Singapore Starts Inquiry Into City"s Worst Violence in 40 Years

A Singapore inquiry into a Dec. 8

riot in the Little India district, the city’s worst violence in

more than four decades, began today in the Subordinate Courts.

The hearing is scheduled to last at least four weeks and

117 people are expected to testify. The Committee of Inquiry

visited the riot scene, an area which attracts migrant workers

on their days off, where they were interviewed for their views

including their living conditions.

The incident involving about 400 people broke out the night

of Dec. 8 after a fatal traffic accident. Police cars and an

ambulance were set ablaze or toppled, resulting in at least

S$650,000 ($515,000) of damages on government vehicles and

equipment. Police were given more power to maintain public order

and alcohol was banned on weekends in the area, known for its

Hindu temples and Indian eateries. Twenty-five people, all

Indian nationals, were charged for their involvement in the riot

and 57 workers deported.

“Viewed with a mixture of alarm and disbelief, the riot

captured the nation’s attention, triggering introspection,”

Senior State Counsel David Khoo said at the opening of the

inquiry today. “As news of the riot spread internationally, the

central question on everyone’s mind: what had caused a public

order incident of this scale in Singapore?”

The inquiry is not to determine guilt or liability and will

be focused on fact finding, Khoo said.

Inquiry Members

The four-member committee including former judge G. Pannir

Selvam and ex-police commissioner Tee Tua Ba will look into the

causes of the riot and how it was managed. The group will also
examine if measures to manage such incidents in areas where

foreign workers gather are sufficient. A report of the inquiry

and recommendations will be submitted to the Home Affairs

minister within six months.

An illegal assembly is a gathering of five or more for

unlawful purposes, which is also termed as a riot, Khoo said in

response to a committee query on the description of the incident

as a riot instead of a protest.

Of the 213 who were issued warnings, 179 were Indians and

the rest were from Bangladesh, according to the Ministry of Home

Affairs. Investigators took statements from about 300 people,

according to the inquiry secretariat.

Singapore had 306,500 foreign construction workers as of

June, according to data from the Ministry of Manpower’s website.

Indian nationals make up the biggest group of migrant workers

living in the city’s dormitories, or about 30 percent to 40

percent, according to Dormitory Association of Singapore.

“Are foreign workers discriminated against? Do they face

social exclusion? Are they exploited by their employers?” Khoo

said. “These are but some of the many questions that have

arisen in the aftermath.”

There’s no basis for assertions that worker conditions led

to the riot, Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan Jin told

lawmakers last month.

The inquiry is Committee of Inquiry into the Riot in Little

India on Dec. 8, 2013, appointed under section 9 of the

Inquiries Act. Singapore Subordinate Courts.

To contact the reporter on this story:

Andrea Tan in Singapore at

atan17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:

Douglas Wong at

dwong19@bloomberg.net;

Linus Chua at

lchua@bloomberg.net

Singapore Starts Inquiry Into City"s Worst Violence in 40 Years