by bottles and was bleeding from her head.
But she said this was not the first unpleasant experience she had encountered while on the job.
She claimed she was molested on New Year's Day two years ago by a foreign worker.
When asked by the COI if she'd been rude to the workers, Mdm Wong said she was not aware of it -- she did not use vulgarities and did not make any comments to workers about their race.
She also told the COI when questioned, that she had used a stern voice when asking Sakthivel Kumaravelu to alight, but did not manhandle him.
Mdm Wong also said she only saw the police telling rioters to leave but did not see them hit the rioters.
The second person to testify was bus driver Lee Kim Huat, who has been ferrying workers to and from Little India on Sundays for the past 12 years.
He recounted that he got off his bus immediately after he felt a bump.
He saw Sakthivel in front of the left rear wheel of the bus, but as the crowd grew and became more aggressive, he got back onto the bus.
He then hid under a dust bin, which had been thrown into the bus by one of the workers, to shield himself from the objects being thrown into the bus.
These included stones, flower pots, metal drain covers and beer bottles.
The committee asked Mr Lee if he had turned on a monitor that would have allowed him to see images from four different cameras mounted on his bus.
Mr Lee said he had not done so at the time as the monitor caused a glare which could have distracted him while driving.
The hearing continues on Friday, with Deputy Commissioner of Police T Raja Kumar and bus passenger Ganesan Thanaraj taking the stand.
Updated: 02/20/2014 14:27 | By Channel NewsAsia
Bus timekeeper claims assault after accident that sparked Little India riot
SINGAPORE: Bus timekeeper Wong Geck Woon said she was assaulted by foreign workers after the fatal traffic accident that sparked the Little India riot on Dec 8 last year.
She was the first witness to testify on Thursday at the Committee of Inquiry hearing into the riot.
Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu, 33, died after he fell onto the path of a bus which was turning left from Tekka Lane into Race Course Road.
Video footage taken from a camera in the bus showed a man beating Mdm Wong with his hands.
Recounting her experience that night, she said she was also hit by a beer bottle and a stone thrown from outside the bus.
Mdm Wong claimed that she had encountered other unpleasant experiences during the course of her work, including being molested on New Year's Day two years ago by a foreign worker.
She also cited past incidents of drunk workers vomiting and urinating in her bus.
As such, she has had to turn away more drunk workers recently compared to two years ago, she said, adding that she noticed more shops in Little India selling liquor compared to previous years.
She also noticed that the police have stepped up the frequency of their patrols in Little India, while the crowds have become smaller of late.
The hearing continues with the bus driver, 55-year-old Lee Kim Huat, expected to testify next.
Third man jailed for refusing to disperse during Little India riot
SINGAPORE: A third Indian national received jail sentence for refusing to disperse during the Little India riot last December despite orders to do so by the police.
Selvaraj Karikalan, 28, was sentenced to 18 weeks' imprisonment on a lesser charge of failing to disperse.
He had initially faced a charge of rioting, which carries the maximum penalty of seven years in jail and caning.
The lesser charge carries a maximum penalty of a two-year jail term and a fine.
Two others, who were convicted earlier of a similar charge, were sentenced to 15 weeks' jail each.
District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim noted that Selvaraj had not only refused to move away from the vicinity but went on to take multiple photos of the damaged vehicles along Race Course Road.
The judge also noted that the accused gesticulated while on the road and swung an object into Race Course Road.
She added that he was in the immediate vicinity of the riot the entire time.
Selvaraj is the third of 25 men, initially charged with rioting, to be dealt with. - CNA/de
Police have paid "a lot of attention" to Little India area: deputy commissioner
SINGAPORE: The crime situation in Little India has improved over the years, and more police resources which include auxiliary police and security officers have been committed to the area to carry out enforcement on the ground.
Deputy Commissioner of Police T Raja Kumar revealed this to the Committee of Inquiry convened to look into last year's Little India riot on the third day of a public hearing on Friday.
By and large, foreign workers have also not caused major problems in Little India over the years.
DCP Raja Kumar said that in the period between 2009 and 2013, the crime rate in Little India fell by over 32 per cent.
