Gunshots were heard over the tourist hotspot of Clarke Quay on Friday (Nov 10), as two gunmen carried out an attack at popular nightclub Neverland, raining bullets from the second-floor window.

On the ground floor near a row of pubs, a masked man wielding a knife ruthlessly attacked patrons, before he was brought down by four Singapore Police Force (SPF) officers.

Businesses rushed to shutter their doors, preventing the attacker from harming more victims.

Thankfully, these were merely simulated terror attacks that were part of the first Exercise Heartbeat this year.

The annual counter-terrorism exercise involved close to 140 people, about half of which were staff from businesses located around Clarke Quay. The popular tourist area, teeming with pubs, attracts about a million visitors every month.

Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo, who had observed the exercise on Friday afternoon, said the response of businesses will be critical during such attacks.

“When a terror attack occurs, the response of the building management as well as the tenants will make a critical difference. If they are able to respond swiftly and they know what to do, they can safe lives and minimise the disruption and we are more likely to be able to recover quickly,” said Mrs Teo, who is also the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office,

She added that the government is not only spreading the message of preparedness to Singaporeans in the community but businesses as well, as people spend a lot of time at workplaces.

To test the emergency responses of the SPF, businesses and their staff, Friday’s exercise mirrored the recent London Borough Market attack.

In June this year, seven people were killed after a white rental van drove into pedestrians on the London Bridge. The van continued on to plough into Borough Market where three attackers emerged from the vehicle and carried out multiple stabbings in pubs and restaurants.

A deadly shooting also occurred in the United States last month, where 59 people were killed when a gunmen opened fire on an open-air music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino on the Las Vegas strip.

Noting the increase of attacks in highly populated areas, CapitaLand Mall Asia — which manages the Clarke Quay area — have taken steps to spread the message of preparedness to their staff.

“Over 150 employees from Clarke Quay’s management team and tenants have been briefed on the emergency evacuation routes and terror response plans,” said Ms Teresa Teow, head of retail management, Singapore, CapitaLand Mall Asia.

Their employees are encouraged to download the SGSecure application.

The new SGSecure at Workplaces programme was also introduced in September this year, to strengthen readiness in the community to deal with a terror attack.

Under the new programme, the Ministry of Manpower, unions and employers will team up with industry associations from the five sectors, as well as key building owners, to build greater awareness of the SGSecure movement.

Mr Paul Singh, CEO of Neverland, said he has sent five key staff members for the programme.

“They range from staff in (key) positions like operations, management and security,” said the 37-year-old, who oversees a total of about 60 staff at the Clarke Quay branch.

“They have gone on to teach their colleagues on how to identify terror threats, what to expect and what to do in case of an attack.”

This is not the first time that businesses are involved in a counter-terror exercise.

A joint counter-terrorism exercise was conducted by the Police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force at the Esplanade’s Theatres on the Bay in September last year.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by CYNTHIA CHOO

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