SHAPING A SECURE & RESILIENT FUTURE

Learning through games

On the theme A Secure and Resilient Nation, MINDEF facilitated discussions with more than 1,500 youth and adults on topics such as Total Defence (TD) and support for National Service (NS). One of the topics raised was enhancements to the current TD programme in schools, and a project that emerged was the TD card game.

The game was developed by Mr Wan Junyan, an avid strategy games enthusiast who participated in an engagement session in February. Mr Wan is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Gateway Entertainment.

Built around the five TD pillars - psychological, social, economic, civil and military defence - the game allows players to understand the complexities of Singapore's security environment, as well as the trade-offs and consequences of different actions taken during a crisis.

Ms Clara Tan, Deputy Director (Engagement) in Nexus, said: "The game complements the existing TD education and emergency preparedness exercises in schools During an engagement session with students, we found that most of them had a good conceptual understanding of TD, but had difficulty relating to it at a personal level.

"The game hopes to address this by showing them how various parts of society have to chip in to keep each pillar of TD strong."

Ms Wu Lingxin, a student from Dunman High School who attended a co-creation workshop on the game, learnt that crisis management was not only about having a first-responder at the site of an attack.

"The focus of the workshop was how you could deal with the aftermath as an individual. Especially when these attacks could potentially trigger social tensions, how do you interact with your neighbours in a way that is sensitive and does not aggravate the situation?"

The game will be available in early 2017.

Sharing NS stories

Another proposal raised was the development of an NS-themed space. This would be a physical space that would help raise community awareness and understanding of NS.

Captain (NS) Jamin Tan, an Operationally Ready National Serviceman (NSman) who had attended an engagement session in March, felt that it was important to keep the history and legacy of NS alive.

"I think NSmen would appreciate having such a platform to share about NS - a formative experience in their lives - with their families," said the 32-year-old Managing Director of Momo Singapore (Financial Services) Ltd. As a father, he also hoped that the space would include activities for children to enable them to learn better.

MINDEF is exploring this idea and plans to share more in the second half of next year.

SGSecure movement

During the National Day Rally on 21 Aug, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that he would be launching the SGSecure national movement in September.

Spearheaded by the Ministry of Home Affairs, SGSecure is a movement to sensitise, train and mobilise Singaporeans to play a part in preventing and dealing with a terrorist attack. It is a way for Singaporeans to put the civil, social and psychological aspects of TD into action by building community vigilance, cohesion and resilience.

As part of the movement, the "Run, Hide, Tell" advisory was issued to educate the community in dealing with a firearm or weapon attack. For civilians, the advised course of action is to move quickly and quietly away from the attackers, seek cover if escape is not possible, and inform the police when it is safe to do so.

The SAF will be also be encouraging active servicemen and NSmen to participate in SGSecure in their personal capacity. Commanders will receive a content package to help them facilitate these discussions.

Said Senior Minister of State for Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki bin Osman: "The SGfuture discussions drove home the importance of individual and community responsbility and preparedness.

"Participants realised that as the threats Singapore faces become increasingly complex and diverse, it is not possible to depend solely on our security forces to address them. Everyone has to play a part to keep Singapore safe, strong and secure."