Tighter security in Little India as cameras go up

Security cameras were installed overnight at the site of Sunday’s riot in Little India, as the police continued to roll out measures to ensure that the coming weekend would be a trouble-free one.

The cameras, part of a raft of measures to improve security in the area, were welcomed by residents and businesses, who have long suggested an increase in surveillance to be deployed to maintain peace, especially on weekends, when tens of thousands of foreign workers congregate in the area to rest and relax.

Details of the alcohol ban this weekend were sent to several businesses in Little India from Tuesday night. Some restaurants, coffee shops, hawker stalls and sundry stores also received the letters and were surprised the ban extended to them — they had assumed only standalone liquor shops and bars would be affected.

The letters, which said the sale of liquor would not be allowed on Saturday and Sunday, also raised questions among store owners in Little India — they wanted to know the boundaries of the ban and whether their rivals across the street would be affected.

The measures implemented in Little India added to a flurry of activity on other fronts yesterday, in the wake of the nation’s worst outbreak of mass violence in 40 years. At the Subordinate Courts yesterday (Dec 11), three more Indian nationals were charged with taking part in the riot.

Police said in a statement this morning that an additional five Indian nationals aged between 24 and 45 have since been arrested, and are expected to be charged in court today.

The three men, aged between 22 and 26, are accused of throwing a dustbin at and using a wooden stick to smash the windscreen of a private bus, which ran over Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu. The trio have been remanded for a week to aid in police investigations.

The Singapore Contractors Association (SCAL), meanwhile, sent out an advisory urging more than 2,000 companies under it to “advise workers to refrain from revelling in Little India this weekend to avoid any unpleasant encounters”.

It noted the announcement by Second Home Affairs Minister S Iswaran on Monday that there would be a ban on alcohol sale and consumption around Little India, adding that the SCAL would encourage members to have their workers participate in other activities, such as the International Migrants’ Day Celebrations organised by Migrant Worker Centre on Sunday.

In total, 26 police closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be installed in the vicinity of Race Course Road and Buffalo Road. About 10 CCTV cameras were installed in the area yesterday.

Shop owners and residents Today Online interviewed welcomed the installation of the security cameras. Resident Sindhu Perengeth, who had spotted them along Race Course Road, said the new measure would be “good for our safety”.

CCTV would not prevent a repeat

Jagwinder Singh, 28, Manager of a restaurant along the same road, added that the handful of foreign workers who drink and get into small fights would now think twice with the set-up of such cameras.

But others, like Rohit Razdan, 42, director of Kashmir Restaurant, pointed out that the cameras would not prevent a repeat of Sunday’s chaos.

“It is a good (form of) surveillance, but it’s not the answer to the problem … Cameras can give you only an (idea) of what happened. But (they) can’t prevent the riot,” he added.

Store owners had several questions concerning the suspension of liquor sales this weekend.

“The police say (the ban is in) Little India, but (specifically) where and which area we don’t know,” said PN Rajan, owner of provision shop Home of Spices along Kerbau Road.

The Liquors Licensing Board said liquor licences in the “Little India cluster and the surrounding vicinity” would be suspended this weekend.

According to checks by Today Online, businesses across Little India — from establishments located along Kitchener Road near Jalan Besar to those before the Rochor River, flanked by Syed Alwi Road and Race Course Road on each side — had received the letters.

Goh Yeow Seng, 41, owner of a coffee shop in Desker Road, said the business that it gets on a Sunday “is equivalent to what we make over two to three days”.

“I also found it strange that the ban was extended to coffee shops as well because we hold only beer licences. They should be banning shops that sell hard liquor instead,” he said.

Other restaurant owners pointed out that their patrons are mostly expatriates and Singaporeans and they could control the sale of alcohol if customers become tipsy.

“I don’t think the ban is fair to restaurants because our customers are not the ones who get drunk at the road and create trouble. We are not selling by the bottle,” Rohit added.

Welcoming the ban was Buffalo resident SH Tan, 60.

“It’s good news for me this weekend — I can see a clean place with nobody drinking under my block,” she said. 

- Today Online