Ex-GIC chief economist Yeoh Lam Keong blames aliens not alcohol for Little India Riot; Police encourage Mr. We Can Do More to get off his fucking arse and do...more!!

Singapore police respond to academic's comments alleging inadequate community policing
Yeoh Lam Keong, a former chief economist at GIC, also wrote that "alienation from police" was a big reason for the 2013 Little India riot - comments which the police say show "a clear lack of understanding of what happened."
Channel NewsAsia, 6 Jun 2017

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has responded to comments by an adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy who said that "penny wise pound foolish policy decisions" have resulted in inadequate community policing in Singapore.

Mr Yeoh Lam Keong, a former chief economist at GIC, also alleged on his Facebook page on Monday (Jun 5) that "alienation from the police" was a big reason for the cause and poor handling of the 2013 Little India riot. "Alcohol is just a convenient scapegoat," he wrote.

"Mr Yeoh's sweeping statement is not only inaccurate, it shows a clear lack of understanding of what happened during the Little India riot, and an ignorance of our community policing efforts," said SPF on its Facebook page on Tuesday.

The police reiterated that what mainly led to the riot was a fatal road accident and that the violence was escalated by the consumption of alcohol and a "desire for street justice". These were findings released in 2014 by the Committee of Inquiry that was tasked to investigate the causes of the riot.



The police also criticised Mr Yeoh's "ignorance" of its community policing efforts, and highlighted its strategies in keeping Singapore safe, such as the Community Policing System - adopted by all Neighbourhood Police Centres since April 2015 - and terror response movement SGSecure.

"Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world. There is a high level of trust and confidence amongst Singaporeans in our police force," said SPF, citing a 2016 public perception survey.

"It is regrettable that Mr Yeoh did not check his facts before commenting on areas he has little knowledge of," SPF added. "His distorted points on the Little India riot and community policing will mislead others who don't know the facts."

SPF also said it would be helpful if "people like Mr Yeoh came forward and volunteered in community policing" to help them get a better understanding of what the police do.

POLICE NUMBERS HAVE NOT KEPT UP WITH POPULATION GROWTH: YEOH

In response to the Facebook post on SPF, Mr Yeoh said that his view was based on his "personal macro observation that police numbers on the ground have not kept up with our population growth" particularly with the foreign worker community.



He expressed concern that policing in Little India is outsourced to auxiliary police officers and said they "may not have the same good training in community relations that our regular police receive".

"This trend worries me because of the sheer numbers of unskilled foreign workers and the potential threat they pose to public safety and law and order if not adequately policed in terms of quantity and quality of police presence and good relationships with the communities there," he wrote.

"I have no doubt that Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world and that the SPF is still doing very good work given its admittedly lean structure.

"I hope the SPF does not read my comments as having any more intention than just giving my personal views on how to keep Singapore as safe as possible for all citizens."



He added that "a certain level of civility is needed on both sides" for constructive public discussion and debate, as "this will contribute much to community and police mutual partnership and cooperation".

"In this spirit, I apologise if I had sounded unnecessarily strident and hope we continue to regard each other as partners in helping to improve our society together."