PUBLISHED ONApril 11, 2022 4:00 AMBYClaudia Tan
Most of us would agree that Singapore is a safe place to live in, but how many of us are actually prepared if a terrorist incident is to happen in Singapore?
In addition to the efforts by the authorities, there are people in our community who play a crucial role in keeping Singapore safe. Some were vigilant in the face of threats; others were prepared to step up to help in emergencies.
There are also those who work hard to build up the community’s resilience and cohesion, to ensure Singaporeans can weather any crisis together. By contributing in their own ways, they help to make our home safer.
1. Venkat Raghavan Gowrishankar, 21
While watching a movie with his friends at Nex, Venkat found himself at the scene of a freak accident when a ventilator duct fell through the ceiling in the theater in August 2020.
Amid the panic, Venkat and his friends rose up to take charge of the situation. The group not only helped to evacuate moviegoers, but also called an ambulance and tended to the injured while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Looking back on the incident, Venkat credits his knowledge in first aid, which he picked up during secondary school days, although he admits that he never expected to use it outside of treating minor injuries and sprains.
“I’m aware that in a situation of panic and chaos, as long as someone manages to step up, regardless of whether they’re very skilled or not, it helps to calm everyone down as well; it will make things a lot safer,” he shares with AsiaOne.
“It’s not something that you can be a hundred per cent prepared for. It’s more of accepting the unexpected to happen [sic].”
Having put his first aid skills to use in real-life situations, Venkat believes that more people can and should be trained in first aid.
“It’s fairly easy to learn, but can make quite a difference when things happen.”
2. Cristlynn Chan, 22
Cristlynn was on board an MRT train when she noticed a man taking pictures of another female passenger. Alarmed at the sight in front of her, she looked around the train carriage — only to realise that she seemed to be the only one who had witnessed the incident. Mustering up her courage, she decided to go up to the man.
After being confronted, the man tried to delete the pictures from his phone, but was stopped by Cristlynn and her two friends. Together with other passengers, they alighted at Novena MRT station, where they reported the man for harassment at the station’s control centre.
“It was a bit scary to stand up [against the man], but we don’t know how long he has gone unnoticed,” she shares.
Since that encounter, Cristlynn has joined the Riders-on-Watch scheme, a programme by the Singapore Police Force which tasks commuters to keep a lookout for suspicious characters or items on public transport.
Volunteers will receive information on latest crime trends, as well as real-time SMS alerts on “persons of interest”.
Apart from providing an extra pair of eyes, Cristlynn says that the scheme also serves as a “constant reminder” of the safety that we often take for granted.
3. Fazlur Rahman, 53
As Chairman of Kembangan-Chai Chee’s Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC), Fazlur is a strong believer in promoting social cohesion and religious harmony within his community, through activities like interfaith dialogues and visits to places of worship.
“In our daily lives, we do not usually interact with people beyond our own race and religion, and that’s why we need to have more efforts for building bridges,” he says.
One such recent activity was a community emergency preparedness programme, done in partnership with SCDF at Darul Aman mosque in Eunos. Participants learnt how to extinguish fires and evacuate people during emergencies.
Fazlur explained that he wanted to add an inter-faith element to the programme, as he wanted to emphasise the importance of saving lives, regardless of one’s race and religion.
“It’s subtle message that says, ‘Look, this is a fellow Singaporean, if he needs help, we must go out there.’”
Despite the ongoing pandemic, he hopes that there will be more opportunities like these. “It’s so that we can sustain the awareness, for us to treasure each other despite our diversity.”
4. Lee Hui Xin, 22
Despite her young age, Hui Xin already plays an active role in her community as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteer, by helping to raise emergency preparedness in her own neighbourhood.
As a resident of Taman Jurong, she takes pride in giving back to her community by volunteering in many community activities such as fire drill exercises, dengue outreach programmes and mask distribution exercises.
Her first foray into volunteering at the community level was during a recycling project, which eventually sparked her interest in volunteering for more events, such as being a facilitator at a campsite, which provided her with the opportunity to learn first aid.
Now that she has acquired these skills, Hui Xin hopes to help others whenever possible. She recounted an incident where she fainted in the elevator.
“It was quite a disorienting experience,” she recalls, adding that she was alone at that time, and sat in the elevator until she regained consciousness.
Looking back, she says: “It's definitely not an experience I would like to go through again, [although] it has made me more aware about how helpless and disoriented someone might feel if they were injured.
“It definitely has pushed me to push past the initial bystander effect when you're not sure whether to intervene or not in certain scenarios.”
These everyday Singaporeans have taught us that the community indeed does play a critical role in our fight against terrorism by staying alert, staying united and staying strong.
Keen to join as an SGSecure responder? Sign up today through the SGSecure app.
Find out more at www.sgsecure.gov.sg.
This article is brought to you in partnership with SGSecure.
claudiatan@asiaone.com