Singapore
Saturday, March 3, 2018 – 19:11
Sports Hub organises free movie screening for singles
The Straits Times
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Motorcyclist injured after colliding with lorry making illegal U-turn
SINGAPORE: A 37-year-old motorcyclist and his 19-year-old pillion rider were sent to hospital after colliding with a lorry that was making an illegal U-turn on Woodlands Road on Saturday (Mar 3) morning.
The 36-year-old male driver of the lorry has been arrested, and investigations are ongoing, the police said.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the accident at Woodlands Industrial Park D Street 2 at about 9am, and dispatched one ambulance to the scene.
The motorcyclist and his male pillion rider were both conscious when taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, the police added.
The driver of the Malaysian-registered lorry has been arrested. (Photo: Facebook/Roads.sg)
Channel NewsAsia understands that the Malaysian-registered lorry, which was travelling on the second lane of the road, was attempting to make an illegal U-turn when it collided with the motorcycle, which was on the first lane of the road.
Photos of the accident show a red motorcycle trapped under the lorry.
Channel NewsAsia understands that the motorcyclist and his companion were not trapped under the lorry and that the pair suffered cuts and abrasions from the accident.
Stars wear #MeToo white ribbons at 'French Oscars'
Stars wore white ribbons in protest at violence against women at the “French Oscars” — the Cesars — on Friday night where “120 Beats per Minute, a powerful drama about AIDS activists in the 1990s, won best film.
The Cesars sparked feminist fury last year by inviting controversial Franco-Polish director Roman Polanski to preside over the awards before he was forced to pull out.
This year the global anger fuelled by the #MeToo movement took centre stage on the red carpet in Paris with stars like Marion Cotillard and Penelope Cruz sporting white ribbons to condemn abuse and exploitation.
“Wearing a white ribbon, it will be a way for us, the French, to express our solidarity,” said French actress and producer Julie Gayet.
“I propose we act tonight, to get up, to show our white ribbons,” added the ceremony’s host, French comedian and actor Manu Payet. “I think it’s great that mindsets are changing, that women’s voices are being liberated, and that men are hearing some types of behaviours must be banished.”
Movie industries around the world have been rocked by tales of sexual abuse and harassment since the downfall last year of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein over alleged sexual misconduct.
Dozens of actresses and women working behind the scenes have come forward to speak out against abuse, often by powerful industry men.
Award ceremonies have since morphed into public protests with actors and directors at the Golden Globes and the British Bafta choosing to wear black to support the #MeToo campaign.
The Berlin film festival, which wrapped up at the weekend, also came under pressure to replace its red carpet with a black one in support of victims of sexual harassment.
The Cesar’s white ribbon protest was in stark contrast to last year’s award ceremony which was overshadowed by the invite for Polanski.
The veteran filmmaker — who has been accused of sexual assault by several women — is wanted in the United States for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
Alain Terzian, the head of the French Academy, said Franco-American actress and director Tonie Marshall came up with the white ribbon idea to support a French foundation that works to stop violence against women.
Marshall remains the only female director to have won the best director gong at the Cesars for “Venus Beaute” back in 2000.
Only one of the seven nominations this year for best director was for a woman — Julia Ducournau for “Grave”.
In the end that gong went to Albert Dupontel for “Au Revior la-haute”, an adaptation of a Pierre Lemaitre novel about the friendship between two World War I soldiers.
Award winners
Robin Campillo’s “120 Beats per Minute” (120 battements par minute), which tells the story of French AIDS activists in the 1990s, took home best film.
Jeanne Balibar took home best actress for her performance in “Barbara” while Swann Arlaud was awarded best actor for his role in “Petit Paysan”.
Politicians joined stars in calling for equal opportunities and pay for women in films.
French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen said film producers had a huge “responsibility to fight stereotypes, discrimination and harassment” both on camera and behind it.
“No matter who we are dealing with, we cannot have any tolerance or complacency about unacceptable behaviour,” she added.
Nyssen was also highly critical of how few films directed by women get made.
“Certainly we have made some progress in recent years, but it is still not acceptable that there are fewer women film-makers, that they are less visible and less supported” than their male counterparts, she said.
“In 42 years the Cesar for best director has only been won once by a woman,” she added.
She said only one in five feature films subsidised by the French state every year are made by women.
