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SINGAPORE — Testifying in the Committee of Inquiry hearing yesterday, a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) commander said coordination between the force and the police needs to be improved.
Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) Daniel Seet, Commander of First Division, also highlighted how lessons had been drawn from the Little India riot and measures had been put in place, such as increased protection for paramedics and more training for officers to deal with riots.
He said the SCDF had “limited experiences” prior to the riot on Dec 8 last year. The only experience which the force had was from “deliberate operations” such as the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Meetings held in Singapore in 2006.
(Limited experience: two words for total incompetence)
“We feel that back then, the tactical knowledge we gained from the 2006 preparations was not really institutional ... because we didn’t really anticipate that ... kind of situation we saw on Dec 8,” he said.
(When are we going to learn that training is for the unanticipated?)
LTC Seet told the inquiry that there was a need for the SCDF to have a standard operating procedure with the police on how to “jointly respond” to civil disorder scenarios.
(This joker cannot be serious. We have been talking about Total Defence for years, and he is telling us that there is minimal or no co-ordination with the Police Force?)
In response to a question by COI Chairman G Pannir Selvam, LTC Seet said the SCDF currently does not have a “technical link” to directly share videos from the SCDF operations centre with the police centre.
(There is NO CO-ORDNIATION. Period. Technical or otherwise).
COI committee member Tee Tua Ba, a former police commissioner, asked: “Not by direct transmission?” LTC Seet replied: “Not currently, but we are looking into it.”
(Well done. Keep looking. December 8th the riot happened, and they are "still looking" three months later).
Nevertheless, Lieutenant (LTA) Tiffany Neo told the COI that police and SCDF officers on the ground “worked very well together” during the riot.
(Define "worked well together"!)
“For example, when we were at the bus to rescue the lady and the uncle, a team of police officers came to provide cover for us with their shields while we did the rescue,” she said.
(If this is the highlight of how well they work together, boy, are we in trouble. Brownies and Cubs would have done the same),
However, she said that, on hindsight, she felt the police could have dispatched more resources initially, so the situation could be kept under control from the start. (Hindsight is always perfect. Until the next cock-up, and then we say we have learnt another lesson).
“This could help to prevent the situation from escalating and getting violent,” she said.
(Her understatement is incredible).
LTC Seet also shared with the COI on the lessons the SCDF had learnt from the Little India riot.
For example, the SCDF found that the protective gear worn by its fire fighters and rescue personnel “protected them at (an) even better level” than the paramedics. As such, the SCDF will add more helmets in its ambulances to “commensurate” with the number of personnel on board.
(Elementary, Watson, Elementary).
Noting that there were videos, images and information of the riot uploaded on social media during the riot, LTC Seet said: “This is something that we do not have the capability at our operations centre to monitor.”
However, he added that the SCDF is exploring ways to leverage social media, like what fire services in other countries are doing.
(Three months later, still exploring huh?)
Mr Selvam asked LTC Seet if the SCDF had learnt from events such as the terrorist attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001. LTC Seet replied that the SCDF follows such events, “especially if they have to deal with terrorism, response and fires”.
Mr Tee later questioned SCDF Deputy Commissioner Jackson Lim Jew Sia as to why the SCDF did not put out the fires on vehicles during the riot.
Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) Lim said the SCDF had to “focus” on the road accident and extricate the body of Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu from the bus.
“With all the injured attended to and the trapped victim extricated, we decided it was not worthwhile to commit the fire engines to extinguish the fires until it was safe for our personnel to do so,” said SAC Lim. He added: “It was a judgment call …. for the Commander (of Central Fire Station) to withdraw …. it’s a good decision.”
(Good decision to withdraw in the face of aggression? They might as well have White Flags as standard equipment in all SCDF vehicles!)
Mr Selvam felt the SCDF must have anticipated the possibility of looting and arson that night.
SAC Lim replied: “It’s a good learning point ... the whole SCDF has never encountered a riot ... even I, who have been working (here) for 28 years.”
(Every cock-up is a good learning point. Just like Vivian said they had never organised a Youth Olympics, hence over-budget by 300% is a good learning point).
