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Kamis, 27 Agustus 2020

Safe Travel Office set up under ICA for 'easier and smoother' traveller experience as borders gradually reopen - CNA

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has set up a Safe Travel Office (STO) to ensure an easier and smoother traveller experience with the gradual reopening of borders, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Thursday (Aug 27) in his ministry’s addendum to the President’s address.

This comes as Singapore sees stable local community transmission of COVID-19 and embarks on various travel schemes with other countries, he said.

President Halimah Yacob told Parliament on Monday that Singapore will safely resume air travel to maintain its role as a global and regional hub.

READ: Opening of 14th Parliament: President Halimah outlines Government’s priorities in fight against COVID-19 crisis

“To support this, MHA has set up a Safe Travel Office ... to provide a single touchpoint for all travellers, and also provide coordination across the many agencies involved in the various travel schemes,” Mr Shanmugam said in the addendum.

“The STO will make for an easier and smoother traveller experience.”

Singapore has reciprocal travel arrangements with Malaysia and China, with plans for similar schemes with Japan and Thailand. The Government also announced last Friday that it will ease restrictions for travellers from several countries including Brunei and New Zealand.

READ: Reviving Singapore's air hub safely is transport ministry's 'top and immediate priority'

Mr Shanmugam said land, air and sea borders are currently screened using test kits designed in-house by the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX). Swab samples are analysed at HTX’s laboratory, with travellers getting their results by the next day.

“HTX will put its technological capabilities and scientific expertise to use in the fight against the virus,” Mr Shanmugam added.

“In addition, technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles, patrol robots and remote sensors are being deployed for monitoring of key facilities to better detect crowding and ensure safe distancing.”

READ: Singapore’s research and innovation key in fight against COVID-19, creation of growth opportunities: Heng Swee Keat

LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY

The Home Team will continue to leverage technology to better protect Singaporeans in areas like crime solving and rescue operations, Mr Shanmugam said.

“We will continue to build up our network of sensors, and use analytics to detect, deter, and solve crimes faster and more effectively,” he added.

“Robots and unmanned autonomous vehicles will play a greater role in search-and-rescue, fire-fighting and hazardous materials operations.”

The Home Team is leveraging simulation training with realistic scenarios for officers to develop competencies in a safe environment, Mr Shanmugam continued, with an Ops-Tech career track to nurture uniformed officers grounded in operations and proficient in technology.

READ: Home Team to train more tech-skilled officers with new career track

Mr Shanmugam also pledged to strengthen collaboration and operational effectiveness within the Home Team, and said that the upcoming Home Team Operations Centre will act as an integrated 24/7 coordination hub to manage and monitor Home Team operations more effectively.

“We will develop more joint operations plans and conduct more joint exercises,” he said. “We will build more joint capabilities, including in the areas of command, control and communications, and logistics and other support functions.”

READ: SAF will ‘comprehensively relook’ how it operates, trains and works amid COVID-19 pandemic

STRENGTHENING LAWS

Beyond that, Mr Shanmugam said Singapore will continue to strengthen its legislation and regulatory regimes to deal with emerging and evolving threats.

For instance, the ministry will review its drug laws to improve deterrence and enforcement, as well as strengthen the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s investigative and enforcement powers against fire safety violations.

“We will consider the need for new legislation to better guard against foreign interference in our domestic politics, and counter hostile information campaigns mounted by foreign actors,” Mr Shanmugam added.

READ: Maintaining and strengthening relations with immediate neighbours 'more critical than ever': Vivian Balakrishnan

The minister warned that terrorist and militant groups continue to be active, with ISIS’ propaganda remaining “widely available” online and posing a radicalising influence.

“It is thus important that we build up our people’s resilience against the threat of terrorism,” he said. “In this regard, we will deepen the community’s participation in our safety and security efforts through the SGSecure movement.”

Mr Shanmugam said MHA will also partner the community, including stakeholders like financial institutions, telecommunications companies and Internet platforms, to combat the “growing problem” of scams.

Overall crime in Singapore rose by about 11 per cent in the first half of 2020, compared to the same period last year, mainly due to scam cases, the police said on Wednesday.

