SINGAPORE: In the months leading up to November 2024, St Joseph’s Church decided to shift the seating positions of its emergency preparedness team during mass – closer to the sanctuary up front.
This turned out to be a tiny, yet potentially life-saving move.
It meant the team now sat nearer to Catholic priest Christopher Lee when he was stabbed during mass on the evening of Nov 9; and it meant members of the team could promptly stop the attack and render help.
“They just recently tweaked their security plan for each mass and as a result, they were a little bit more effective, they were closer to the priest when it happened,” said Mr Kevin Ho, the former chairman of and current adviser to the Archdiocesan Emergency Response Operations (AERO) council.
The council oversees emergency preparedness at all 32 Catholic Churches in Singapore.
And according to Mr Ho, the fact that the St Joseph's first responders could swiftly pin down the suspect and tend to Father Lee’s wounds was no fluke: It was a day his team had also spent much time preparing for.
“We've been working with them for many years,” said Mr Ho, who stepped down as chairman in late 2023. "The key here is that there is a team in place, and I think (without it), it could have gone worse.”
The attack - which based on preliminary investigations was not religiously motivated - left Fr Lee with an 8cm-long laceration on his tongue, a 3cm cut on his upper lip and a 4cm cut on the corner of his mouth. He was discharged on Nov 15.
A 37-year-old Singaporean, Basnayake Keith Spencer, has been charged.
Mr Damien Liew Khee Rui (left) and Mr Richard Tan Chai Boon receive the Public Spiritedness Award at the Jurong Police Division Headquarters on Nov 10, 2024. They had helped disarm the assailant. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
The AERO council was started in 2016, in response to several high-profile terror attacks against European churches, said Mr Ho.
The 52-year-old, a volunteer police officer at that time, was approached by the Catholic Church's leadership to lead the council. It's made up of former police officers, nurses and doctors.
Members of the council went down to each of the 32 churches to speak to priests and church members to ensure each institution set up an emergency preparedness team to deal with threats like fire hazards, medical emergencies and terrorism.
The council arranged for these teams to receive training from the Singapore Civil Defence Force in first aid and firefighting.
The AERO council itself was also trained by the Ministry of Home Affairs in its Threat-Oriented Person Screening Integrated System (TOPSIS) programme, which is also employed at Singapore’s border checkpoints among other settings.
About seven members of the council underwent a course with MHA’s Centre for Protective Security to become trainers in TOPSIS methodology. In 2020, they started training some members at each church.
Training on how to identify tell-tale indicators of suspicious persons has since been completed for all Catholic churches, while training for skills such as how to question suspicious people is still underway.
Even before Fr Lee’s stabbing, such rigorous training had paid dividends. In 2023, three Chinese nationals were caught by police for stealing from donation boxes at churches and other religious institutions.
Mr Ho said this was “in no small part” due to the emergency response teams at several churches, who alerted each other on potential suspects.
Staff from one of the churches even managed to scare off one of the perpetrators upon identifying him.
“Surrounding churches were mobilised and they shared information which eventually resulted in this syndicate being caught,” said Mr Ho.
But such cases are uncommon.
Most of the time, the emergency preparedness teams respond to parishioners who feel faint or sustain minor injuries in church due to accidents such as falls, said Mr Ho.
“More of these things happen than a knife attack,” he added.
Responding to queries from CNA, the Archbishop's Communications Office and the AERO Council said that in light of the attack, a review of security protocols showed that “generally sufficient security measures are in place”.
“A few churches have brought forward their implementation of certain security measures, such as additional training for parishioners to spot threats, in light of the recent incident,” the Catholic Church said.
It added that while there might be a temptation to overreact and want to do more after a crisis, the Church has to be mindful that “any additional security measures have to be carefully calibrated”.
“Else, they may have the unintended effect of alarming the congregants and causing inconvenience … the Catholic Church has always been open and welcoming to all who enter and we will continue to do so.”
Several religious institutions approached by CNA shared their stringent security measures in place.
Pastor Martin Wong, director of safety and security at Heart of God Church in Eunos, said it has a team also trained in TOPSIS and on the ground providing “active defence”. The church also has a medical team ready to give first aid.
At Faith Community Baptist Church, which has three locations throughout Singapore, its senior pastor Daniel Khong pointed to measures implemented over the years, such as bag checks and the deployment of private security officers for larger events.
And New Creation Church, which holds services at The Star Performing Arts Centre, likewise has, among various initiatives, trained volunteers deployed to look out for any suspicious behaviour and potential security threats, said its council chairman Yong Chee Ram.
A spokesperson for Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery in Bishan said that while the Buddhist temple could not disclose "specific security protocols", it has implemented measures to maintain a “peaceful and respectful environment”. These include surveillance systems and similarly trained personnel for crowd management during major events.
At Masjid Al-Abrar in Telok Ayer, a spokesperson said mosques have contingency plans adhering to SGSecure’s advisories for religious and community organisations.
These are a “comprehensive approach incorporating threat detection, locking down and the evacuation of the premise; and linking up with the police", said the mosque. “These efforts reflect a commitment to ensuring the safety of worshippers.”