The situation is Hollywood is even worse, with only seven per cent of the top 250 films in 2016 directed by women.
Saturday, March 3, 2018 – 10:33
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Two winning entries for $12m Toto Hongbao prize
Singapore
Saturday, March 3, 2018 – 10:01
Two winning entries for $12m Toto Hongbao prize
The Straits Times
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Can you really train your baby to be smarter?
SINGAPORE: When he was six months old, unable to walk or talk, Alan was already enrolled in an enrichment class – one specially catered to babies from birth.
Along with babies even younger, he was exposed to flashcards, singing, dancing and massages, all aimed at stimulating their five senses.
His mother Cindy Lim believes this US$30 (S$40) an hour class at Baby Sensory Singapore really works. He has become more inquisitive and confident, she claims.
She hopes these sessions will give him the edge once he starts formal school. “In a classroom environment, he is able to sit (still). I guess that’s good for him, to be part of the classroom and not be too disruptive,” she said.
This mother is not alone in sending her baby for classes – there is a thriving multi-billion dollar industry of services and products that promises parents that their babies will be super smart, super talented and super successful, as the new series How To Raise A Super Smart Baby finds out. (Watch it here.)
But how can parents navigate this confusing landscape of scientific claims and conflicting fads, to find out which claims actually do deliver?
THE FIRST 1,000 DAYS: A GOLDEN WINDOW
Experts say that the first three years of a baby’s life are considered the most crucial years of stimulation where whatever a baby eats, feels and hears influences their intelligence.
Like adults, babies experience the world through five senses – sight, sound, touch, taste and smell – which should be engaged so that neural connections in the brain can develop.
For example, visual stimulation is so critical that if a baby is kept blindfolded, the visual centre in their brain would never develop. Their optic nerve would shrivel up and the baby would never be able to see.
In fact, the first three years of a baby’s life is when their brain develops the most – in size and in complexity – so it is no wonder that those years are often referred to as the golden window of opportunity.
Dr Stacey Tay, a senior consultant (paediatric neurology) at the National University Hospital, said: “This period (lays) the foundation for the way you learn in the future as well.”
Baby Sensory Singapore believes that stimulating the senses of a baby’s brain accelerates development. Master franchisor Wendy Tan claims that some babies who have gone through the programme start talking earlier or turn over on their tummies earlier, compared to other babies.
“We had babies that started our class when they were just five days old and they are more advanced, physically and emotionally as well,” she said.
Cindy Lim and Alan in sensory class.
Dr Tay, who advises new parents on how they can raise their babies in a stimulating environment, believes that a baby’s development is best improved by giving the child a full range of experiences, and not just one kind.
“If you wanted a child to become a musical genius, you would expose the child to music. But I wouldn’t get the child to do just one kind of instrument,” she said.
“I would ask the child to experience different forms of music. And do other things that would improve their fine motor skills, like playing with Playdoh.”
Babies in a movements class.
RIGHT BRAIN TRAINING
But while Dr Tay believes our environment already offers a rich range of stimuli for children, some parents are willing to go even further to create experiences for their babies – such as signing them up for right brain training.
According to proponents of right brain training, the two sides of the brain process information differently. The left is in charge of logic, reasoning and language, and it processes information slowly. The right brain handles creativity and memory, and processes information quickly.
There are over 30 centres in Singapore offering right brain training and many of these methods are from Japan.
Some centres use flashcards, puzzles and games where the infants are required to remember details such as colours and shapes.
Heguru Education claims that right brain training from a tender age will build a child’s photographic memory, improve his analytical thinking and lead to better concentration.
Parent Ms Chua Ru Wei is convinced the classes have helped her son. Now in preschool, he has a photographic memory, she said.
When we read a book, he can remember the pictures, the details, the colour of the dress and what colour book the girl was holding.
Mr Kuah Eng Liang, founder of Heguru Education, said that after a child turns three, the development of the right brain will start to decline and abilities like photographic memory and creativity will start to fade or diminish.
BUT WHAT DOES THE SCIENCE SAY?
Dr Tay, however, is not so convinced. Having a good memory for flashcards, she said, doesn’t necessarily mean the child will develop good memory.
“There is this big question that nobody has really answered, about how translatable that skill is,” she said.