“To better deal with the threat of scams, we recently set up the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams, which will coordinate efforts across the Government to innovate and implement cross-cutting solutions,” Mr Shanmugam said.

READ: Simpler, faster and cheaper process for small companies restructuring or winding down: Shanmugam

Mr Shanmugam said the Singapore Prison Service and Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG) will step up collaboration with community partners to support ex-offenders through training and employment assistance.

“As part of YRSG’s recent rebranding, YRSG will be enhancing the career prospects of ex-offenders, by shifting from a training and job placement model to one that emphasises skills for long-term career development,” he said.

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2020-08-27 10:52:01Z
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Safe Travel Office set up under ICA for 'easier and smoother' traveller experience as borders gradually reopen - CNA

This comes as Singapore sees stable local community transmission of COVID-19 and embarks on various travel schemes with other countries, he said.

President Halimah Yacob told Parliament on Monday that Singapore will safely resume air travel to maintain its role as a global and regional hub.

READ: Opening of 14th Parliament: President Halimah outlines Government’s priorities in fight against COVID-19 crisis

“The STO will make for an easier and smoother traveller experience.”

READ: Reviving Singapore's air hub safely is transport ministry's 'top and immediate priority'

“HTX will put its technological capabilities and scientific expertise to use in the fight against the virus,” Mr Shanmugam added.

READ: Singapore’s research and innovation key in fight against COVID-19, creation of growth opportunities: Heng Swee Keat

LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY

The Home Team will continue to leverage technology to better protect Singaporeans in areas like crime solving and rescue operations, Mr Shanmugam said.

“We will continue to build up our network of sensors, and use analytics to detect, deter, and solve crimes faster and more effectively,” he added.

“Robots and unmanned autonomous vehicles will play a greater role in search-and-rescue, fire-fighting and hazardous materials operations.”

READ: Home Team to train more tech-skilled officers with new career track

READ: SAF will ‘comprehensively relook’ how it operates, trains and works amid COVID-19 pandemic

STRENGTHENING LAWS

Beyond that, Mr Shanmugam said Singapore will continue to strengthen its legislation and regulatory regimes to deal with emerging and evolving threats.

READ: Maintaining and strengthening relations with immediate neighbours 'more critical than ever': Vivian Balakrishnan

The minister warned that terrorist and militant groups continue to be active, with ISIS’ propaganda remaining “widely available” online and posing a radicalising influence.

Overall crime in Singapore rose by about 11 per cent in the first half of 2020, compared to the same period last year, mainly due to scam cases, the police said on Wednesday.

READ: Simpler, faster and cheaper process for small companies restructuring or winding down: Shanmugam

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

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Rabu, 26 Agustus 2020

New Zealand mosque gunman Brenton Tarrant's road to extremism - CNA

CHRISTCHURCH: There were no obvious warning signs when the Christchurch mosques gunman moved to New Zealand from Australia in 2017 - he had no criminal history and was not on any security watch list.

But 29-year-old Brenton Tarrant will now go down in history as New Zealand's first convicted terrorist, and the first person in the country ever sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

Born in the rural Australian town of Grafton, a six-hour drive north of Sydney, Tarrant worked as a gym instructor before arriving in New Zealand.

Only later did it emerge that Tarrant began amassing an arsenal of weapons soon after setting up home in Dunedin with the intention of carrying out an atrocity against New Zealand's Muslim community.

After meticulous preparation, the plan came to a ghastly conclusion on Mar 15 last year when Tarrant attacked two mosques in Christchurch, livestreaming the event as it happened.

READ: New Zealand court sentences mosque shooter to life imprisonment without parole

READ: 'Your hatred is unnecessary': Defiant New Zealand mosque shooting survivors face gunman

"He intended to instil fear into those he described as 'invaders', including the Muslim population or more generally non-European immigrants," prosecutor Barnaby Hawes told a sentencing hearing at Christchurch High Court this week.

As the world searched for answers, former friends and colleagues were quizzed about Tarrant's background and possible motivations.

Details emerged of a socially awkward loner who became a gym junkie after being bullied as an overweight teenager.