"A lot of attention has been paid to Little India in terms of enforcement on the ground," he said, adding that troops from the Special Operations Command (SOC) had been deployed to patrol the area no less than 16 times last year.
DCP Raja Kumar was also asked by the four-member committee why there was no regular deployment of SOC troops to patrol the Little India area.
Former Commissioner of Police Tee Tua Ba then pointed to large crowds and consumption of alcohol during the weekends, which he called a "deadly combination".
DCP Raja Kumar replied that for planned events such as Thaipusam, more resources are deployed.
But the SOC, made up of eight troops, cannot be deployed to Little India every weekend as it also has to cover other potential problem spots that include Geylang.
"If we have the resources, we would do so," he added.
DCP Raja Kumar also gave a detailed account of police action on the night of the riot.
He said a "999" call was placed about the traffic accident involving Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu at 9.23pm.
He then explained how two pairs of officers who were the first to respond at 9.37pm and at 9.40pm handled the situation.
DCP Raja Kumar emphasised that although the officers attended to the incident, it was initially presented as a traffic accident, which meant that it would have been attended to by traffic police officers.
He also said that following the incident, the police force has fast-tracked plans to leverage technology that will allow its nerve centres to view incidents happening on the ground through cameras mounted on vehicles and police officers.
This followed feedback from officers that radio signals on the night of the riot were congested, and phone lines jammed, because of the number of calls from the public about the incident. - CNA/nd
Auxiliary police officers claim slow police response in Little India riot
SINGAPORE: Two auxiliary police officers on duty at Little India on December 8 claim the delayed response by police officers to control the crowd may have caused the riot to spiral out of control.
They also said many of the rioters were intoxicated.
Nathan Chandra Sekaran and Raymond Murugiasu took the stand on the third day of a public hearing by the Committee of Inquiry convened to look into the riot.
The pair were assigned foreign worker management duties at Little India on December 8.
After a bus ran over Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu, they said a crowd of about 30 started to gather around the bus, some of whom then threw objects at the bus.
The crowd, which included some who looked drunk, started to get bigger and Mr Nathan said they were outnumbered.
He also heard the foreign workers saying in Tamil that they wanted to kill bus timekeeper Wong Geck Woon, whom they thought caused Mr Sakthivel's death.
Some threatened to burn the bus.
Mr Nathan said that police officers who arrived early reported the incident and waited for back-up instead of making arrests.
He also believed that police vehicles would not have been burned if police had arrested those who threatened to do so.
Meanwhile, Mr Murugiasu claimed that one reason for the riot could be the timekeeper's past use of harsh words on foreign workers.
But both officers said they thought foreign workers in Little India were generally manageable.
Foreign worker Ganesan Thanaraj, who was in the bus with Mr Sakthivel, also testified.
He said a worker whom he thought was Mr Sakthivel appeared drunk before he boarded the bus.
After the other workers boarded the bus, Mr Ganesan said the timekeeper raised her voice when she told Mr Sakthivel to get off the bus.
During the Committee of Inquiry hearing into the Little India riot, a comprehensive approach will be taken to consider whether current measures to manage such an incident are adequate. - CNA/xq
Passenger of bus that ran over worker testifies in COI hearing
SINGAPORE: A passenger who was on the bus that was involved in the accident that killed an Indian worker has testified on day four of the Committee of Inquiry (COI) public hearing into the Little India riot.
Ganesan Thanaraj, 34, was on the bus that ran over Indian worker Sakthivel Kumaravelu, 33, on December 8, 2013.
The fatal accident is believed to have sparked the riot at Little India.
Mr Ganesan is the first foreign worker to testify.
He said that an Indian worker believed to be Sakthivel appeared drunk before he boarded the bus.
After the other workers boarded the bus, Mr Ganesan said the timekeeper raised her voice when she told Sakthivel to get off the bus.
Mr Ganesan added that he did not see Sakthivel remove his bermuda pants as there were about 10 people between them.
Sakthivel eventually got off the bus.
Mr Ganesan then saw Sakthivel running alongside the bus while it was making a turn.
He said he later felt a bump and when he got down from the bus, he saw a body pinned under the left rear wheel of the bus.
