In the latest developments from the Committee of Inquiry (COI) of the Little India riot, it emerged that Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) Lu Yeow Lim, the police commander overseeing the riot operations, stood his ground and did not move in on the rioters because he opined that doing so would enrage rioters.

Hindsight is always 20/20

The exchanges between DAC Lu and the COI members (Tee Tua Ba and G Pannir Selvam) focused on why DAC Lu did not take better control of the situation. DAC Lu's stance was that the ground situation was different and the COI had the gift of hindsight and videos of the riot.

The COI took issue with DAC Lu not doing anything for the 30 minutes he spent on the ground waiting for back up. The COI brought up how Sgt Fadli Shaifuddin, who gave his statement a few days earlier, stood his ground and charged at the rioters three times. “Instinctively, I charged at them with my baton drawn as I wanted them to know that the police were still in control of the scene," Sgt Fadli said.

Protocol aka red tape has far reach

The Special Operations Command (SOC) was not called in earlier because of protocol. The request for SOC came from a junior officer and DAC Koh Wei Keong who was in charge of the SOC spent more time getting the necessary clearance for the SOC to be dispatched.

Could that night have been handled better?

Of course it could have been handled better. The police could have quelled the riot before it even started and no cars would have been burnt. On the flip side, there could have been deaths and more things on fire.

The verdict is still out on whether the men in command positions that night were competent in their decision making given the resources they had on hand. How should you judge and evaluate someone's performance when doing something for the first time?

Would you fire them? Then you'd be left with other officers with zero experience in handling a riot.

Leaders exercise good judgement 

Others have highlighted that the most scathing criticisms from the COI members were focused on the strategic decisions DAC Lu made that night, particularly on his decision for his troops to “hold the line”. COI member Tee certainly have the moral authority to question DAC Lu - he was part of the team involved in the Laju hijacking incident. His good judgement and situation awareness saved the lives of the hostages held by the terrorists.

Leadership by example

The perception that DAC Lu gave was one of detachment. He arrived at the scene in jeans and jacket. He did not enter into the thick of the action. Contrast that again to COI member Tee nearly 40 years ago. Tee was in the thick of action - he was part of the 13-men party to help guarantee the terrorists' safe passage to Kuwait in the Laju incident.

The COI's real value-add

Besides COI's main terms of reference, the COI's value-add is not about finding out how well or badly the situation could have gotten, but more of why the actions of certain officers on that night did not adhere to the Singapore Police Force's mission of preventing and deterring crime from happening.

The Police pledge asks of its officers to discharge responsibilities 'without fear or favour'.

Without fear.

Donning the police uniform is beyond following protocol and being a public servant. It is about being the authority people can turn to when they need to be protected. Could Singaporeans have counted on them that night?

A commander has a duty to protect his men from harm, but his men know what they signed up for. If this was the military, can we afford the indecision and poor judgement we saw at the riot during times of war?

The COI's cutting questions to DAC Lu is a timely reminder for the men in blue that wearing that uniform comes with certain responsibilities that require them to be more than just ordinary men.

Extraordinary times make extraordinary men, while we cannot find recent examples locally, perhaps this Ukrainian commander can inspire some of us. He and a group of unarmed soldiers approached armed Russian sentries who fired warning shots, you'll have to watch to witness what you can call valour:

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Screenshot of Tee Tua Ba arriving back from Singapore after the Laju incident.  

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