He was also apparently hit hard when his father died of cancer in 2010 at the age of just 49 - but there was nothing that remotely explained the searing hatred behind Tarrant's crimes.

"REVENGE"

In a rambling "manifesto" posted before the massacre, Tarrant talked of being radicalised during trips to Europe and Asia, apparently financed by an inheritance that meant he did not have to work.

An exceptional aspect of Tarrant's personality seems to be his susceptibility to online hate and, eventually, his willingness to weaponise the Internet to share his killing spree on social media via a helmet-mounted GoPro camera.

Increasingly isolated in the real world, Tarrant dwelt in extremist chat rooms, sharing racist memes and in-jokes with online acquaintances who encouraged his views.

READ: Daughter of New Zealand mosque victim tells gunman: Consider 'beauty of diversity' while in prison

Prosecutor Mark Zarifeh quoted from an interview prison authorities conducted with Tarrant in April, when he described his state of mind at the time of the attacks.

"He said he had a poisoned emotional state and was terribly unhappy," Zarifeh said.

"He felt ostracised by society and wanted to damage society as an act of revenge."

READ: New Zealand mosque gunman unmoved as survivors recount ordeal

READ: Lawyers expect New Zealand mosque gunman will never be released

Minutes before the massacre, Tarrant sent a message to the now-defunct extremist website 8Chan saying it was "time to make a real-life effort post".

"You are all top blokes and the best bunch of cobbers (friends) a man could ask for," he wrote.

Scrawled on his weapons were the names of numerous historical military figures - many of them Europeans involved in the Crusades or in fighting Ottoman forces in the 15th and 16th centuries.

In court, Mirwais Waziri, who survived a bullet to the neck, punctured any self-aggrandising illusions Tarrant may have held about being some sort of racial warrior on a historical mission.

He reminded Tarrant that the youngest fatality in his attack on unarmed men, women and children was three-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim, shot twice while clinging to his father's leg for protection.

"He did not have religion, faith or colour. He didn't know anything about that," Waziri said.

READ: There is no forgiveness, father of youngest New Zealand mosque victim tells shooter

"How are you going to answer that ... how are you going to face God on judgement day and answer how and why you killed a three-year-old boy?"

Tarrant, despite the bluster contained in his pre-massacre manifesto, could find no words to try to justify himself, or express remorse, and he waived his right to speak at the hearing.

Noticeably thinner than the bulked-up killer who flashed a white-power hand signal at the court the day after the attacks, he remained mute and submissive as jailers led him away to serve his life sentence.

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2020-08-27 03:15:27Z
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New Zealand mosque gunman Brenton Tarrant's road to extremism - CNA

CHRISTCHURCH: There were no obvious warning signs when the Christchurch mosques gunman moved to New Zealand from Australia in 2017 - he had no criminal history and was not on any security watch list.

But 29-year-old Brenton Tarrant will now go down in history as New Zealand's first convicted terrorist, and the first person in the country ever sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

Born in the rural Australian town of Grafton, a six-hour drive north of Sydney, Tarrant worked as a gym instructor before arriving in New Zealand.

Only later did it emerge that Tarrant began amassing an arsenal of weapons soon after setting up home in Dunedin with the intention of carrying out an atrocity against New Zealand's Muslim community.

After meticulous preparation, the plan came to a ghastly conclusion on Mar 15 last year when Tarrant attacked two mosques in Christchurch, livestreaming the event as it happened.

READ: New Zealand court sentences mosque shooter to life imprisonment without parole

READ: 'Your hatred is unnecessary': Defiant New Zealand mosque shooting survivors face gunman

As the world searched for answers, former friends and colleagues were quizzed about Tarrant's background and possible motivations.

Details emerged of a socially awkward loner who became a gym junkie after being bullied as an overweight teenager.

He was also apparently hit hard when his father died of cancer in 2010 at the age of just 49 - but there was nothing that remotely explained the searing hatred behind Tarrant's crimes.

"REVENGE"

In a rambling "manifesto" posted before the massacre, Tarrant talked of being radicalised during trips to Europe and Asia, apparently financed by an inheritance that meant he did not have to work.