Just by being able to go through 20, 30 flashcards in one minute, will it help the child to think better, to write a composition better in the future? That has never been shown.
Dr Tay added that right brain development is a thinking that dates back to the 1970s when people didn’t understand much about neuroscience, and thought that the right brain was dedicated to creativity and the left to logical thinking skills.
With more studies and scans done of the brain today, experts know that it is not as simple as that, she said.
The brain functions like a huge complex network, and language skills for example – which used to be thought to reside just in the left brain – actually engages the right brain as well as other more distant part of the brain, she added.
“So, programmes that actually tell you that they are training the right brain are not necessarily training the right brain per say. What they are doing is actually to train a particular skill,” she said.
THE MILKY WAY: INFANT FORMULA HYPE?
But if flashcards and right brain training aren’t necessarily the keys to making your child smarter, is nutrition the answer?
After birth, a baby’s brain growth depends critically on the quality of what he eats or drinks. The infant formula business is big business – in 2015, the world bought US$47 billion (S$62 billion) worth of formula milk, more than what it spent on tea and instant coffee.
Premium brands that can cost as much as US$50 (S$66) a tin dominate the industry. (Related story: Taskforce on formula milk reports 4.8% drop in average prices)
In milk powder commercials, ingredients like DHA and ARA – fatty acids found in breast milk – get special mention but do they really make a difference?
Dr Natalie Epton, a specialist pediatrician and neonatologist at SBCC Mount Elizabeth Novena, said that research by the Cochrane Collaboration group suggests that while there is no harm in adding DHA to formula milk, there is no conclusive evidence it leads to better brain development in babies.
“We know that when DHA occurs in breast milk, they also occur with the enzyme that is able to break that down and utilise it in the body,” she said. “But getting DHA without the enzyme, nobody knows whether that is actually worthwhile doing or not.”
In short, there are no lack of products and classes that promise to help parents raise a smart child, and most would want to cram as much as they can into that golden age of 0-3.
One thing is certain, babies crave stimulation. And as some experts point out, simply talking, playing or bringing them to the playground may well give them the brain boost they need.
Watch the series How To Raise A Super Smart Baby here.
For Daniel Wu, family comes before Hollywood
“I’m not 100 per cent sure if my daughter is aware of what I do for a living,” says actor Daniel Wu over the phone about his four-year-old daughter, Raven.
“I asked her the other day if she knows what my job is and she said, ‘Yeah. You are working (to pay) for my college.’ Which is true, I guess,” he adds with a laugh.
Wu, who is married to model-actress Lisa Selesner (better known as Lisa S.), shares that becoming a father has changed him incredibly.
“Before, I would just take on jobs just to keep busy. Now, family is my No. 1 priority and work has taken second place to that.
“And so, when I look at work, I see how that affects my family, or how it can enrich my family – by going to Ireland for eight months (to shoot TV series Into The Badlands), my daughter gets to see a whole different world for a long period of time. So, I look from that perspective,” explains the 43-year-old, who is based in Hong Kong.
Born in Berkeley, California, to Shanghainese parents Diana and George Wu, the American got into acting quite by chance.
He went to Hong Kong in 1997 to witness the handover of the island to China. When he ran out of money, the 1.82m-tall Wu started to model, which caught the attention of film director Yonfan, who then cast him in Bishonen. That led to another movie, and another and so forth.
To date, Wu has worked on some 70 movies and TV series including Young & Dangerous: The Prequel, Gen-X Cops, 2000 AD, New Police Story, The Banquet, Shinjuku Incident, as well as recent Hollywood productions: Warcraft: The Beginning, Geostorm and Into The Badlands.
Next up is a role in the Lara Croft movie, Tomb Raider headlined by Alicia Vikander.
FRESH AND EXCITING
According to Wu, he goes where interesting work takes him, be it in Asia or in Hollywood. Tomb Raider, he says, offers him an opportunity to enter a well-accepted franchise, rebooted in a fresh way.
“But I’m not consciously making a rush into Hollywood,” he mentions. “Badlands came about because I was asked to be an executive producer, and eventually asked to play the lead role in it.
“Geostorm happened before that … and Tomb Raider came up after we were finishing up Badlands. So it’s an organic natural progression, I think.”