Mr Ganesan added he took the next bus back to his dormitory as he had to work early the next day. - CNA/nd
Little India Riot COI: Auxiliary police officer told it was 'unsafe' to keep arresting rioters
Published on Feb 25, 2014
An auxiliary police officer who was on the ground on the night of the Little India riot on Dec 8 last year had already arrested four men before the crowd started setting fire on government vehicles. -- ST FILE PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
By Lim Yan Liang
An auxiliary police officer who was on the ground on the night of the Little India riot on Dec 8 last year had already arrested four men before the crowd started setting fire on government vehicles. But he was then told to stop doing so by his supervisor.
Testifying on the fifth day into the public hearings on the riot, Constable Srisivasangkar Subramaniam told the Committee of Inquiry (COI) that he had crossed from Race Course Road to a coffeeshop at the corner of Kerbau Road shortly after the police and Singapore Civil Defence Forced rescued the timekeeper and driver who were on the bus.
There, he arrested four men who were throwing bottles, grabbing them one-by-one before handing them over to a group of police officers who were at Race Course Road.
"After handing over the fourth person, my ground supervisor told me that what I was doing was brave but dangerous, and told me to stop," said Constable Siva. "He said that I shouldn't have arrested them, because my two protection officers were not there (to witness it), and that it was unsafe for me to effect more arrests."
Little India Riot COI: Senior police officer at scene says team was "grossly outnumbered"
Published on Feb 25, 2014
The first senior police officer at the scene of the fatal accident in Little India told the Committee of Inquiry on Tuesday that the police was "grossly outnumbered" against an increasingly boisterous crowd that was about 200-strong. -- ST FILE PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
By Lim Yan Liang
The first senior police officer at the scene of the fatal accident in Little India told the Committee of Inquiry on Tuesday that the police was "grossly outnumbered" against an increasingly boisterous crowd that was about 200-strong.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Jonathan Tang said at the public hearing that he arrived at the scene at about 9.40pm with another officer. He explained that he did not immediately make any arrests as his main mission then was to form a human barrier.
The human barrier formed by him and five other officers was to give rescuers the space and time to extricate the body of the accident victim and to ensure the safety of the occupants of the bus that seemed to be the focus of the rioters. This even as the officers and bus were being pelted with stones, glass bottles and other objects by the mob.
"We would deal with them later... It's not that we didn't want to deal with these fellows," said ASP Tang, 28, referring to the men in the crowd who were "active rioters". "But to deal with them meant splitting my manpower and I had judged that my main mission was to help (the Singapore Civil Defence Force rescuers) extricate the body.
Updated: 02/25/2014 14:50 | By Channel NewsAsia
No arrests by first responders to riot due to manpower constraints, says ASP
SINGAPORE: It would not have been feasible for first responders to make arrests when they arrived at the scene of the December 8 Little India riot due to manpower constraints, said Assistant Superintendent of Police Jonathan Tang on day five of the Committee of Inquiry hearing.
He said the initial focus was also to extricate the body of Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu from under the bus, as well as to get the bus timekeeper and driver to safety.
The Indian worker was killed after being run over by a bus -- the fatal accident is believed to have sparked the riot.
ASP Tang was one of the first police officers to respond to the incident.
ASP Tang, who was the most senior among the first few officers who responded to the incident, was responding to questions about why the police had not engaged the rioters, or made any arrests when they first arrived on scene.
He said when he got to Race Course Road around 9.40pm, he saw four auxiliary police officers (APOs) trying to hold the crowd back, as officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) worked to free Mr Sakthivel's body.
He knew that there were also two police officers at the scene, but could not locate them due to the dense crowd.
ASP Tang then ordered the four APOs to form a human barrier around the SCDF officers, who were being hit with projectiles that were aimed at the bus.
"I did not know if the subject was alive or dead, so it was critical for SCDF to do their work without hindrance, and extricate the subject in case he needed medical attention," he said.
He added that his broad mission was to contain the situation which would involve extricating the body, as well as removing the bus timekeeper Madam Wong Gek Woong from the bus, as he realised both factors could further agitate the crowd.
At that time, with a crowd of about 400, ASP Tang knew that he and the team of six were outnumbered.
"I felt the arrests would antagonise the crowd," he said, adding that the small team of men would not be able to control them.