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This turned out to be a tiny, yet potentially life-saving move.
It meant the team now sat nearer to Catholic priest Christopher Lee when he was stabbed during mass on the evening of Nov 9; and it meant members of the team could promptly stop the attack and render help.
“They just recently tweaked their security plan for each mass and as a result, they were a little bit more effective, they were closer to the priest when it happened,” said Mr Kevin Ho, the former chairman of and current adviser to the Archdiocesan Emergency Response Operations (AERO) council.
The council oversees emergency preparedness at all 32 Catholic Churches in Singapore.
And according to Mr Ho, the fact that the St Joseph's first responders could swiftly pin down the suspect and tend to Father Lee’s wounds was no fluke: It was a day his team had also spent much time preparing for.
“We've been working with them for many years,” said Mr Ho, who stepped down as chairman in late 2023. "The key here is that there is a team in place, and I think (without it), it could have gone worse.”
The attack - which based on preliminary investigations was not religiously motivated - left Fr Lee with an 8cm-long laceration on his tongue, a 3cm cut on his upper lip and a 4cm cut on the corner of his mouth. He was discharged on Nov 15.
A 37-year-old Singaporean, Basnayake Keith Spencer, has been charged.
Mr Damien Liew Khee Rui (left) and Mr Richard Tan Chai Boon receive the Public Spiritedness Award at the Jurong Police Division Headquarters on Nov 10, 2024. They had helped disarm the assailant. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
SCDF, MHA TRAINING
The AERO council was started in 2016, in response to several high-profile terror attacks against European churches, said Mr Ho.
The 52-year-old, a volunteer police officer at that time, was approached by the Catholic Church's leadership to lead the council. It's made up of former police officers, nurses and doctors.
Members of the council went down to each of the 32 churches to speak to priests and church members to ensure each institution set up an emergency preparedness team to deal with threats like fire hazards, medical emergencies and terrorism.
The council arranged for these teams to receive training from the Singapore Civil Defence Force in first aid and firefighting.
The AERO council itself was also trained by the Ministry of Home Affairs in its Threat-Oriented Person Screening Integrated System (TOPSIS) programme, which is also employed at Singapore’s border checkpoints among other settings.
About seven members of the council underwent a course with MHA’s Centre for Protective Security to become trainers in TOPSIS methodology. In 2020, they started training some members at each church.
Training on how to identify tell-tale indicators of suspicious persons has since been completed for all Catholic churches, while training for skills such as how to question suspicious people is still underway.
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PUTTING INTO PRACTICE
Even before Fr Lee’s stabbing, such rigorous training had paid dividends. In 2023, three Chinese nationals were caught by police for stealing from donation boxes at churches and other religious institutions.
Mr Ho said this was “in no small part” due to the emergency response teams at several churches, who alerted each other on potential suspects.
Staff from one of the churches even managed to scare off one of the perpetrators upon identifying him.
“Surrounding churches were mobilised and they shared information which eventually resulted in this syndicate being caught,” said Mr Ho.
But such cases are uncommon.
Most of the time, the emergency preparedness teams respond to parishioners who feel faint or sustain minor injuries in church due to accidents such as falls, said Mr Ho.
“More of these things happen than a knife attack,” he added.
Responding to queries from CNA, the Archbishop's Communications Office and the AERO Council said that in light of the attack, a review of security protocols showed that “generally sufficient security measures are in place”.
“A few churches have brought forward their implementation of certain security measures, such as additional training for parishioners to spot threats, in light of the recent incident,” the Catholic Church said.
It added that while there might be a temptation to overreact and want to do more after a crisis, the Church has to be mindful that “any additional security measures have to be carefully calibrated”.
“Else, they may have the unintended effect of alarming the congregants and causing inconvenience … the Catholic Church has always been open and welcoming to all who enter and we will continue to do so.”
SECURITY AT OTHER RELIGIOUS PLACES
Several religious institutions approached by CNA shared their stringent security measures in place.
Pastor Martin Wong, director of safety and security at Heart of God Church in Eunos, said it has a team also trained in TOPSIS and on the ground providing “active defence”. The church also has a medical team ready to give first aid.
At Faith Community Baptist Church, which has three locations throughout Singapore, its senior pastor Daniel Khong pointed to measures implemented over the years, such as bag checks and the deployment of private security officers for larger events.
And New Creation Church, which holds services at The Star Performing Arts Centre, likewise has, among various initiatives, trained volunteers deployed to look out for any suspicious behaviour and potential security threats, said its council chairman Yong Chee Ram.
A spokesperson for Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery in Bishan said that while the Buddhist temple could not disclose "specific security protocols", it has implemented measures to maintain a “peaceful and respectful environment”. These include surveillance systems and similarly trained personnel for crowd management during major events.
At Masjid Al-Abrar in Telok Ayer, a spokesperson said mosques have contingency plans adhering to SGSecure’s advisories for religious and community organisations.
These are a “comprehensive approach incorporating threat detection, locking down and the evacuation of the premise; and linking up with the police", said the mosque. “These efforts reflect a commitment to ensuring the safety of worshippers.”
Continue reading...