It also helps that the lucrative Chinese box office market has given Asian actors a boost in Hollywood films. Not to mention, since #OscarsSoWhite, Hollywood has made an effort to make its productions more diverse.
But has being an Asian ever cost him any roles in the past? “No, I wouldn’t say that,” he replies.
“I wasn’t going to LA all the time to audition and trying out for parts. Most of the parts I am doing, the productions come and approach me – to see if I am interested in working with them.
“So, I haven’t experienced that, although I have many Asian-American actor-friends who have stuff like that happen, where they didn’t get a part because they are the wrong skin colour or people didn’t see an Asian playing a certain type of role. Definitely that does happen, but it hasn’t happened to me yet.”
FORGING HIS OWN PATH
If there is one thing Wu has made sure from the start of his career is that, he wants to play a wide variety of characters.
While it’s easy to stamp him as an action star, Wu admits to being happy working on a small drama just as much as he enjoys making a big movie like Tomb Raider.
In Tomb Raider, for instance, Wu has left all the action to leading lady Vikander. His character, Lu Ren, is a ship captain who helps Lara as she journeys to the ends of the world to find the truth behind her father’s disappearance.
For the role, Wu lost 5kg to make himself less muscular, to contrast Vikander who bulked up to play Lara Croft.
Wu offers: “She trained really, really, hard for the role. I was surprised her small frame could take on that much muscle … To see her transform physically was kind of amazing, she became more powerful as she got stronger, more confident … she became like this warrior.”
Keeping fit and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is something Wu is familiar with.
Having been an active person since young – among his favourite activities are basketball, boxing and wushu – Wu realises, the endless energy he had when he was in his 20s is somewhat diminished now that he is in his 40s.
He states: “(Now) you have to find ways to preserve your energy and also just take care of yourself. Sleep well, work out on a regular basis, be disciplined about it. Because in the 40s you can’t skip days; if you do then you start to fall apart.”
He has become even more conscious of his health since his mother passed away in 2014 from cancer. “Nothing is more important than your health. You can make as much money as you want, but if you are not healthy, it’s worthless,” Wu declares.
FIRST LOVE
In his desire to live a good life, he has expanded his work spec beyond acting.
Wu had graduated from University Of Oregon’s College of Design with a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1997.
Last year, he put the degree to use by participating in a Chinese reality show called Dream House, which saw him travelling to different parts of China to give make-overs to old buildings.
One of his designs on that show received a nomination in the Royal Institute of British Architects’ International Prize 2018.
That’s not all. Wu also rebuilt a vintage car which was displayed at last year’s automotive speciality products trade event in Las Vegas.
“In the past year, I have been able to go back to what I studied in school. (For Dream House) we redesigned homes in rural villages.
“And as for the car thing, I always had a passion for vintage cars. I have a small collection of vintage cars and wanted to redesign a car from the ground up. So, I bought a 45-year-old car, took it apart and re-imagined it as if it was something new.
“These are like creative passion things that I like to do. I am kind of a workaholic. If I am not working on a film, I am working on something else. So, I create these small projects to keep me occupied.”
Wu is proof that leading a full life – one that is balanced between the pursuits of passion and family time – is not impossible.
Actor Daniel Wu unveils hidden talent in Chinese reality show Dream House
Saturday, March 3, 2018 – 18:00
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China kicks off parliament season with attack on the West
World
China’s annual parliament gathering kicks off on Monday as an ever-stronger President Xi Jinping presses ahead with efforts to ward off financial risks without undermining the economy.
Paramilitary police officers patrol ahead of the plenary session of National People’s Congress in Beijing, China March 2, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
BEIJING: China kicked off this year’s parliamentary season on Friday with an attack on those in the West who seek to besmirch the country for their own nefarious purposes, with a government spokesman quoting Martin Luther King Jr. in an appeal for understanding.
The highlight of parliament, which opens on Monday, will be the passage of a constitutional amendment that not only further cements the ruling Communist Party’s grip on power but also lifts presidential term limits.
The party made the announcement on Sunday, setting the stage for President Xi Jinping to stay in office indefinitely should he wish, prompting accusations from some in China that it is set to become another North Korea.
The move comes not only as Xi seeks greater power, but as the party increasingly seeks to have its voice heard around the world, especially through state media’s global footprint and in government-run Confucius Institutes meant to teach the Chinese language.
