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Riot in Little India

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JR8
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Post by JR8 » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 9:54 am

Apparently they are going to have a 'Committee of Inquiry (COI') to investigate the root causes of the riot.

Well, in the UK they say that an inquiry is never held until they've already decided upon the facts they wish to find. I expect it's different here, as the 'fuse is lit', and they need this resolving however uncomfortable that might be, rather than glossing over and risking a repeat.

The chairman of the COI made an interesting comment. She said that two ministers' suggestion that alcohol was a contributing factor for the riot was 'a narrative that is convenient to the ruling party'.

I take that as putting something of a 'marker' down, that the independence, and adequacy of the inquiry is being closely observed.

Hopefully the findings are fair and of value, and if required, things might change such that this can't happen again.

The full article was in yesterdays ST (which I'm not permitted to link here).

p.s. I see in another article they're expecting the COI to conclude their report by the weekend. One wonders how considered they might be, working to such a short timeline.

Searchable tags for article:
NSP secretary-general Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss

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Post by AngMoG » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 11:38 am

JR8 wrote:Apparently they are going to have a 'Committee of Inquiry (COI') to investigate the root causes of the riot.

Well, in the UK they say that an inquiry is never held until they've already decided upon the facts they wish to find. I expect it's different here, as the 'fuse is lit', and they need this resolving however uncomfortable that might be, rather than glossing over and risking a repeat.

The chairman of the COI made an interesting comment. She said that two ministers' suggestion that alcohol was a contributing factor for the riot was 'a narrative that is convenient to the ruling party'.

I take that as putting something of a 'marker' down, that the independence, and adequacy of the inquiry is being closely observed.

Hopefully the findings are fair and of value, and if required, things might change such that this can't happen again.

The full article was in yesterdays ST (which I'm not permitted to link here).

p.s. I see in another article they're expecting the COI to conclude their report by the weekend. One wonders how considered they might be, working to such a short timeline.

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NSP secretary-general Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss
JR8, I think you have a few things confused...
- The COI is supposed to be formed by end of the week, not reach its conclusions by end of the week
- The person who made that statement is the secretary-general of the NSP, and at this point has nothing to do with the COI. However, it was published in the daily BCL, which I find interesting.

Pity, I had some hope after your post, but at this point I am more inclined to believe that the COI will just echo the gov's position.

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Post by JR8 » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 12:12 pm

AngMoG wrote: JR8, I think you have a few things confused...
- The COI is supposed to be formed by end of the week, not reach its conclusions by end of the week
- The person who made that statement is the secretary-general of the NSP, and at this point has nothing to do with the COI. However, it was published in the daily BCL, which I find interesting.

Pity, I had some hope after your post, but at this point I am more inclined to believe that the COI will just echo the gov's position.
Ah yes, I think you're correct. The wording in the articles are in parts somewhat ambiguous.

Well, we'll sit in hope and see...

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Post by Barnsley » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 1:27 pm

AngMoG wrote:
JR8 wrote:Apparently they are going to have a 'Committee of Inquiry (COI') to investigate the root causes of the riot.

Well, in the UK they say that an inquiry is never held until they've already decided upon the facts they wish to find. I expect it's different here, as the 'fuse is lit', and they need this resolving however uncomfortable that might be, rather than glossing over and risking a repeat.

The chairman of the COI made an interesting comment. She said that two ministers' suggestion that alcohol was a contributing factor for the riot was 'a narrative that is convenient to the ruling party'.

I take that as putting something of a 'marker' down, that the independence, and adequacy of the inquiry is being closely observed.

Hopefully the findings are fair and of value, and if required, things might change such that this can't happen again.

The full article was in yesterdays ST (which I'm not permitted to link here).

p.s. I see in another article they're expecting the COI to conclude their report by the weekend. One wonders how considered they might be, working to such a short timeline.

Searchable tags for article:
NSP secretary-general Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss
JR8, I think you have a few things confused...
- The COI is supposed to be formed by end of the week, not reach its conclusions by end of the week
- The person who made that statement is the secretary-general of the NSP, and at this point has nothing to do with the COI. However, it was published in the daily BCL, which I find interesting.

Pity, I had some hope after your post, but at this point I am more inclined to believe that the COI will just echo the gov's position.
Are you sure on the timescale , maybe I misheard but I am sure they said the COI would have the report completed by the end of the week.... Maybe I was concentrating on work for once and got distracted from Class95 :shock:
Life is short, paddle harder!!

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Post by JR8 » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 1:49 pm

Barnsley wrote:Are you sure on the timescale , maybe I misheard but I am sure they said the COI would have the report completed by the end of the week.... Maybe I was concentrating on work for once and got distracted from Class95 :shock:

Well that's how I read it too, and hence how I responded as I did. Some coincidence we both thought that...

[Perhaps the original article has now been 'edited for clarity' ?]

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 1:56 pm

Shouldn't take that long, I suspect, as I reckon they already know the findings......... :-|
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Post by JR8 » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 2:11 pm

Well quite.

One gets an impression it might possibly be more about providing justification for an already decided course of action, rather than desiring to look any deeper.

I don't know. But IME 'public enquiries' call witnesses, subject matter experts, and other interested parties, and take months, even maybe a year, or two+ to summarise their findings.

The idea of concluding one in 3-4 days AND publishing the results, is novel to me.