There were also not enough men to carry out arrests while still forming a human barricade around the SCDF officers.
ASP Tang estimated that about 150 of the crowd members were active rioters, which means they were throwing projectiles, as well as shouting and instigating the crowd.
He was also asked why he did not use the T-baton, which all police officers carry while on patrol.
He responded that the baton was designed to be a defensive weapon, and was not suitable for crowd control.
Earlier, APO Srisivasangkar A/L Subramaniam said that he had arrested four workers for throwing projectiles, and had handed them over to police officers.
But he was told by his supervisor to stop doing so because it was "unsafe" for him to make any more arrests. - CNA/nd
2 jailed for refusing to disperse during Little India riot
SINGAPORE: Two Indian nationals have been sentenced to 18 weeks' imprisonment for refusing to disperse despite being told to do so by the police during the 8 December 2013 riot at Little India.
The two are 23-year-old Thiagarajan Sribalamurugan and 25-year-old Thangaiya Selvakumar.
They were originally charged with rioting, which carries a penalty of up to seven years' jail and caning.
For knowingly joining an assembly of five or more persons and failing to disperse when ordered by the authorities, the maximum punishment is a jail term of two years and a fine.
So far, five men have been dealt with in relation to the riot.
Policemen in Little India riot COI say "not trained for full-scale riot"
SINGAPORE: Three police officers who were among the first responders at the scene of the Little India riot told the Committee Of Inquiry (COI) on Wednesday that they were not trained for a full-scale riot.
The three officers -- Special Constable Sergeant Abdul Aziz, Assistant Superintendent of Police Edwin Yong and Special Constable Corporal Arshard Abdul Murad -- said they had only been prepared for "peace time" crowd control.
The three officers police officers were testifying on Day Six of the COI hearing into the December 8 riot.
Special Constable Sergeant Abdul Aziz said that warning shots were not fired because doing so could have riled up the already aggressive crowd.
The T-batons, revolvers and shields carried by police officers on patrol are meant for defensive use, and this is why they were not used to tackle the rioters, he explained.
Special Constable Corporal Arshard said a foreign worker had challenged him to "take out my T-baton to hit the people in the crowd", but he did not do so.
ASP Yong added that communications could have been better as the crowd may not have understood what the officers were trying to say when they were asked to move back.
Responding to allegations from the public of cowardice after video footage showed officers running away from the main location of the riot, ASP Yong said it had been a "tactical retreat" to regroup.
Meanwhile, an auxiliary police officer, Certis Cisco constable Srisivasangkar Subramaniam who had testified on Tuesday, returned to court on Wednesday to clarify a statement.
The statement had read that he had personally "arrested" four rioters during the Little India riot.
Srisivasangkar clarified that he had "caught" rather than "arrested" the four who had been pelting beer bottles.
He said the word "arrest" could have been used due to his poor command of languages while recording his statement. - CNA/de
SCDF to improve on some processes after Little India riot
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Civil Defence Force said that following the Little India riot, it has identified lessons to be learnt from the incident and will put in place measures to improve some of its processes.
This was told to the Committee of Inquiry by two senior SCDF officers who took the stand on day eight of the hearing.
Video shown at the hearing was released to the media for the first time.
One video footage was taken from a camera inside the bus that was attacked by rioters on the night of December 8.
In it, SCDF officer Tiffany Neo was seen calling out to bus driver Lee Kim Huat. She did not get any response.
To look for him, she had to walk on the seats because of the debris on the bus floor.
Initially, she could not see Mr Lee because he was taking refuge from the angry mob under a rubbish bin.
After he emerged from under the bin, Lieutenant Neo's mission was to get Mr Lee and bus timekeeper Wong Gek Woon to safety.
She recounted how she used her hands to shield Mr Lee's bare head as they left the bus, protecting him from any projectiles that flew into the vehicle.
Earlier, she recalled being hit twice on her back by someone in the crowd as she was helping to move the body of Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu to an ambulance.
The SCDF also said it plans to improve certain processes following an after-action review of the Little India riot.
This includes improving the protection of its personnel and vehicles by increasing the number of helmets inside each of its ambulances.
Currently, SCDF emergency ambulances carry one rescue helmet for paramedics to work in the risk area. But it plans to increase the number of helmets to commensurate with the number of personnel on board.