The issue has become particularly controversial in Australia, where Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last year said he took very seriously reports that the Communist Party had sought to interfere in his country, sparking anger in Beijing.
Asked about criticism that China was seeking “infiltration” of the West, Wang Guoqing, a spokesman for parliament’s largely ceremonial advisory body which meets in parallel with the legislature, dismissed it as a new word “concocted” to besmirch China.
“Regretfully we see that certain people in the West, their bodies are in the 21st century, but their brains are still stuck in the Cold War era,” he told a news briefing, without identifying anyone.
Certain forces in the West have double standards and are full of prejudice against China, Wang added.
As China’s development and rapid changes have attracted the world’s attention, it wants people to see its real face and understand it better, he said.
This has prompted China to step up efforts to tell its story better, he said, adding, “This is beyond reproach.”He called for greater understanding, reciting a quote from the late U.S. civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. to make his point:
“Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they cannot communicate; they cannot communicate because they are separated,” Wang said, quoting King.
However, Wang only took one question from a foreign reporter during the news conference that ran slightly longer than an hour, a Japanese journalist who asked about prospects for Beijing’s relations with Tokyo.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
New sentencing framework for maid abuse cases highlights impact of psychological harm
SINGAPORE: In a landmark decision on Friday (Mar 2), the High Court laid down a new sentencing framework for maid abuse cases, emphasising the mental anguish suffered by domestic helpers, who are “particularly vulnerable” in such situations.
The new rules acknowledge “the psychological harm and mental anguish that a maid suffers from being trapped in a situation of fear, abuse and oppression”, Justice See Kee Oon said.
He delivered the 47-page judgment of a specially convened three-judge panel of the High Court, which included Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Judge of Appeal Tay Yong Kwang.
The High Court stressed that maid abuse cases cannot be treated “like any other Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) case”, in which the severity of the victim’s injury is considered in the offender’s sentence.
Maid abuse “occurs in circumstances of inequality and oppression”, distinguishing such offences from other cases of assault.
In maid abuse cases, “mental abuse and humiliating or degrading treatment” must assume significance, the High Court said.
“Psychological abuse, in conjunction with physical harm, is what characterises egregious instances of maid abuse and makes them especially abhorrent”, Justice See added.
The High Court set the following indicative sentencing ranges:
COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTION OF COUPLE WHO ABUSED INDONESIAN HELPER
The new sentencing framework follows several maid abuse cases that have manifested “blatant displays of violence, cruelty, and humiliating and demeaning, even dehumanising, behaviour”, the High Court said.
On Friday, the High Court upheld the convictions of married couple Tay Wee Kiat and Chia Yun Ling, who were convicted of abusing their Indonesian domestic helper for almost two years when she worked there between December 2010 and December 2012.
Tay, 39, was convicted of 10 charges of assaulting Ms Fitriyah, 33. The IT manager was also found guilty of one charge of bribing Ms Fitriyah in an effort to dissuade her from reporting the abuse, and one charge of instigating her to lie to the police.
Chia, 41, was convicted of two charges for assaulting Ms Fitriyah and sentenced to two months’ imprisonment.
On Friday, Tay’s original 28-month jail term was increased to 43 months. The High Court had increased Tay’s sentence because the original sentence was “manifestly inadequate given the degree of psychological harm” Ms Fitriyah suffered.
‘DEMEANING AND INVASIVE’ BEHAVIOUR
Sometime in 2012, Tay had forced Ms Fitriyah and their other Myamar helper, Moe Moe Than, to slap each other 10 times.
“But the physical pain is only half the story,” the High Court said.
Tay also forced both helpers to clasp the palms of their hands together and bow 100 times before a Buddhist altar in the Tay family home.
“This was notwithstanding that Fitriyah was Muslim and Moe Moe Than was Christian,” the High Court noted.
“The extent of humiliation, bullying and cruelty reflected in Tay’s behaviour placed … (him) firmly in the category of more serious psychological harm.”
The court also cited a second incident that took place in 2011.
The couple’s daughter had knocked a religious statue off a cabinet in the house, causing it to break. Tay, however, blamed Ms Fitriyah.
As punishment, he forced her to stand on a plastic stool on one leg, and hold up another plastic stool with one hand.
“This was a serious affront to her dignity,” the court said.