Increasingly isolated in the real world, Tarrant dwelt in extremist chat rooms, sharing racist memes and in-jokes with online acquaintances who encouraged his views.

READ: Daughter of New Zealand mosque victim tells gunman: Consider 'beauty of diversity' while in prison

Prosecutor Mark Zarifeh quoted from an interview prison authorities conducted with Tarrant in April, when he described his state of mind at the time of the attacks.

"He said he had a poisoned emotional state and was terribly unhappy," Zarifeh said.

"He felt ostracised by society and wanted to damage society as an act of revenge."

READ: New Zealand mosque gunman unmoved as survivors recount ordeal

READ: Lawyers expect New Zealand mosque gunman will never be released

Minutes before the massacre, Tarrant sent a message to the now-defunct extremist website 8Chan saying it was "time to make a real-life effort post".

"You are all top blokes and the best bunch of cobbers (friends) a man could ask for," he wrote.

Scrawled on his weapons were the names of numerous historical military figures - many of them Europeans involved in the Crusades or in fighting Ottoman forces in the 15th and 16th centuries.

In court, Mirwais Waziri, who survived a bullet to the neck, punctured any self-aggrandising illusions Tarrant may have held about being some sort of racial warrior on a historical mission.

He reminded Tarrant that the youngest fatality in his attack on unarmed men, women and children was three-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim, shot twice while clinging to his father's leg for protection.

"He did not have religion, faith or colour. He didn't know anything about that," Waziri said.

READ: There is no forgiveness, father of youngest New Zealand mosque victim tells shooter

"How are you going to answer that ... how are you going to face God on judgement day and answer how and why you killed a three-year-old boy?"

Tarrant, despite the bluster contained in his pre-massacre manifesto, could find no words to try to justify himself, or express remorse, and he waived his right to speak at the hearing.

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New Zealand judge sentences mosque shooter to life in prison, without parole, for 'wicked crimes' - CNA

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand court on Thursday (Aug 27) sentenced a man who killed 51 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand's deadliest shooting to life imprisonment without parole, the first time such a sentence has been handed down in the country.

Brenton Tarrant, a 29-year-old Australian, admitted to 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act during the 2019 shooting rampage at two Christchurch mosques which he livestreamed on Facebook.

READ: Daughter of New Zealand mosque victim tells gunman: Consider 'beauty of diversity' while in prison

READ: 'Your hatred is unnecessary': Defiant New Zealand mosque shooting survivors face gunman

High Court Judge Cameron Mander said in Christchurch that a finite term would not be sufficient.

"Your crimes, however, are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation," said Mander in handing down the sentence.

"As far as I can discern, you are empty of any empathy for your victims," he said.

Survivors and family of Christchurch shooting victims Aug 27, 2020 — Survivors and family members of the 2019 twin mosque shootings greet each other outside the High Court building on the last day of the sentencing hearing on Aug 27, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Sanka Vidanagama)

Prosecutors told the court earlier that Tarrant wanted to instil fear in those he described as invaders and that he carefully planned the attacks to cause maximum carnage.

"Today the legal procedures for this heinous crime has been done. No punishment will bring our loved ones back," said Gamal Fouda, the Imam of Al Noor mosque which was targeted.

"Extremists are all the same. Whether they use religions, nationalism or any other ideology. All extremists, they represent hate. but we are here today. We respect love, compassion, Muslim and non-Muslim people of faith and of no faith."

READ: New Zealand PM says mosque gunman deserves lifetime of 'complete and utter silence'

Tarrant, who represented himself during the hearings but did not make submissions, said through a lawyer in court on Thursday that he did not oppose the prosecution's application for a life without parole sentence.

"The hatred that lies at the heart of your hostility to particular members of the community that you came to this country to murder has no place here - it has no place anywhere," Mander said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was relieved that "that person will never see the light of day".

"The trauma of Mar 15 is not easily healed but today I hope is the last where we have any cause to hear or utter the name of the terrorist behind it. His deserves to be a lifetime of complete and utter silence," she said.