TODAY
Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) Daniel Seet, Commander of First Division, also highlighted how lessons had been drawn from the Little India riot and measures had been put in place, such as increased protection for paramedics and more training for officers to deal with riots.
He said the SCDF had “limited experiences” prior to the riot on Dec 8 last year. The only experience which the force had was from “deliberate operations” such as the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Meetings held in Singapore in 2006.
(Limited experience: two words for total incompetence)
“We feel that back then, the tactical knowledge we gained from the 2006 preparations was not really institutional ... because we didn’t really anticipate that ... kind of situation we saw on Dec 8,” he said.
(When are we going to learn that training is for the unanticipated?)
LTC Seet told the inquiry that there was a need for the SCDF to have a standard operating procedure with the police on how to “jointly respond” to civil disorder scenarios.
(This joker cannot be serious. We have been talking about Total Defence for years, and he is telling us that there is minimal or no co-ordination with the Police Force?)
In response to a question by COI Chairman G Pannir Selvam, LTC Seet said the SCDF currently does not have a “technical link” to directly share videos from the SCDF operations centre with the police centre.
(There is NO CO-ORDNIATION. Period. Technical or otherwise).
COI committee member Tee Tua Ba, a former police commissioner, asked: “Not by direct transmission?” LTC Seet replied: “Not currently, but we are looking into it.”
(Well done. Keep looking. December 8th the riot happened, and they are "still looking" three months later).
Nevertheless, Lieutenant (LTA) Tiffany Neo told the COI that police and SCDF officers on the ground “worked very well together” during the riot.
(Define "worked well together"!)
“For example, when we were at the bus to rescue the lady and the uncle, a team of police officers came to provide cover for us with their shields while we did the rescue,” she said.
(If this is the highlight of how well they work together, boy, are we in trouble. Brownies and Cubs would have done the same),
However, she said that, on hindsight, she felt the police could have dispatched more resources initially, so the situation could be kept under control from the start. (Hindsight is always perfect. Until the next cock-up, and then we say we have learnt another lesson).
“This could help to prevent the situation from escalating and getting violent,” she said.
(Her understatement is incredible).
LTC Seet also shared with the COI on the lessons the SCDF had learnt from the Little India riot.
For example, the SCDF found that the protective gear worn by its fire fighters and rescue personnel “protected them at (an) even better level” than the paramedics. As such, the SCDF will add more helmets in its ambulances to “commensurate” with the number of personnel on board.
(Elementary, Watson, Elementary).
Noting that there were videos, images and information of the riot uploaded on social media during the riot, LTC Seet said: “This is something that we do not have the capability at our operations centre to monitor.”
However, he added that the SCDF is exploring ways to leverage social media, like what fire services in other countries are doing.
(Three months later, still exploring huh?)
Mr Selvam asked LTC Seet if the SCDF had learnt from events such as the terrorist attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001. LTC Seet replied that the SCDF follows such events, “especially if they have to deal with terrorism, response and fires”.
Mr Tee later questioned SCDF Deputy Commissioner Jackson Lim Jew Sia as to why the SCDF did not put out the fires on vehicles during the riot.
Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) Lim said the SCDF had to “focus” on the road accident and extricate the body of Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu from the bus.
“With all the injured attended to and the trapped victim extricated, we decided it was not worthwhile to commit the fire engines to extinguish the fires until it was safe for our personnel to do so,” said SAC Lim. He added: “It was a judgment call …. for the Commander (of Central Fire Station) to withdraw …. it’s a good decision.”
(Good decision to withdraw in the face of aggression? They might as well have White Flags as standard equipment in all SCDF vehicles!)
Mr Selvam felt the SCDF must have anticipated the possibility of looting and arson that night.
SAC Lim replied: “It’s a good learning point ... the whole SCDF has never encountered a riot ... even I, who have been working (here) for 28 years.”
(Every cock-up is a good learning point. Just like Vivian said they had never organised a Youth Olympics, hence over-budget by 300% is a good learning point).
TODAY