This was told to the committee by Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Seet, who added that the SCDF will also seek inputs from the Police on developing a joint standard operating procedure to handle civil disorder scenarios.
The SCDF also plans to further enhance training to help its responders and commanders better manage uncertainties on the ground.
Other plans involve enhancing SCDF's sense-making capabilities, by integrating its video footage and duty officer system with more video feeds from other agencies in future.
For now, the SCDF Ops Centre receives real-time videos of incidents. For example, during the riot, its ops centre received real-time videos of the riot via cameras mounted on emergency vehicles - which helped in the sense-making process that time.
The SCDF will also leverage social media platforms to complement situation awareness at its ops centre.
Deputy Commissioner of SCDF Jackson Lim, who was the day's final witness, said the riot was an important piece of learning that the SCDF has now started to include in its basic training for officers.
He also addressed queries as to why there was a delay in sending SCDF's fire engines to douse the burning vehicles. The request came about 10 to 15 minutes after the SCDF officers had left the scene due to safety reasons.
He sought the committee's understanding that it was a decision that the officers had to make.
"With the injured attended to and the trapped victim extricated, we decided it is not worthwhile to commit the fire engines to extinguish the fires until it is safe for our personnel to do it," he said, adding that when SCDF's ambulance was attacked, it did not make sense for them to remain on site after the rescue of all the injured was complete.
He also noted that it had been assessed that there was no risk of the fire spreading, even though the vehicles were burning.
"It's a fine balance that SCDF has to operate between taking risks and to ensure the safety of our personnel," he said. - CNA/nd/de
Elizabeth Law
The New Paper
Saturday, Mar 01, 2014
SINGAPORE - The inquiry was interrupted briefly on Wednesday afternoon when a woman, claiming to be a witness in the Little India riot, walked into the courtroom.
She had earlier approached the media to try to give her side of the story.
When told she had to speak to investigation officers, she refused.
The woman then sat in the public gallery, frequently letting out loud sighs.
When Certis Cisco supervisor Mahmood Masdar ended his testimony, she stood up and asked to speak.
"I'm a witness too," she said, refusing to comply with police officers who told her to sit down.
This caught the attention of Committee of Inquiry chairman G. P. Selvam, who told her that "this is not a townhall meeting".
"We are conducting proceedings here. Do not disrupt," the former Supreme Court judge said.
When the woman continued to protest, saying she just needed two minutes, Mr Selvam snapped at her.
"You will not even get two seconds. Sit down. And keep quiet."
Updated: 03/03/2014 10:58 | By Channel NewsAsia
Little India riot COI hearing adjourned
SINGAPORE: The public hearing into the Little India riot has been adjourned as the key witnesses were unavailable to testify on Monday.
The secretariat of the Committee of Inquiry on the Little India riot said the hearing will resume on Tuesday.
Commander of Tanglin Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) Lu Yeow Lim, and Deputy Director of Operations, DAC Koh Wei Keong, are expected to testify on Tuesday.
Updated: 03/04/2014 15:47 | By Channel NewsAsia
Ground commander could have done more to deter rioting crowd: COI
SINGAPORE: The ground commander who decided to "hold the ground" at the start of the Little India riot was on Tuesday told by the Committee of Inquiry (COI) that he "could have done more" to deter the crowd.
On day nine of the hearing, the committee grilled the commander of Tanglin Police Division, deputy assistant commissioner (DAC) Lu Yeow Lim on his decision -- for his group of Tanglin police officers to wait half an hour for their Special Operations Command colleagues to turn up at the scene of the riot, before taking any action.
The COI said the move could have emboldened the crowd and worsened the situation.
But DAC Lu told the committee he decided to "hold the ground" in a defensive position behind shields, as he and his eight other officers were outnumbered.
DAC Lu said there were about 150 rioters around them.
He told the committee he drove from home in plain clothes to the scene, right after he was informed of the incident.
He reached the junction of Hampshire Road and Race Course Road at about 10.06pm.
But DAC Lu could not find out the number of officers on the ground, as the communications network was “jammed”.
He also added that he and his officers were surrounded by rioters who were pelting projectiles at them non-stop.