Ardern praised survivors and families of the victims who gave emotionally-charged statements in court this week, calling for Tarrant to be sentenced to life without parole.

"I want to acknowledge the strength of our Muslim community who shared their words in court over the past few days,” she said. "You relived the horrific events of Mar 15 to chronicle what happened that day and the pain it has left behind."

Police snipers keep watch from the High Court building's roof on the last day of the sentencing. (Photo: AFP/Sanka Vidanagama)

"Nothing will take the pain away but I hope you felt the arms of New Zealand around you through this whole process, and I hope you continue to feel that through all the days that follow."

The judge asked Tarrant before handing down the sentence if he had any comment. Tarrant just nodded when asked if he was aware he had the right to make submissons, but he did not speak.

READ: New Zealand mosque gunman unmoved as survivors recount ordeal

READ: 'Poisoned' New Zealand mosque gunman's road to extremism

Before Tarrant, triple-murderer William Bell was serving the longest sentence in New Zealand with a minimum non-parole prison term of 30 years for his 2001 crimes.

Tarrant faced a four-day sentencing in Christchurch with more than 90 witnesses providing harrowing testimony of the horrors inflicted in the country's worst terror attack.

Live reporting from the courtroom was banned, and other restrictions were put in place on what the media could report.

TARRANT PURCHASED 7,000 ROUNDS OF AMMO

The court was told Tarrant arrived in New Zealand in 2017 and based himself in Dunedin, 360km south of Christchurch, where he built up a collection of high-powered firearms and purchased more than 7,000 rounds of ammunition.

Two months before the attack, he drove to Christchurch and flew a drone over the Al Noor mosque, filming the grounds and buildings, including entrances and exits, with detailed notes about travelling between mosques.

On Friday, Mar 15, 2019 he left his Dunedin address and drove to Christchurch armed with a range of high-powered weapons on which he had written references to historic battles, figures of the Crusades and more recent terror attacks and symbols.

He had ammunition pre-loaded into magazines, a camera mounted on his helmet to record the attacks and modified petrol containers "to burn down the mosques and said he wished he had done so", said the prosecutor.

In the minutes leading up to the storming of the al Noor mosque, he sent his radical 74-page manifesto to an extremist website, alerted his family to what he was about to do and sent emails containing threats to attack the mosques to numerous media agencies.

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2020-08-27 02:48:45Z
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Special arrangements in place for China-bound travellers required to take Covid-19 test, say Singapore authorities - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Special Covid-19 testing arrangements have been made for those who are travelling to China from Aug 28 to 31, the authorities said on Wednesday (Aug 26).

These passengers can take the test at a regional screening centre at 450, Jurong East Street 21, Singapore 609604.

The centre will be open daily from 9am to 12pm, and 1pm to 4pm until Aug 30.

In a joint statement late on Wednesday in response to media queries, the ministries of health, manpower, trade and industry and transport, as well as the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, said passengers who take the test will be informed of the results within 48 hours.

The test will cost $186, and airlines have been told to make these arrangements known to their passengers, the statement said.

Since Tuesday (Aug 25), more than 700 passengers have taken the test at the centre, which is the located on the site of the former Shuqun Secondary School.

The special arrangements have been made to help passengers meet the requirements of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore, which last week stipulated that from Aug 28, all passengers departing Singapore for China must take a nucleic acid test for Covid-19, within five days before the flight.

For flights to China departing from Sept 1, travellers who require pre-departure tests can approach the following government agencies for assistance:

*For travel related to essential business and employment, they can send an e-mail to the Ministry of Trade and Industry at COVID_SafeTravelEnquiries@mti.gov.sg

*For Chinese nationals with "live" or cancelled work permits and S-Passes returning to China, their employers should either schedule tests via the existing Rostered Regular Tests Swab Registration System if they are eligible, or request for swabs at the Ministry of Manpower's regional medical centres. More information on this will be published on https://www.mom.gov.sg/covid-19/sending-workers-home

*For travel related to education, compassionate reasons, or other matters, travellers can send an e-mail to the Ministry of Health at MOH_QSM@moh.gov.sg

Last Friday (Aug 21), the Chinese Embassy in Singapore announced on its website that all foreign travellers flying to China must have tested negative for Covid-19.

