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Don't stop to take videos if terror attack occurs, stay vigilant

This article is more than 12 months old

Programme manager Robert Ronald reckons many Singaporeans' first instinct would be to take a video if a terror attack unfolded where they were.

"But they should not. They should run, hide and tell," said Mr Ronald, 48, who heads the community emergency and engagement grassroots committee in Kolam Ayer.

Yesterday, at Kolam Ayer's Emergency Preparedness Day, residents learnt what to do if an attack hits.

SIMULATED ATTACK

Officers from the police and civil defence force as well as actors simulated a "terror attack" outside Upper Boon Keng Market and Food Centre, where a gunman fired blanks at people having breakfast.

Those who were not shot at fled or hid, and one woman used her phone to message the police while hiding.

These community events will happen across all 89 constituencies as part of the SGSecure movement to prepare Singaporeans for a terror attack.

Mr Ronald said: "It's a visual way of telling people what they should do. They can remember they saw someone hiding, for example."

Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim, the MP for the area, called on residents to do their part to counter terrorism.

"When an attack happens, we have to stand together and not spread rumours to cause distrust among our community," he said.

"This will be playing straight into the hands of the terrorists, whose goals are to sow hatred and fear," added Dr Yaacob, who is also Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs.

He also encouraged people to tell the authorities if anyone around them behaves differently from usual and has radical views.

Dr Yaacob called on Singaporeans to stay united and rally together as a community, citing how people helped each other in the aftermath of the Manchester terrorist attack last month.

Yesterday evening, 300 Muslim residents from rental flats at Henderson Road gathered to break their fast over a meal with their non-Muslim neighbours.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing said such events build social cohesion.

Mr Chan, who is also labour chief, said that if an attack does take place, the most important way to overcome any terrorists is to restore normalcy quickly.

"We must make sure we continue to bond closer together, go about our daily life as normally as we can."

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terrorismYaacob IbrahimChan Chun Sing