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Post by morenangpinay » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 3:13 pm

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sin ... 17780.html

"There is no evidence to suggest that the foreign workers involved in the Little India riot were unhappy with their employers or the government, said Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam."

they already made this statement on tuesday. i don't expect any outcome of investigation other than what is on the surface

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Post by Sergei82 » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 3:55 pm

Hi everybody, long time no see. If you thought I left Singapore, you're wrong: I'm here, life is improving, I feel great. :)

Considering what is happening now in Ukraine (I hope those imbeciles will kill each other very soon, Ukraine will turn into Somalia number 2, and I will be loooong gone with other country's citizenship), this riot is very entertaining: especially I liked watching on the news how the mob is bluntly flipping the cars and then just burning them, while police are just boneheadedly watching this with no idea what to do (and swat arriving only 2 hours after this started - apparently guys were enjoying the weekend).

In any case, I'm very happy to be in Singapore... oh, wait... I need to keep myself busy completing that PR application form now! :)

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Post by iloverice » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 4:32 pm

Sergei82 wrote:Hi everybody, long time no see. If you thought I left Singapore, you're wrong: I'm here, life is improving, I feel great. :)

Considering what is happening now in Ukraine (I hope those imbeciles will kill each other very soon, Ukraine will turn into Somalia number 2, and I will be loooong gone with other country's citizenship), this riot is very entertaining: especially I liked watching on the news how the mob is bluntly flipping the cars and then just burning them, while police are just boneheadedly watching this with no idea what to do (and swat arriving only 2 hours after this started - apparently guys were enjoying the weekend).

In any case, I'm very happy to be in Singapore... oh, wait... I need to keep myself busy completing that PR application form now! :)

Sergei! How are you? Nah, we know you still around. :D

You and Brah are not posting for quite sometime.

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Post by Barnsley » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 5:06 pm

Sergei82 wrote:Hi everybody, long time no see. If you thought I left Singapore, you're wrong: I'm here, life is improving, I feel great. :)

Considering what is happening now in Ukraine (I hope those imbeciles will kill each other very soon, Ukraine will turn into Somalia number 2, and I will be loooong gone with other country's citizenship), this riot is very entertaining: especially I liked watching on the news how the mob is bluntly flipping the cars and then just burning them, while police are just boneheadedly watching this with no idea what to do (and swat arriving only 2 hours after this started - apparently guys were enjoying the weekend).

In any case, I'm very happy to be in Singapore... oh, wait... I need to keep myself busy completing that PR application form now! :)
Saw you in Tampines MRT a while back ... you were heading out and I was heading in through the gates.

Are you living or working around there?
Life is short, paddle harder!!

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Post by JR8 » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 7:11 pm

Alright Sergei!
Nice to see you back :)

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Post by Mi Amigo » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 7:47 pm

This incident and its aftermath just fills me with great sadness. First of all, sadness and sympathy for the person who lost their life, and for their family and friends who have lost him. Secondly, sadness for the injuries that were inflicted on everyone involved, whatever 'side' they were on. IMO violence is never the answer and this will just make the lives of those involved and other FWs worse. It's sad to think that many FWs may now lose their livelihood (on which various families 'back home' may have been depending up to now).

I'm also sad to think of the impact this will have on LI. As many have commented, this is one of the last remaining places in Singapore that has a distinctive and tangible 'soul'. We always enjoy visiting LI and will continue to do so - in fact we sometimes make a point of taking visitors from abroad there on a Sunday, so that they can get the 'full impact'. We have no intention of changing our behaviour in this regard and will continue to visit our favourite restaurant there (Andhra Curry).

Finally, it saddens me to think that this episode will further encourage all those xenophobic bigots who post their racist bile and hatred on various websites (that appalling TRS article linked to earlier on being but one example). It's the foreigners who have built (and continue to build) all the stuff that Singaporeans like to claim the credit for. Perhaps all those nasty armchair commentators who want to send the foreigners back home should take a turn at pouring concrete 100ft above ground in the blazing sun, or digging the underground infrastructure for new MRT lines, etc. Then maybe they'd start to appreciate what the FWs have to deal with every day. Or maybe not, knowing how blinkered many people here are.

Having said all that...

Sergei - nice to see you posting here again!
Be careful what you wish for

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Post by firegold 99 » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 11:18 pm

In my view , i think the government should banned alcohol and limit
the number of alcohol around the area .

About the bus incident , in my view ,

I noticed many foreigner drivers especially from China , we should trained
them under WDA & Migrant Authority about crimes, riots and so on that
will abide the law .

Foreign drivers should drive slowly

As for Sun TV , they should not make remarks about chinese killing indians as that being religious and sensitive toward race and religion .

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Wed, 11 Dec 2013 11:56 pm

Sun TV probably got it from the Xenophobia, rabid, idiot Singaporeans posting all over FB. Obviously a proper journalist wouldn't have given out that kind of info. They probably just copies sites like TRE, TOC and their followers.

If they ban alcohol for one ethnic group, then the charges of racism will become rampant world wide with regard to Singapore (only this time the charges will be openly visible and not swept under the carpets).

Oh, so it okay if local speed izzit? All drivers should drive slowly. Anyway, I don't think the driver was driving fast in the first place. You just want them to be. Believe me, Singapore drivers are just as bad if not worse.

Regarding banning of alcohol, you think it is good to racially pick a single group of people and ban them from drinking alcohol? You are a Racist, izzit? As a Singaporean Chinese how would you like it if they banned alcohol from all Chinese karaoke and kopitiams where locals like hang out and drink themselves silly? After all, drunken Chinese Singaporeans get into more mob/gangfights/riots and probably kill or injure more annually than the Migrant Workers in Little India have probably done in the past 30 years. In fact, they didn't kill anybody this time either. Only the bus driver did.

However, rioting is against the law and they should be brought to justice. That much I'll agree with.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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