Forum: Mindef should alert the public proactively about detonation activities
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Some Singaporeans were alarmed by loud sounds on Nov 5, and the Singapore Police Force had to issue a statement saying the sounds were due to detonation activities on Pulau Senang (Loud noises around Singapore due to planned detonation activities by SAF: Police, Nov 5).
Something similar happened in April 2019, when the police received reports of loud noises and vibrations. Similarly, the police had to clarify that these were due to detonation activities by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) (Loud noises, vibrations reported across Singapore, April 28, 2019).
Responding to a letter then on why no notice was given, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said the public is informed of such activities via weekly advisories on its website that are also issued to local media (SAF keeps public informed of military activities, May 4, 2019).
The Nov 5 detonation activities were, in fact, listed in an advisory on Mindef’s website.
But the fact that this episode repeated itself after three years shows that Mindef’s current communications approach on informing the public on detonation activities can be improved.
It is unrealistic to expect the public to take the initiative and constantly scroll through Mindef’s website for advisories.
Instead, I suggest that Mindef publish such advisories on its social media accounts, or work with TV channels, radio stations and newspapers to broadcast the advisories and reach out to the less tech-savvy.
Another solution could be to collaborate with the Ministry of Home Affairs to alert the public about such activities via the SGSecure app.
Alerting members of the public proactively is more effective than expecting them to find out information on their own.
Hopefully, these solutions will reduce the number of phone calls received by the police on the noises and vibrations from SAF’s detonation activities. Had the public been better informed about the Nov 5 activities, the police would not have needed to waste resources to issue a media statement, and could have put its manpower to better use.
David Lim Yeow Chuan
