The Little India Incident has been contained and we are glad that calm and reason have returned after an evening of madness and loss of control. Let us not forget that however we may choose to call it, the following things have actually happened:
1. Injuries inflicted upon our law enforcement officers
2. Destruction of public property and
3. Disturbance of a massive nature affecting other people
We are happy that swift and immediate police action has been mounted and we hope the Government will thoroughly and fairly look into the matter. It is in our interest to protect the Singaporean way of life, apart from safeguarding the property of our country and our people and taking all necessary preventive measures to prevent such an incident from ever recurring.
This was an unfortunate incident and the issue of "foreign workers versus local people" should not be called to question and be overblown. The government claims it was an isolated case of "rioting". Isolated or otherwise, we think it was an unfortunate incident which perhaps, could have been prevented if the authorities had listened carefully to the sentiments of residents and people who frequent the facilities of Little India and taken more proactive measures to size up the situation whereby the public has expressed serious concerns about the mushrooming of retail outlets dispensing alcohol drinks to consumers, resulting in a rise of intoxication among foreign workers and other drinkers.
It is obvious that the glaring lack of effective measures from the authorities contributed to the incident which was waiting to happen. While it is reassuring that it has promised to take swift and fair action to nail the offenders, we are concerned with what the government has in mind with regard to the implementation of measures to protect the people and safeguard the interest of all who live and work in Little India.
We wish the government will understand that we do not need any more knee-jerk reaction from their ministers than is necessary. Is the implementation of measures to safeguard the rights and interests of both drinkers and residents really that difficult? If longer term measures take time to roll out, how about introducing short term measures at least to allow room for the negotiation of space between residents and drinkers?
We are quite sure that the public must have been shocked when they viewed in disbelief just how easily our police cars were overturned and set ablaze. What lessons can we glean from this? The relevant authorities should seriously review their mode of operation when managing a situation of this nature.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all our law enforcement and medical officers for their valour in the management of the incident, and to the officers especially who have been injured in the course of carrying out their duties, I wish you all a speedy recovery.
Lim Bak Chuan Desmond
Secretary-General
Singapore Justice Party
对于小印度的暴动,我们相信市民一定是震惊,他们也难以置信观察到暴徒那么容易的把我们的警车被掀翻并纵火.
但是我们很高兴看到警察能迅速的行动把一个失控又疯狂的暴徒给控制,快速的把整个局面给安定下来以及回复了往常的社会平静和理性的秩序。
让我们不要忘记以下面的事情确实发生了：
1。造成我们的执法人员和国人受伤
2。破坏公共以及私人财产
3。对社会和其他国人造成巨大的影响和不便
为了我们的国家和国民的利益和保护我们的的生命以及财产。我希望政府能公正和彻底的调查此事,并采取一切必要的预防措施,以避免此类事件的再次发生。
这是一个很不幸的事件也不应该被有企图人士质疑或夸大于“外国工人与新加坡人”的问题。
政府声称这是“暴乱”的一个孤立的事件。 我们觉得这不幸的事件也许本来是可以避免,如果当局认真听取了居民的表达酗酒闹事时而发生, 及时审时度势 并采取更积极的措施严格管制酒零售执照避免导致外国工人和其他饮酒者之间的兴起如雨后春笋般严重问题。
很在明显的是有关当局缺乏有效的措施,像鸵鸟等待事故发生。但是令人欣慰的政府已经承诺采取迅速和公平的行动打击罪犯，我们关心的是政府是否考虑长远和根治基本问题的措施来保护人民,维护所有居住在小印度生活和工作的国人。
我们也希望政府明白在先推出短期措施时至少要预留空间的空间给居民和外国劳工过正常活动。采取任何的措施时要保障双方的饮酒者和居民的权利和利益,希望这样的安排不会难道他们。如果需要较长的时间实行较长期的措施,我们相信居民会理解。
我们也可以从这起事故搜集教训,认真看待地方的情况,调整有关当局在地方管理运作模式和对地方问题做出及时的反应。
我们也想借此机会再次的向我们所有的执法人员说声非常感谢以及感激他们能复杂又混乱的环境中保持冷静,英勇和专业精神来处理整个事件以及避免使它严重化,而让爆徒有机会把暴力的范围扩张到其他地区。
我们也祝那些因执行任务而受伤的执法人员早日康复。
林睦荃
秘书长
新加坡正义党