Ensuring Security in Light of Recent Terrorist Attacks

1 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Home Affairs in light of the 14 January 2016 bombing in Jakarta, what is being done to (i) step up Singapore's border security and internal security and (ii) increase the vigilance of Singaporeans, the resident population and the Home Team.

2 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Home Affairs in view of the number of terrorist incidents globally and Singapore's status as a travel hub, what new measures are put in place to ensure our domestic security while maintaining our lead as a travel destination and attraction.

The Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs (Mr Desmond Lee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mdm Speaker, there is a question set down by Ms Tin Pei Ling tomorrow, but it is on a related topic. So, if Mdm Speaker would permit, I would like to answer Question Nos 1 and 2 together. And if Ms Tin is satisfied with the answer, she could perhaps withdraw the question for tomorrow.

Mdm Speaker: I will leave the second part to Ms Tin. But I agree to the merger of Question Nos 1 and 2, for them to be taken together.

Mr Desmond Lee: Thank you, Madam. First, I will start off with the question by Ms Tin Pei Ling. She asked about the terrorism threat assessment in ASEAN. The terrorism threat in Southeast Asia is serious and persistent. In addition to terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and its regional affiliates such as the Jemaah Islamiyah, the conflict in Syria and Iraq and the emergence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have significantly raised the threat level.

ISIS has attracted many foreign fighters to its ranks. Regional authorities estimate that some 1,000 Southeast Asians may have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight for ISIS. Over 70 of them may have died in the fighting, several as suicide bombers. At the same time, several self-radicalised Southeast Asians who were unable to travel to Syria or Iraq to fight have heeded the call by ISIS to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries in pursuit of the ISIS cause to expand its self-proclaimed "caliphate". The Indonesian and Malaysian authorities have collectively arrested over 100 of their citizens for ISIS-related activities and thwarted several planned attacks in their own countries. Even then, four Indonesian ISIS supporters succeeded in carrying out a terrorist attack in downtown Jakarta on 14 January this year.

The Southeast Asian fighters pose a serious security threat when they return with battlefield experience from Syria and Iraq. A sizeable number of them have formed a dedicated group in Syria called the Katibah Nusantara lid Daulah Islamiyah or Malay Archipelago Unit for ISIS. They can be expected to use the fighting experience that they have acquired to carry out terrorist attacks in this region.

ISIS declared in November 2014 its intention to set up "wilayat" or provinces in Indonesia and the Philippines. The establishment of an ISIS "wilayat" in Southeast Asia would further raise the terrorism threat to Singapore.

Ms Tin also asked whether there have been further reports of Singaporeans intending to join ISIS. So far, at least two Singapore citizens are known to have made their way to Syria with their families to take part in the conflict there. Last year, four Singaporeans were detained and a fifth was issued a Restriction Order, on the basis that they intended to fight for ISIS in Syria and Iraq. One of those detained had planned to carry out terrorist attacks in Singapore on behalf of ISIS if he was unable to travel overseas. There are others who have expressed interest to go to Syria to fight and have been investigated or are currently under investigation. Most of them were radicalised by online videos and articles, and through social media postings. This problem of self-radicalisation continues to be a concern in Singapore.

The global and regional terrorism situation is worrying. The recent attacks in Paris and in Jakarta involved multiple gunmen carrying explosives and heavy firearms, targeting soft targets packed with people who have little or no security protection, and with the aim of inflicting maximum casualties. Against this heightened threat environment, the Home Team has adopted a multi-pronged approach, and I would like to highlight three key measures.

First, Singapore is a major transport hub in the region. More than half a million people pass through our checkpoints every day. Our Woodlands checkpoint is the busiest land checkpoint in the world. These present security risks. Attackers can gather and plan just outside Singapore before coming into Singapore to carry out the attack. This would be similar to the attacks on Paris, where the planning and preparation were probably carried out in Molenbeek where security was less tight. Border control is therefore our first line of defence to prevent an attack from taking place in Singapore.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) therefore conducts checks on travellers, vehicles, baggage and cargo at all our air, land and sea checkpoints and puts in place visible deterrent measures to detect and deny attempts to smuggle prohibited items or persons. The Police Coast Guard has also increased its patrols along our coastline and will be developing a more comprehensive set of physical barriers that will complement these coastal patrols. We will continue to assess the threat level and adjust the security measures at our borders accordingly.

