what did not happen that night.
The riot, though serious, did not
spread to the surrounding neighbourhoods
or to other parts of Singapore. It was contained
within a particular area in Little India,
the immediate vicinity where the traffic accident took place.
Foreign worker dormitories that night, and workplaces the next day,
remained calm and peaceful.
Not a single shot
was fired that night and there were no fatalities
amongst the rioters, innocent bystanders
or our Home Team officers. Police
completed their intensive investigations
at the incident area overnight and by 6:45 a.m. the next morning,
Race Course Road was re-opened to the public. All was calm
at the Little India MRT train station,
adjacent to the incident site too.
In short, the riot
did not spread in time,
in space and was contained.
The riot on the night
of 8 December was the first
in several decades because we have enjoyed peace
for so many years, almost
none of our Home Team officers, especially our national servicemen, had
experience riots.
Nonetheless, they performed their duties
under difficult circumstances, contained
a rapidly developing situation and restored order
within 2 hours. Our officers
then acted expeditiously to identify
and deal with the persons involved, and work closely
with other agencies to put in place measures to maintain law and order
and restore calm in Little India. Madam Speaker,
Singaporeans did not expect a riot to disrupt their lives,
but I'm heartened that they responded rationally
when the unexpected happened. Several came forward to help.
Business owners gave their support
despite being affected by the restrictions imposed
following the incident. Grassroots leaders in the Little India area
stepped-up to reassure residents
and help the community to recover. I'm confident
that we will draw useful lessons from this experience
and emerge more prepared and stronger-
as one Home Team, as one Singapore.
We can try to anticipate
every eventuality, and
plan and prepare everyone of them. But it's
not possible to predict to the last detail
what can happen, nor
can we set aside dedicated resources
for every single eventuality all of the time and all at the same time.
Instead, we must be resilient and adaptable
so that when the unexpected happens,
we are able to adapt and respond effectively.
And this is how our Home Team officers
are trained and prepared, to ensure that they have the capabilities,
resources and flexibility to deal with various contingencies.
The same should be true
for our community. We must be resilient
and be able to deal with unexpected crises.
We cannot be crisis-proof,
but we can and must strive to be always
crisis-prepared. Madam Speaker,
the majority of Singaporeans recognize
that foreign workers are generally law-abiding
and do contribute to our society and economy.
As many foreign workers told Minister Shanmugam
and Minister Iswaran, Mr. Dhinakaran and Mr. Vikram Nair
during their visits to the dormitories,
they want to continue working here. They appreciate
our rules and laws and want to continue
to live in peace and not be tarred with the same brush
as the few who had done wrong.