While she did this, Tay pushed an empty plastic bottle into her mouth, even though Ms Fitriyah was crying and begging him to stop.
This was “demeaning and invasive” behaviour, the court said.
Ms Fitriyah’s ordeal lasted 30 minutes, until Chia told her husband they would be late for Chinese New Year visiting. “Tay’s behaviour was painly cruel and sadistic,” the High Court said.
Ms Fitriyah had tried to leave the couple’s employment in 2011 by requesting for a transfer to another employer. The couple refused.
Desperate, the maid stole S$50 from Chia’s wallet and told her employers about the theft, hoping she would be sent back to the employment agency.
The couple’s offences only came to light when their other helper, Ms Than, complained of being abused after she left Singapore. She was flown back into the country to assist in investigations and testify against her former employers.
The High Court on Friday ordered the couple to pay compensation to Ms Fitriyah, although the final amount has yet to be agreed upon.
The trial involving the abuse of Ms Than is ongoing, and is expected to conclude later this year.
The couple will begin serving their jail terms once this trial is concluded.
Bosses go big on data, in BT Weekend
Data analytics has revolutionised how companies approach human resource issues, giving them new tools to predict – and improve – outcomes. Saturday’s Brunch in The Business Times Weekend looks at how Big Data has transformed HR practices in hiring, staff management, talent retention and supervision. We also unveil what some banks are doing with their vast vaults of employee information, and explore the implications for privacy.
In The Raffles Conversation, venture capitalist turned green tech advocate Peggy Liu tells BT why she chose to leave corporate success for non-profit advocacy, and how she is hoping to turn China, one of the world’s biggest polluters, green.
Disrupted, meanwhile, finds a green solution at a music festival in New Zealand – a Kiwi-made water bottle made entirely of plant material that could replace plastic and revolutionise manufacturing.
In our Investing section, Fundsupermart.com’s Fund Watch column follows up on rising yields, highlighting a few funds that should be able to mitigate the full extent of rising yields or even benefit from them. When markets turn unpredictable is when you need to make sure you have the right multi-asset manager. CFA Singapore Insights gives some pointers on how to tell the good manager from the bad.
Our Steering Column writer reviews the new Mercedes-Benz CLS 450 and finds it a cut above.
And our newly-wed Offbeat columnist ponders the rules of angbao-giving: are we all just making it up as we go along?
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Singapore
Friday, March 2, 2018 – 18:27
The Business Times
Others
MHA legally, constitutionally in charge of homefront, internal security: Shanmugam
Singapore
When a terrorist attack happens, police will be the first and main responders – but may ask other agencies like the Army to provide support.
Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam talking to officers from an Emergency Response Team (Photo: Nisha Karyn)
SINGAPORE: Under Singapore’s legal framework and constitutional structure, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is responsible for home-front and internal security, including counter-terrorism, crisis and consequence management, said Minister K Shanmugam in Parliament on Friday (Mar 2).
“MHA must and will do all it can to protect our people. It is our responsibility and accountability to deal with terrorist threats within Singapore,” the Home Affairs and Law Minister said.
“When a terrorist attack happens, MHA is therefore overall responsible, will be in charge and lead the national response. Police will manage the incident on the ground and will be the first and main responders.”
“If the scale of the attack is very large, MHA may also ask SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) to provide support to the police as an auxiliary force. Likewise, MHA may also ask other ministries, agencies … to support the operations,” Mr Shanmugam added.
These agencies could also include, depending on the nature and scale of the incident, the Ministry of Communications and Information and the Ministry of Health.
Said Mr Shanmugam: “This modus operandi has been discussed and agreed for some time, and as I said it follows the constitutional structure and practice we’ve adopted over many decades – and I made this clear in 2016 when I stated that (for) all operations within Singapore, the police will take command.”
“For example, if there is a large-scale attack, if police need additional forces beyond the Emergency Response Teams (ERT), (and) Special Operations Command (SOC), SPF (Singapore Police Force) may call upon SAF for specialised forces such as the Special Operations Task Force. They will also support and reinforce the ERTs and SOC.”
SPF and SAF have developed joint plans and have been conducting joint exercises “to make sure these plans are sharpened”, he said.
“We are of course very appreciative for the SAF’s commitment, and the commitment of other agencies, to support the Home Team in such situations,” said Mr Shanmugam.
