Activist: Govt eager to pin alcohol to riot

THERE has been an “eagerness” by the Government to pin the cause of the riot in Little India to alcohol, rather than to examine if it was the result of its own economic policies, Workfair Singapore activist Vincent Wijeysingha told the Committee of Inquiry (COI) on Thursday.

“The Prime Minister ... (in his) eagerness to make this point on alcohol, suggests there has been a great scramble to find a cause, a reason, to exonerate the Government and its policies,” said Dr Wijeysingha, adding that the State’s decision to deport the suspected rioters before they could go to trial meant it was a “wasted opportunity to examine the alcohol thesis”.