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DPM sure of people's resilience to crises
DPM Wong cites response during Sars, financial crises
By Chong Zi Liang
ALTHOUGH Singapore does not suffer from natural disasters like the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan last month, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng is confident that people here would respond to equally serious challenges with resilience.
Speaking at the launch of the fifth Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers, he noted that there was no looting or rioting in the wake of the Japanese disasters and added that the Japanese came together to face the tragedy in a calm and disciplined manner.
DPM Wong, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, said Singaporeans had performed admirably too when confronting local crises like the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003.
'Singaporeans responded heroically in hospitals, private clinics and public places,' he said.
He added that people took responsible actions such as checking their temperatures, wearing masks and washing their hands.
Similarly, the 2009 financial crisis showed how workers, unions and employers banded together and undertook painful measures to cut wages and costs to save jobs.
The week-long conference, which started yesterday, was attended by about 70 local and overseas security experts as well as military and police personnel who work in national security.
The minister also outlined three levels of what he termed as the resilience DNA: pragmatic, ideological and affective.
At the pragmatic level, all Singaporeans know they have a stake in the country's future because of the meritocratic system that gives everyone equal opportunities to climb the social ladder.
Ideologically, the National Flag, Anthem and Pledge serve as symbols of Singaporeans' common identity. National service has also inculcated this value in all male citizens.
Third, affective policies like the Community Engagement Programme, in which religious, union, educational and grassroots groups get together to promote harmony, help to foster a sense of belonging.
But DPM Wong said social strength is always a work in progress.
'We as a people must strengthen our resilience DNA so that we will instinctively pull together, as the Japanese are doing, and help one another to survive and recover from a crisis,' he said.
Security experts like Associate Professor Bilveer Singh of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies were also optimistic of the cohesion among Singaporeans after more than 40 years of nation building.
'This sense of nation is the beginning of 'us' and 'them'. And the moment there is 'us', you have a family and you want to protect your family,' he said.
DPM Wong said it is not enough to recover from a crisis.
Instead, the country should bounce back even stronger from setbacks.
'For example, Singapore's water resource problem has enabled us to find innovative solutions to deal with water security,' he said.
He added that at the height of the Sars epidemic, a Singapore company developed a fever scanner that was later named one of the best inventions of 2003 by Time magazine.
[email protected]
DPM Wong cites response during Sars, financial crises
By Chong Zi Liang
ALTHOUGH Singapore does not suffer from natural disasters like the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan last month, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng is confident that people here would respond to equally serious challenges with resilience.
Speaking at the launch of the fifth Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers, he noted that there was no looting or rioting in the wake of the Japanese disasters and added that the Japanese came together to face the tragedy in a calm and disciplined manner.
DPM Wong, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, said Singaporeans had performed admirably too when confronting local crises like the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003.
'Singaporeans responded heroically in hospitals, private clinics and public places,' he said.
He added that people took responsible actions such as checking their temperatures, wearing masks and washing their hands.
Similarly, the 2009 financial crisis showed how workers, unions and employers banded together and undertook painful measures to cut wages and costs to save jobs.
The week-long conference, which started yesterday, was attended by about 70 local and overseas security experts as well as military and police personnel who work in national security.
The minister also outlined three levels of what he termed as the resilience DNA: pragmatic, ideological and affective.
At the pragmatic level, all Singaporeans know they have a stake in the country's future because of the meritocratic system that gives everyone equal opportunities to climb the social ladder.
Ideologically, the National Flag, Anthem and Pledge serve as symbols of Singaporeans' common identity. National service has also inculcated this value in all male citizens.
Third, affective policies like the Community Engagement Programme, in which religious, union, educational and grassroots groups get together to promote harmony, help to foster a sense of belonging.
But DPM Wong said social strength is always a work in progress.
'We as a people must strengthen our resilience DNA so that we will instinctively pull together, as the Japanese are doing, and help one another to survive and recover from a crisis,' he said.
Security experts like Associate Professor Bilveer Singh of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies were also optimistic of the cohesion among Singaporeans after more than 40 years of nation building.
'This sense of nation is the beginning of 'us' and 'them'. And the moment there is 'us', you have a family and you want to protect your family,' he said.
DPM Wong said it is not enough to recover from a crisis.
Instead, the country should bounce back even stronger from setbacks.
'For example, Singapore's water resource problem has enabled us to find innovative solutions to deal with water security,' he said.
He added that at the height of the Sars epidemic, a Singapore company developed a fever scanner that was later named one of the best inventions of 2003 by Time magazine.
[email protected]