Those going to China from Singapore must e-mail their test result, a scanned copy of a signed health declaration form, and a photocopy of the biodata page of their passports to the embassy.

In the form, passengers must declare that in the last 14 days, they have not had a fever at or above 37.3 deg C, or respiratory symptoms, and that they have not been in contact with patients with a fever or respiratory symptoms, among other things.

Once passengers have obtained the documentation needed, they must bring a print-out of the certified health declaration form with them to the airport for airline staff to inspect.

The forms are valid for only five days from the time the Covid-19 test results are issued.

Passengers with expired health declaration forms will not be allowed to board the flight and must undergo a Covid-19 test and apply for a new form again, the embassy said.

The embassy added that passengers are advised to bring their Covid-19 test results to the airport in case further verification is required.

The embassy also said it will take at least one working day to verify the documents. More details can be found on the embassy's website at www.chinaembassy.org.sg/eng/

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry on its website said Singapore's national testing strategy is focused on diagnostic testing and active case-finding in the community, as well as active surveillance-testing on targeted groups deemed vulnerable or who have a higher risk of exposure to Covid-19.

MOH said: "For now, pre-departure Covid-19 testing only applies to travellers under the green lane arrangements for essential business and official travels."

Special COVID-19 testing arrangements for passengers flying to China between Aug 28 and 31: Singapore authorities - CNA

SINGAPORE: Special COVID-19 testing arrangements have been made for travellers who will be flying to China between Friday and next Monday, said Singapore authorities late on Wednesday (Aug 26).

These passengers will be able to take their COVID-19 tests at the Regional Screening Centre (RSC) at 450 Jurong East Street 21 daily until Sunday, said the authorities. The COVID-19 test costs S$186.

The information was provided by the ministries of trade and industry, health, manpower, transport, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore in response to media queries following recent restrictions for passengers departing Singapore for China.

Beginning from Friday, travellers from Singapore to China will be required to take a COVID-19 test within five days before their flight to ensure they are free of the coronavirus.

This was announced by the Chinese Embassy in Singapore on its website last Friday.

The RSC will be open from 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm daily until Sunday.

The travellers taking the test will be informed of the results via email within 48 hours, said Singapore authorities.

"We have requested the airlines to make these arrangements known to their passengers," said the authorities.

Since Tuesday, about 730 passengers have taken the test at the RSC, they added.

ARRANGEMENTS FROM SEP 1

The authorities added that different arrangements will apply for travellers on China-bound flights from Sep 1.

Those who require pre-departure tests for travel because of essential business and employment should approach the Ministry of Trade and Industry at COVID_SafeTravelEnquiries@mti.gov.sg.

Employers of Chinese nationals with live or cancelled work permits and S passes returning to China may either schedule their tests via the rostered regular tests swab registration system if they are eligible, or request for swabs at the Ministry of Manpower’s regional medical centres.

For travel related to education, compassionate reasons, or otherwise, queries should be made to the Ministry of Health at MOH_QSM@moh.gov.sg.

READ: Scoot apologises for sending mass email detailing COVID-19 restrictions for Singapore to Guangzhou flight

The Chinese Embassy in Singapore had said previously that passengers can choose to take the test at any hospital or clinic listed on Singapore's Ministry of Health’s website.

After they test negative for COVID-19, passengers must email the result, along with a scanned copy of a health declaration form and the biopage of their passport to the Chinese Embassy.

It will take at least one working day to verify the documents, the embassy said. Once verified, a certified health declaration form will be issued to the passenger, who must print it out and present it before boarding the flight, the embassy added.

On Tuesday, low-cost carrier Scoot sent an email to customers detailing the new COVID-19 testing requirement for China-bound flights.

The email, meant for passengers booked on a Singapore-Guangzhou flight on Sunday, informed them of the need to take a COVID-19 test by Wednesday at a regional screening centre at a former school compound.

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2020-08-26 16:47:53Z
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Kamis, 27 Agustus 2020

Rabu, 26 Agustus 2020

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