But as Ms Joan Pereira's question has suggested, it is a constant challenge to manage the balance between maintaining vigilance and security at our checkpoints and facilitating speedy and efficient travel, especially in the current heightened threat environment. Some of the enhanced security measures at the land check points will cause inconvenience to travellers. This is especially so during festive seasons and holidays like the upcoming Chinese New Year period, when traveller volume is expected to increase. We are making further investments in technology to help us maintain a high level of security at our checkpoints, while facilitating efficient travel. For instance, ICA will implement the BioScreen initiative across all checkpoints to capture the fingerprints of all arriving persons by June 2016. These records will allow us to verify the traveller's identity before he is allowed entry to Singapore and will facilitate automated self-clearance during his departure.

Under the current heightened threat environment, our security agencies will continue to work closely with international and regional security partners through the exchange of intelligence and information to more effectively combat terrorism. The Police have also enhanced security measures and vigilance. The installation of police cameras at all HDB blocks and multi-storey carparks will be completed by this year, and we will look into installing more cameras in HDB estates and other public areas. Police have also stepped-up patrols in crowded areas and conducted exercises to raise the level of preparedness of its officers in response to a terrorist attack. In fact, more than 1,800 Home Team officers participated in a multi-agency security exercise on the night of 19 January 2016 to test our contingency and security response plans during a terrorist attack. Participants were not informed prior to this surprise exercise in order to test their response.

We will also work with commercial and private establishments to enhance security measures at their premises. One platform is the Safety and Security Watch Group (SSWG). Through SSWG, the Police and the business community have forged a close partnership to counter the threat posed by terrorism. Building managers or owners and security personnel work together with the Police to assess localised threats, share knowledge and pool resources to enhance their security. Response protocols are drawn up to deal with crisis situations. Tabletop exercises and live exercises are also being carried to test the plans and validate and refine the contingency plans. The Police will continue to assess the threat level and step-up patrols when necessary.

Even as we enhance security at our borders and within Singapore, Government efforts alone will not be adequate. Dealing with terrorism is not just about action by security forces. Each and every one of us has an important part to play. We must be more alert to help prevent a terrorist attack from happening. Should an attack take place, we must be able to respond in a number of ways. Above all, when a terrorist attack happens, we must stay united and resilient as one people. This was indeed the tenor of many speeches in the course of the debate on the President's Address these past few days.

In the coming months, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will be working with our partners to further strengthen our community vigilance, cohesion and resilience. We will conduct regular and realistic exercises to help various community groups to be better prepared for and to remain resilient in the aftermath of any attack.

Terrorists seek to threaten our security and our way of life. They seek to instil fear and divide the community. Should a terrorist attack occur, it is important for all of us to stand united against these threats, with a spirit of resilience and determination that we should not be defeated.

Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): Madam, I would like to ask whether the CCTV footage in the Jakarta and Paris bombings played a significant role in the detention of terrorists, post the events, as well as exposing evidential leads to where the masterminds were operating from in each of those cities. If MHA's view is that the CCTV footage provided significant evidence, how can we deploy such technology and strategy in Singapore? May I ask this to complement the Senior Minister of State's previously comprehensive answer?

Mr Desmond Lee: Madam, I agree with the hon Member. In fact, on 25 January, Monday evening, Channel NewsAsia's Saifulbahari Ismail interviewed the Jakarta Police Chief on television, and he mentioned that he would like to see better CCTV and digital coverage of the city that would enable security forces to better deal with the situation.

CCTV and video coverage or the leverage of technology as it advances can achieve a couple of things. First is deterrence. Second is detection, and especially with analytics, you might be able to, through technology, analyse and detect certain patterns of behaviour. Third, it permits real time incident management. If you have a "live" feed as a situation unfolds, security forces will have a better feel on what is happening on the ground. Lastly, as the Member has alluded to, post-incident management, not only in the cold light of day or aftermath, but in the tension and the ambiguity as to whether the situation has ended or still ongoing. That will also provide some support.

As I said earlier, Police cameras have been rolled out and will be rolled out by the end of this year across our estates. We are studying the possibility of putting more cameras in public areas – the study is still ongoing.

We have been working and will continue to work with agencies such as the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to leverage on CCTV cameras that are already out there in the public, and leverage on existing cameras that other agencies use for various purposes in order to help us in our counter-terror efforts.

