When I said that many Singaporeans are paranoid about security, I am not suggesting that security should be abandoned entirely. Only narrow minded people will interpret my statement in this extreme fashion.
We should have security, but must balance between what is necessary and unnecessary, practical and impractical. We must be "more thinking" in our approach and should not implement security blindly.
We face risk in many activities of our life. We are afraid of terrorism in the airplanes, but that is not the only place that a terrorist can strike. They can also strike our mass transit trains, shopping malls, hotels and and restaurants.
We know that it is not possible to do screening of every one in all of these places. Why should the airports or office buildings be the subject of excessive screening?
While terrorism can be a latent threat to Singapore, we must not close our eyes to more imminent threats. With many foreigners in Singapore, and some who are unemployed and in debt, there is a real risk that they may turn to violent crimes to get by. I suspect that these violent crimes are under-reported in the media.
I like to see more policemen on patrol in the streets. I know that the Police Force has difficulty in finding people to work in these jobs, but they have to pay higher salaries in these jobs and get people away from doing other wasteful and unproductive work.
We should have security, but must balance between what is necessary and unnecessary, practical and impractical. We must be "more thinking" in our approach and should not implement security blindly.
We face risk in many activities of our life. We are afraid of terrorism in the airplanes, but that is not the only place that a terrorist can strike. They can also strike our mass transit trains, shopping malls, hotels and and restaurants.
We know that it is not possible to do screening of every one in all of these places. Why should the airports or office buildings be the subject of excessive screening?
While terrorism can be a latent threat to Singapore, we must not close our eyes to more imminent threats. With many foreigners in Singapore, and some who are unemployed and in debt, there is a real risk that they may turn to violent crimes to get by. I suspect that these violent crimes are under-reported in the media.
I like to see more policemen on patrol in the streets. I know that the Police Force has difficulty in finding people to work in these jobs, but they have to pay higher salaries in these jobs and get people away from doing other wasteful and unproductive work.
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