Singapore on alert against terror attacks, says PM

FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2015 file photo, Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, secretary general of the ruling Peoples Action Party, makes his way to the election nomination center with other party members in Singapore for a general election scheduled on Sept. 11. In a Facebook post Sunday, April 10, 2016, his sister Dr. Lee Wei Ling, a well-known neurosurgeon, said the government was trying to use the occasion of their father Lee Kuan Yews one-year death anniversary to hero-worship Lee Hsien Loong, according to Channel News Asia, a government-supported television station and news website. It said Dr. Lee suggested that her brother was abusing his power by conducting elaborate anniversary events, and trying to establish a political dynasty. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair, File)

HANOI: Singapore is on its guard in the light of the heightened global terror threat, as there is no foolproof protection against an attack like the one London suffered on Wednesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

“It has happened elsewhere, nobody can say it will never happen in Singapore,” he said.

“If it does happen, we need to have that fortitude and resilience, and unity, to say: This is bad, let’s find out what was the background, let’s do what we need to do, but at the same time, carry on with our lives. And tomorrow is another day, Singapore survives.”

Lee was speaking to Singapore reporters at the end of his four-day visit to Vietnam.

He was asked whether such an attack could happen in Singapore, and what he would say to those who are concerned it could happen anytime, anywhere.

“It’s something we have to be conscious about, these things can happen. And they have happened in many other cities, it could happen to Singapore,” he said.

“It is one person, we don’t know the circumstances exactly: He had a criminal record, he may have been a criminal now adopting the ISIS flag, he could have been converted and adopted the ideology of extre­mism. We are not sure yet.

“But in our modern, civilised world, we cannot be fortified every single moment of our lives. We have to go on the basis that we are working together. There’s peace, we trust one another, we work with one another.”

Lee added: “We are on our guard, but at the same time, we know that there is no 100% foolproof protection, and it can happen elsewhere.”

On Wednesday, a lone attacker launched an assault outside the Houses of Parliament in London, killing four people and injuring 40 others before he was shot dead.

Another seriously injured victim died the next day. — The Straits Times/Asia News Network