SINGAPORE — A civil society group concerned with workers’ rights today (Dec 27) made recommendations to the Committee of Inquiry (COI) looking into the Little India riot of Dec 8.

In a four-page statement, Workfare Singapore said it “welcomes Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s remarks on Christmas Eve regarding the conduct of the COI”.

On Dec 24, Mr Lee said that the priority is to determine the cause of the riot and to ensure something like that does not happen again, and that broader issues regarding foreign workers, beyond simply segregating them, should be dealt with only after the COI releases its findings.

The COI is expected to submit a report of its proceedings, findings and recommendations to the Minister for Home Affairs within six months.

Noting that it is essential that the COI is allowed to “operate on a fully independent and public basis so that probity is ensured and seen to be ensured”, Workfair Singapore said that Cabinet ministers should resist making “further pronouncements of their views on the causes of the incident”.

The group also asked that the Government publicly announce the full independence of the COI, and to publish the full report and proceedings of the COI together with all the evidence received by it.

Workfare Singapore also requested that Dr Ng Eng Hen, as Leader of the House, should ensure that a full debate on the findings of the Committee’s report is held in Parliament.

Citing Section 16 of the Inquiries Act (Chapter 139A), Workfair also asked that Minister for Law K Shanmugam “begin the deliberations of the Committee after the criminal proceedings have been concluded so as to ensure that there is no conflict of process or of evidence and that the evidence and judgment from the criminal proceedings can form part of the evidence considered by the Committee”.

Among other recommendations, Workfair suggested holding all proceedings of the COI in public, at a publicly accessible venue and open to members of the public as well as the local and international media.