Singapore condemns 'savagery'

Singapore strongly condemns Wednesday's deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris which killed 12 people, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

PM Lee wrote on Facebook yesterday that he was shocked to learn of the "brutal attack", and had written to French Prime Minister Manuel Valls to convey his condolences.

"It is yet another reminder of the threat posed by terrorism to all civilised societies, and that it is totally wrong to invoke religion to justify such savagery," he wrote.

Singapore has also stepped up security patrols and surveillance in relevant areas in the light of the Paris shooting, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

In a Facebook post yesterday, DPM Teo, who is also Minister for Home Affairs, said Singaporeans can help by reporting any suspicious activities to the authorities.

The gun attack in Paris is an example of how extremism can lead to violence and bloodshed, he said.

"We must treasure and strengthen the ties that bind our communities together in Singapore. But no country is immune," he added.

He also expressed his deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones in the shooting.

Second Minister for Home Affairs S. Iswaran, who is also Second Minister for Trade and Industry, said yesterday that such incidents are a reminder that threats to Singaporeans' safety and security are ever present.

"We need to continue to emphasise a few key points to ourselves. One is our interracial, multiracial character and the strings that bind us together as a community, as a people. Because it is very easy (for these) to fray, and these are the sort of things we must guard against as a community," he told the media after an awards ceremony by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

This article by The Straits Times was published in MyPaper, a free, bilingual newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.