Based on his assessment, DAC Lu said it was best he and his men stayed where they were, as he had reason to believe the crowd would close in on them, if they left their shields.
But the committee said the half hour of inaction would lead the crowd to believe it is “free play” for them.
Committee member John De Payva, a former labour chief, pointed out that DAC Lu -- who was not in police uniform -- could have walked to other parts of the riot scene to find out more about the situation, including determining the number of officers on the ground.
But DAC Lu said he had been struck by projectiles twice and the crowd had targeted him.
He also added that, according to police procedures, commanders should not be involved in the heat of action and lose focus of command and control.
Committee chairman G Pannir Selvam started the session on Tuesday by reminding DAC Lu that the purpose of the hearing is to find facts, rather than prosecute or persecute individuals. - CNA/nd
Updated: 03/05/2014 15:09 | By Channel NewsAsia
SOC aimed to disperse Little India riot crowd instead of making arrests
SINGAPORE: The Special Operations Command (SOC) forces aimed to disperse the crowd rather than make as many arrests as possible during the Little India riot -- although the instruction from Acting Commissioner of Police T Raja Kumar was to arrest as many rioters as possible.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) David Scott Arul, who is the deputy commander of SOC, gave that testimony on the 10th day of the Committee of Inquiry (COI) hearing into the Little India riot on Wednesday.
DAC Scott Arul said he made the recommendation based on his assessment on the ground.
He told the committee that he wanted to stop the behaviour and violence of the rioters, and one way to do so was to clear the crowd.
He added that from the standpoint of operations, there are factors to consider when making an arrest.
DAC Scott Arul said officers can only make arrests if there was partial or total containment of the situation -- conditions which he felt were not met that night.
He added they would only arrest rioters who refused to disperse.
He also described the riot as something at a level of violence he had never witnessed before.
DAC Scott Arul said SOC officers train a lot, using simulated riots, but the projectiles usually involve wooden boxes and bottles.
He also said that because of their training, SOC officers attend cases with a certain level of confidence.
He added that visually, the riot was a familiar scene, but the scale of the burning vehicles, the roar of the rioters, the sounds of broken glass and "thud" of concrete pieces were unfamiliar to him.
The COI also heard how the SOC forces advanced towards the crowd in various parts of Little India, causing them to disperse.
DAC Scott Arul described how intimidating the appearance of SOC officers can be -- especially when they move in unison towards the crowd, in full gear.
To give an idea of how SOC officers look in full gear, DAC Scott Arul arranged for an officer to turn up in Gear 3.
He showed them the different pieces of equipment officers could use, including the shields, batons, and tear gas canisters.
DAC Scott Arul also said because of the gear and training, SOC officers are better equipped to engage the crowd compared to other police officers.
He also said the SOC officers did not move when projectiles were thrown at them, which DAC Scott Arul added sends a clear signal to the rioters that they are ready to clamp down on them.
DAC Scott Arul was also asked his opinion on what would have happened if the police officers had engaged the crowd without waiting for SOC officers.
He said it would be risky for them to do so, despite some of them having gone through some form of training in maintaining public order.
He added that SOC officers were equipped with protective gear - with helmets, shields and protective body pads - while other police officers were not.
DAC Scott Arul's opinion reflects earlier statements from some non-SOC police officers.
On Tuesday, DAC Lu Yeow Lim - commander of Tanglin Police Division - told the committee that two of his officers were attacked by a group of seemingly harmless bystanders, when they tried to arrest a man who was breaking the window of a police car.
When the two officers did so, the group of bystanders turned violent and began pelting them with bricks and bottles to help the man.
DAC Scott Arul said based on his assessment that night, the crowd looked like they would attempt to hurt police officers.
He said that even without engaging the crowd, there were already 37 cases of injuries among the officers.
Although he was speculating the outcome, DAC Scott Arul said there could have been more injuries of a more serious nature if the police had tried to engage the crowd without support from the SOC officers. - CNA/nd/sf/de
Little India riot: COI focuses on labour practices faced by foreign workers
SINGAPORE: The past few days of the Committee of Inquiry hearing into the Little India riot had thrown the spotlight on police officers' actions on the ground.
On Thursday, the focus turned to labour practices that some foreign workers may have been subjected to.
