Indian workers at riot felt that no one respected them: Police officer

SINGAPORE — The Indian workers who rioted in Little India were not only upset because their friend had died in a traffic accident, but were also emotional because they believed they have been discriminated against in Singapore because “no one respected them”.

This was the conclusion police Senior Staff Sergeant (SSSgt) Mydeen Sahul Hameed (picture) arrived at, after overhearing them during the chaos. SSSgt Mydeen has been stationed at the Kampong Java Neighbourhood Police Centre for 10 years.

Recounting how he tried to calm the crowd gathered around the bus that had run over Indian national Sakthivel Kumarvelu, he said: “They were very emotional. When I told them to stop hurling projectiles at the bus, they told me that the driver had killed their friend and that they wanted the police to bring him to justice.

“They were also emotional because they believed they had been discriminated against in Singapore because no one respected them,” he added.

SSSgt Mydeen also told the Committee of Inquiry that it was “readily apparent” to him that many of the workers gathered were high on alcohol. Apart from being highly emotional, they also had slurred speech, he explained.

He also detailed how police officers that night were “confined and outnumbered” when the mob turned on them and starting hurling various objects at officers taking cover.

SSSgt Mydeen also said officers were ill-equipped and not trained to deal with riots. He also echoed the earlier testimony of auxiliary police officers that if more officers had arrived at the scene sooner, the riot could have been brought under control earlier. “I was taught how to handle situations involving gunmen or hostages or mass casualty incidents,” he said. “I am not trained, however, to handle a riot.”

The riot shields in patrol cars are used only when they have to deploy their tasers, SSSgt Mydeen added.

“My experience tells me that the speed of dispatching back-up resources is important. If more police officers had arrived at the scene earlier, there would have been more deterrence,” he said.

But despite the “limited number” of responders that night, SSSgt Mydeen felt that the incident was “generally well-handled”, considering the size of the crowd.