The government has a duty to do what it can to prevent last December's Little India riot from happening again, said Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs K. Shanmugam on Wednesday night.

Referring to the Public Order (Additional Temporary Measures) Bill proposed in Parliament on Monday which seeks to give law enforcement officers more powers in Little India for a year, Mr Shanmugam stressed that this is just a "temporary measure to try and nip things in the bud".

Mr Shanmugam was speaking to the press at the Terusan Lodge workers' dormitory in Jurong. He was there to follow-up on his earlier visit in December and hold a dialogue session to address the concerns of foreign workers living in the dormitory.

More than 400 workers showed up for the dialogue, which was conducted in Tamil. Issues like amenities, salary and workers' welfare were discussed.