We also work with private and commercial premises and businesses – I spoke earlier about the SSWG. As of last December, there are about 1,300-plus building operators that have participated in our SSWG clusters. Under this effort, Police will work with them and engage them to install video surveillance systems, to allow access and to expand coverage.

In addition to localised clusters, we also work with specific industry sectors, for example, with the chemical sector, the security sector, the hotel sector and with F&B, amongst others to help them harden what would otherwise be potentially soft targets.

Lastly, members of the public – you and I – can play a role. There are many smartphones out there. There are many vehicle cameras out there. There is an app known as Police@SG. If you have not downloaded it, please do. It allows people to submit videos, photographs, information to the Police. We will filter it. It allows close to real time analysis of videos. Hopefully, that will enhance our capabilities. We also have a scheme known as Vehicles on Watch (VOW) where members of the public keep their vehicle cameras on in the cars. That helps to just add extra layers of vigilance.

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng (Pioneer): Can the Senior Member of State brief the House on counter-terrorism measures relating to air and sea and port facilities, like the air marshal programme and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS)?

Mr Desmond Lee: There are certain security measures which, for operational reasons, would not be appropriate for me to share in a public forum such as this. But I have spoken about the importance of border security. I had spoken earlier about land, sea and air checkpoints. They have enhanced and perform very thorough checks on all arriving as well as departing travellers, whether it is through our checkpoints on land, both Woodlands and Tuas, through the air, through Changi and Seletar, as well as through sea, through ports.

But beyond checkpoints, we are also concerned about unauthorised entry. So, our physical borders, not just our checkpoints, are also places that remain vulnerable. The Coast Guard and ICA have enhanced patrols and vigilance. Physical barriers have been and will continue to be erected as an additional barrier to entry. Air security is something that is not just of concern to us in Singapore, but certainly, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and many other agencies internationally, as well as other countries, cooperate very closely and we are plugged into those efforts.

Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Thank you, Madam. I have two supplementary questions for the Senior Minister of State.

First, he mentioned earlier, of course, the threat of self-radicalised terrorists but he did not elaborate in his answer very much about the Government's strategies to counter that. So, I wonder if he could share with us what the Government is doing in that area. For example, is it making a concerted attempt to block, for example, dangerous Internet sites from being accessible from here?

Secondly, relating to security of people coming into Singapore via the air or sea checkpoints, could the Senior Minister of State explain whether there are enhanced measures as in additional checks on passengers coming in on a random basis, or are there more intensive checks based on certain risk criteria?

Mr Desmond Lee: Within the parameters of the caveat that I gave to the earlier Member, let me deal with Ms Sylvia Lim's questions. First is on self-radicalisation and what the Government has been doing and willing to do. There is, in fact, a Parliamentary Question (PQ) tomorrow set down in the Order Paper, and there will be a comprehensive reply. So, I urge the Member to be patient. There will be a more thorough exposition of the issue tomorrow.

As far as checkpoints are concerned, we do 100% or close to 100% screening at our checkpoints. Naturally, there will also be selective checks depending on intelligence and other information.

Mdm Speaker: Ms Tin Pei Ling. Last question.

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson): Thank you, Madam, and thank you, Senior Minister of State for the very comprehensive reply. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State, in view of the increasing risk in our region as well as already there are radicalised Singaporeans detected within our own home soil, does the Home Team have the sufficient capacity to prevent or deal with emergencies that may arise from terrorist attacks in Singapore, should it ever happen?

Mr Desmond Lee: The Member asked about the capacity to deal with these threats. Madam, terror threats evolve along the way over the years, their modus operandi change, the threat levels change. So, the Home Team needs to be on top of it – needs to be prepared, needs to project, and needs to evolve along the way.

Manpower will always be tight. In fact, the hon Member, Mr de Souza, will ask that question later. Amongst other things, leveraging on technology will help augment our Home Team's capabilities to help create new capabilities that were not existent before technology had advanced to that level. All these things need to be done but on top of that, good training, proper equipping, constant exercises – both planned as well as unplanned exercises that you spring a surprise on the Forces and you test them, and continually learning from the lessons that we pick up from these exercises – need to be done. So, our Forces will be prepared, they have to be, and need to remain on top of the risk.