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POLICE would like to inform Mr Khor Teck Khim ('Better crowd control needed at Marina Bay'; ST, Jan 4) that appropriate crowd and traffic control measures were in place during the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown event.
Contrary to Mr Khor's claim that no police officers were present and no roads were closed, more than 230 police officers were deployed to ensure the safety and security of the public, on top of the over 500 auxiliary police and security officers engaged by the organisers.
We informed the public via the media on Dec 27 and 28 that Esplanade Drive would be closed to all traffic and Raffles Avenue would be open only to public buses and vehicles leaving carparks along it. The lightened traffic flow along Raffles Avenue hence allowed the two temporary and two existing crossing points along it to be opened more frequently and for a longer period each time, speeding up crowd dispersal towards Marina Square.
As most people attending such major events would want to leave the venue at the same time, some congestion and delay is inevitable. We seek the public's understanding that, in planning crowd and traffic control measures, police have to balance the convenience of event-goers against other factors such as safety and security, and the needs of other motorists and pedestrians in the area.
Audrey Ang (Ms)
Assistant Director (Media Relations)
Singapore Police Force
I REFER to Mr Khor Teck Khim's letter, 'Better crowd control needed at Marina Bay' (ST, Jan 4).
There was a turnout of 250,000 people at the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown. It was therefore unavoidable that some congestion was experienced when members of the public made their way out of the venue after the event.
Due to the large crowd in the Marina Square area, the crossing point mentioned by Mr Khor was temporarily closed for about 15 minutes to ensure public safety. Although the road was closed at 11.30pm, public buses and taxis were still allowed to ply the road. The temporary closure of the crossing point was lifted when the situation in the area improved.
More than 500 of our auxiliary police officers and security officers were deployed for crowd control and traffic management duties at the event. We were therefore unable to provide every officer with a loud hailer. We are looking into the possibility of increasing the amount of such equipment at future mega events.
Given the noisy and challenging environment then, our officers would need to raise their voices to be heard. This perhaps gave Mr Khor the impression that they were rude.
We thank Mr Khor for his feedback and giving us an opportunity to clarify.
Karyn Low (Ms)
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
Group Marketing & Communications
Certis Cisco Security
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