London Bombings Part 2

I was not much of Ken Livingstone's fan when he was first elected as Mayor of London in 2000. He looked out of place as a London mayor. I guess I was wrong. He was re-elected in 2004. Londoners, like the rest of UK are pretty hard to please people and have rather discerning taste for quality. Just look at the UK music charts when compared to the US music charts.

But really why I would like to mention about him is because of this:

"I know that you do fear you may fail in your long term objective: to destroy our free society. And I will show you why you will fail.

"In the days that follow, look at our airports, look at our seaports and look at our railways. Nothing you do, however many of us you kill will stop that life ... where freedom is strong and people can live in harmony ... whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."

This would have made Sir Winston Churchill proud. It reminds me of this:

"We shall go on to the end, ................ we shall fight on the seas and oceans, ................, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

But in a more politically correct manner.

And I do bear a secret wish for Ken Livingstone not to profit from the lessons he learn from all these. Unlike Rudolph Giuliani. I have no problem with that, just hope Ken doesn't succumb to it.

I wonder if Ken Livingstone or Tony Blair had a Pet Goat Moment like George Bush.

Then again, acts of terror is never about politicians reading children books in an Elementary School. It is always about the people who suffered directly. And the many more people who suffered indrectly because they are the fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, friends and neighbours of the dead. Then there are those caught in the repurcussion, those who came to know about it through all forms of media, those who do not understand the whys and whatfors. It should never be about the perpetrators. They may be cowards, but let's focus on the healing process.

Just like 9/11 and Bali bombings. Just like Madrid bombing and the boxing day tsunami. Scores of people are scurrying around hoping to find shards of evidence and also worried people looking for their loved ones. They might have given up hope of them being alive, but at least to have some form of closure by having their bodies found.

No, you do not grow resilient from repeated attacks. Each attack is different because you cannot kill the dead. New victims result from each attack. Even though London had been exposed to numerous IRA bombings, that does not prepare anybody for anything. To think that any city is used to such attacks would be fllippant.

I am thinking about the state of security that exist in Singapore. I remember moaning to V that Raffles City was swarming with Police. I remember going into extensive discussions with different people on the pros and cons of having increased CCTVs in London. As it stands, the UK is the world leader in video surveillance. Britain is monitored by 4 million CCTV cameras, making us the most watched nation in the world.

There is one CCTV camera for every 14 people in the UK. If you live in London you are likely to be on cameras 300 times a day.

Since 1994 the Home Office has spent 78% of its crime prevention budget on CCTV, before assessing its effectiveness in deterring or detecting crime. It is used for routine surveillance of public spaces, round the clock.

Other countries use CCTV in more targetted, limited ways: for example, in Munich, Germany cameras are used seasonally during the Oktoberfest in high-crime areas.

The technology is becoming more sophisticated. Cameras are combined with databases using 'facial recognition technology' to scan and automatically identify people's faces in crowds. 'Smart CCTV' is used in tube stations to identify patterns of behavior that suggest a crime or suicide attempt is about to occur.

There must be something that we are doing right and at the same time we must never take it for granted. The most dangerous thing is for us to think that Singapore is unlikely to have an acts of terror.

There is a reason.

It's because we have a solid system in place. I know cause I am in the business. It may not be the best and sure as hell I am certain there are still loopholes that remain un-patched. But it is a system that needs to remain robust and steadfast in this everchanging asymmetric threat environment. Yes, our privacy may have been compromised, our movement monitored and our spaces limited. But they are not absent. I sound like I am ready to compromise basic human rights to stay alive, I sound lke advocating a governance of fear-mongering. Like 1984 all over.

War is Peace.
Freedom is Slavery.
Ignorance is Strength.

And it is not that the local Singaporean population is happy, money-driven and content.
Terrorism is trans-national, it knows no national boundary. The guys who crashed the plane into the twin towers weren't from New York, hell they weren't from US even. They don't care two hoots about your sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. They don't care about you.