PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Media Wrap-up in Seoul, Korea (Dec 2013)

Q: Could you give us an update on the COI so far in particular to the arrests that have been made?

PM: The investigations are carrying on, I think things are well in hand, the police are interviewing all the people who are relevant. I think Singaporeans who have been witnesses have videos, photographs and accounts, have been very forthcoming in helping the police, which is very useful. They have identified and charged a certain number, I think 27 the last count. We will see how the investigations go.

The COI is also well in hand, I hope within a day or two we will be able to announce the names as well as the terms of reference. Meanwhile we are also working on the interim arrangements because Serangoon Road is crowded every weekend and we want to make sure everything is orderly and safe this week and thereafter. So we have decided this coming weekend, no alcohol. Thereafter we will work out some interim arrangements for the period after that until such time that we can come to firmer conclusions and make more permanent arrangements.

So I think things are in hand. Singaporeans have taken it peacefully, calmly. But I think they are quite shocked by what happened as we have not had a riot like this for a very, very long time - beyond living memory for most Singaporeans. But it has happened, it is bad, we have to deal with it firmly to make quite sure that this is quite unacceptable. There is no reason whatsoever, no justification whatsoever for people to behave like this in Singapore. At the same time we have to be fair - to the persons who are not involved and to the persons who are involved — there has to be a due process of law. Whether online or wherever else, i think we have to exercise some restraint. The anxiety and the alarm is quite understandable but if we express ourselves in unrestrained, unreserved terms, sometimes xenophobic terms even - on the Internet you have seen quite a lot of those — I do not think that is helpful.

Q: Do you think there will be any immediate or long term impacts on Singapore's foreign worker policy?

PM: I think we need the foreign workers. These people were here because they are working for us — building trains, building houses, working in the shipyards, in other sectors. I think at Serangoon Road, many of them would be in the construction and marine industry. If we did not have them, we would not be able to achieve either our housing plans or our public transport plans and Singaporeans would be severely affected. So I think we need the foreign workers. We have to see how we can manage them.

Q: Given how the overseas media has reported on this incident, do you think Singapore's reputation has been hit?

PM: I think there has been alot of interest internationally, because it is such an unusual thing to happen in Singapore. Certainly the investors are also watching, even on this trip in Korea, one or two businessmen have asked me about this, who have had long experience of business with Singapore, and were very surprised and wanted to have an interpretation of what is it that happened, what caused it, what is the Singapore Government going to do about it. So it is quite understandable that the media would have reported this as significant news. I think all the more we have to be very proper in our response as a Government, and Singaporeans also have to be very responsible and measured in our reaction as a people.

Q: You mentioned about some comments being xenophobic, not helpful. Some comments have also been racially charged, could you comment more on this?

PM: We have one million plus foreign workers in Singapore. About 400 were involved in this riot. There was a specific circumstance, it was a localised riot. I think the people who were involved have to be treated severely. But the population at large, the other foreign workers who are working here, who are making a living here, who are making a contribution to our economy, who had nothing to do with this, I think it would be quite unfair for Singaporeans to look at them all and say, they are a problem and we cannot accept them. I think that is not correct, I think that is not wise.

Q: One more question about the interim arrangements — what are some of these arrangements that might be put into place?

PM: First of all, it is a question of alcohol. This weekend we have said no alcohol, after that we have to see what arrangements we make. In fact, alcohol is something that we had in mind to deal with even before the riot happened. We had already started a process of consultation with the shop keepers, the grassroots leaders. And it so happened that Monday, ST reported the riot and on the same day on the homepage, first page, you reported our discussion on the alcohol issue. It was something which was already ongoing. But we will have to speed that up and there has to be some tightening up and changes so that we minimize the people who are drunk, disorderly, and causing inconvenience and nuisance to the rest of the population there, particularly the residents who live there and find their void decks encroached upon or their staircase landings. I think these are social problems which we have to deal with. We have to look at the transport arrangements and see how the transport flow can be made safer. There will be other aspects which we will be looking at, and I think the COI will also be looking at that.

Q: Will Singapore introduce any laws preventing public drunkenness?

PM: Let us study that. I think we do not want to have a knee-jerk reaction. We do want public orderly behaviour and we do have some issues in some entertainment districts. If you come home late at night, or even very early in the morning, you will find people sitting by the roadside sometimes being sick. I do not think it is good socially, I do not think it is good for the persons themselves to be behaving like this. We should discourage this.

Remarks in Mandarin

Q: PM, you just wrapped up your visit here in Korea. Could you sum it up?

PM: I am happy with the visit. I have been to Korea over the years, and most recently last year for a conference, but it is my first bilateral visit for awhile. I was very happy to have a good exchange with President Park Geun Hye, and also to meet its business people and hear their views on how they see their business growing, and how they would like Singapore to be part of that growth in the region. Also this morning I visited Samsung to see some of the new technology and new gizmos and new ideas they are developing. It is a very rapidly growing business, it is a dramatically changing technology, it is going to change the world, and Korea is part of this. I think Singapore is also trying to be part of this and we are working at it.

Apart from the big companies like Samsung, Korea is focusing also on the smaller companies, SMEs. Actually, there is actually nearly a few hundred million, maybe a billion turnover a year, not that small, but they have not gone abroad to the same extent that the chaebols have done. And we in Singapore are also encouraging them to come to Singapore, in order to base themselves there with headquarters, with research outfits, with outfits overseeing the Southeast Asian businesses. I just had lunch with a group of them, and I just met some of them yesterday, I think this is a positive development that we want to encourage.

On the G-to-G level, there were a couple of things we discussed with the President. We are keen on the FTA being enhanced, between Singapore and Korea. It has been since 2006 and there have been many changes. Our bilateral trade has gone up, the world has changed since 2006 - gone through the Financial Crisis — so I think our FTA needs to be properly revised and updated. I encouraged the Korean side to do this.

The second thing we talked about is the Air Services agreement. Business is growing, I think more people want to go back and forth more - businessmen, tourists, even here just two days in the hotel, I have met a couple of families who are on holiday, and somebody who came with the company because the company had an activity and she came from the European company's Singapore outfit to the European company's Korean presence here and she was from the Singapore office. So there is a lot of this 'to'-ing and 'fro'-ing and we would like to have more flights. We would like to have more flights beyond Singapore and Korea — fifth freedom — meaning Seoul onto other destinations, and Singapore onto other destinations, because that is the way we can make ourselves hubs. So Seoul, Incheon, if they have more flights, a better chance they can become hubs for aviation, compared to Beijing or Tokyo — and similarly with Singapore. This is something I had discussed with the President when we met in Brunei a few months ago. Our Civil Aviation officials are meeting and talking about it. They have not made as much progress as I would have liked, but I asked the President to encourage her officials and I will encourage my officials to work harder to achieve a good agreement — bold, with a good balance of benefits. I think that is the way we want our bilateral relations to be between Singapore and Korea. 

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