Foreign workers have to surrender their passports to their employers.
If the workers need to take their passports back, for example, to open a bank account, they need to pay their employers up to $5,000 as a security deposit.
This is a "general practice across the industry", said Ms Jennis Yeo, deputy executive secretary of the Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees' Union.
But companies that adopt such practices are breaking the law.
Under the Passports Act, employers are prohibited from withholding their workers' passports.
They may hold the passports for safekeeping, but only with the worker's consent.
And the workers' passports must be returned if they request for it.
There is another common problem -- workers who are owed wages by their employers.
These workers have to pay $270 for the bailiffs -- officers who enforce court orders -- to get employers to pay the wages owed.
Committee chairman G Pannir Selvam described this as a double-whammy for workers who are not paid, and yet have to fork out money to get what is owed to them.
Ms Yeo said foreign workers are generally happy in Singapore -- a sentiment echoed by another witness Mr Bernard Menon, executive director of Migrant Workers' Centre.
He said the majority of them are peace-loving and hardworking.
The committee also heard the testimonies of two foreign workers who frequent Little India.
They told the committee separately that foreign workers who drink alcohol there tend to speak louder than usual.
But one of the foreign workers said he has never seen any fights break out because of alcohol.
Both workers said they did not face discrimination in Singapore.
One of them, Mr Kannadasan Murugan, said he would not take part in a riot even if he had wanted higher salaries.
He said he does not need to resort to violence to do that as he could raise the issue with his employer.
He also told the committee of a conversation he overheard days after the riot.
He heard that the crowd got angry because they believed that the authorities (policemen and paramedics) were helping the bus driver who knocked down Sakthivel, instead of attending to the victim. - CNA/de
Little India businesses suffer since alcohol rules implemented, COI told
SINGAPORE: Some shops in Little India said their businesses have been affected after the Little India riot, due to the alcohol restrictions in the area.
This was revealed on Thursday as some shopkeepers took the stand at the Committee of Inquiry (COI) into last December's riot.
The director of one provision shop, which sells liquor and beer, said he suffered losses of about $25,000 for the last two Sundays.
Another owner of a store selling vegetables said business has dipped by almost 50 per cent.
Shopkeepers told the COI this is because Indian foreign workers are afraid to go to Little India now.
Also taking the stand was a resident in Little India, Ms Gwee Nyuk Lian, who said that measures should be implemented to prevent congregation of foreign workers in Little India.
She added that there were many occasions when foreign workers, who were drunk, caused inconvenience to residents.
Earlier Thursday, Dr Vincent Wijeysingha of Workfair Singapore spoke of some of the challenges foreign workers in Singapore face.
He said these included limited amenities and facilities as well as their pay. - CNA/ir
Rioters told us to run for safety, says SCDF ambulance driver
SINGAPORE: The mob in the Little India riot last December had told eight officers taking cover in an SCDF ambulance to flee the scene for their safety.
Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Staff Sergeant Yaacob Khamis said this on day 19 of the Committee of Inquiry hearing on Tuesday.
When Staff Sergeant Yaacob reached Race Course Road at about 10.30pm on the night of the riot, projectiles were hurled at the ambulance he was driving.
He was injured in the process.
So he left the driver's seat to be attended to by his colleagues in the ambulance's rear cabin.
During this time, Staff Sergeant Yaacob said the traffic police car parked in front of their vehicle was flipped to its side.
The car was subsequently set on fire.
He shouted that they were ambulance crew members and one of the rioters told him to run.
The eight officers in the ambulance fled for their safety some 10 seconds later.
When asked by the committee if it was better for the eight officers to charge towards the rioters, Staff Sergeant Yaacob said, "I think it's better we run than we charge."
Earlier, Mr Kevin Teoh, divisional director of foreign manpower management at the Manpower Ministry, was questioned by the committee on claims that there were 300 "abandoned" workers.
Mr Russell Heng, president of Transient Workers Count Too, had previously told the committee that the organisation was taking care of these "abandoned" workers.
When asked repeatedly what was being done about this, Mr Teoh said the ministry only came to know about the issue when it surfaced during the inquiry.
He said the ministry is looking into the matter. - CNA/de
