Impacts of terrorism in Singapore

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS

In Singapore, psychologic defence consists of the will to defend the nation. Some of the effects are:

• it may leave a mental scar on victims who have survived or a mental scar on the relatives of the victims who have lost their lives during these terror attacks.
• viewers have to be constantly reminded that such a terrible event has occurred as the press/media will keep on repeating the same news for quite some time.
• This will be especially painful for relatives of victims as they are reminded that this terror attack has made them lose their loved ones.

SOCIAL IMPACTS

• Al Qaeda they would have damaged communal relations, given he fact that 15% of the population consists of Malay Muslims.
• A fairly robust Civil Defence capability as well as a Total Defence approach that was aimed at improving its defence
• lead the management of any civil security or civil emergency, such as hijack, bomb attack, terrorist sabotage or civil disaster
• Singapore would implement a policy, ‘Homefront Security’ which would be implemented over the next few years to protect Singapore against terrorist
• Terrorist like the Al Qaeda would destroy common relations between different races, especially to the Malay as 15% of the Singapore’s populations are Malays.
• terrorists will tear apart the multi-religion and multi-racial foundation that Singapore had spent years to keep them in harmony.
• The nature of weaponry involved (WMD terrorism vs. predictable terrorism
• The level to which helplessness is generally felt
• The feeling of people may be hurt after the terrorist attack. They may lost their loves one.
• The level of area affected (limited/localized attacks would likely obtain more efficient governmental response and recovery);

POLITICAL IMPACTS

1) Tightening of controls in Singapore

Governments have a responsibility to keep their citizens safe from terrorists. As a result, governments have had to tighten various controls. One example of tightening controls that Singapore government has tightened so far is the bringing of liquid-filled bottles onboard to planes.

2) At the strategic level
- Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) [which oversees the internal safety-and-security of the country ] created the Homefront Security Division
- developed intra-governmental operations
- tested their response against possible threat scenarios
- In 2003, government raised benchmark further
- By creating the new post of Coordinating Minister for Security and Defence
- To spearhead Singapore’s efforts against transnational terrorism
- Tight border control is an important part of Singapore’s first line of defence
- Advanced technology are used at land checkpoints to detect undesirable persons and materials
- Some advanced technology used are mobile X-Ray machines and fibre-optic scopes
- Special detectors have been set up at sea ports
- Scan incoming cargo for hidden shipments

On top of such measures, the Government also focused on building its capabilities to deal with the consequences of terrorist attacks. The Operation Civil Emergency Plan was strengthened to handle multiple incidents concurrently. Originally drawn up to handle peacetime incidents like high-rise fires or air-crash incidents, the new security environment has led to the amendment of the plan to include scenarios involving catastrophic terrorism. The plan is constantly updated and tested to validate the strategies and tactics to ensure that it reflects the needs of the times.

3) Protecting the People by helping People to Protect Themselves

- Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) initiated the Community Emergency Preparedness Programme (CEPP)
- Community Safety & Security Programme (CSSP) is also initiated to tackle safety-and-security - concerns like crime, fire prevention and emergency preparedness

ECONOMIC IMPACTS
1) Singapore has a strategic location, hence considered as a trading port for several trading activities to take place. Otherwise, Singapore is known as a trade sensitive country. She is greatly dependent on trades and tourism.

2)If war were to happen, it will end most trading activities.
- Revenues generated would reduce drastically.
- Fewer tourists attracted to our nation due to the fear of another subsequent attack.
- Affect businesses and the national income generated. Investors lost confidence in the nation, thus withdrawing from investments and

3)Further level: Stock market will suffer and oil/food prices may plummet.

4)If transportation places were to be hit, then movement of goods would not be possible and the interruptions in transportation will result in detrimental implications. E.g. impacts on supply chain industry will be severe as it rely greatly on the efficiency of goods transportation

5)Overall, all these deter economic growth.