If it's real, they won't be running so slowly

SOME were indifferent while others did not even give it a second glance.

NO ALARM: Madam Teng Yang Hui said she knew it was just an exercise at VivoCity. TNP PICTURES: GAVIN FOO

Despite the cordons and presence of police officers at VivoCity, hardly anyone batted an eyelid.

This was day two of Exercise Northstar VII, Singapore's largest anti-terror drill, at the shopping mall yesterday.

Student Catherine Lin, 18, was waiting for a friend near one of the cordoned-off areas when the action unfolded before her.

She told The New Paper she had no idea what was going on as police officers, including those from the Special Operations Command (SOC), ran past her.

Was there an emergency? Or was it an exercise?

A "hostage" being helped out.

It didn't matter to Catherine.

'There's nothing to be worried about,' she said. 'If there's anything, they (the building's security personnel) will evacuate everyone.'

This apathy extended to workers at the shopping mall.

For two promoters stationed at a sales fair just metres away from the cordoned area, it was business as usual.

One of them, who declined to be named, said: 'I just came in to work a while ago and saw the policemen in the area. But, no, we weren't told that anything was going on.'

Star team officers storming the area where the "hostages" were kept. TNP PICTURES: GAVIN FOO

Was she curious or concerned?

'No, I'm just doing my work,' she said, all the while looking at the boxes of kitchen appliances she was arranging.'

Exercise Northstar VII is modelled after last November's Mumbai terror attacks.

In the exercise, which takes place over three days, 15 terrorists hijack a marine vessel at sea and head towards Singapore.

They take over smaller boats along the way and eventually split into six teams, landing at different parts of the island.

VivoCity was one of the 10 locations they targeted.

'Terrorists' in speed boat

In the 'attack' that took place from 10am to noon yesterday, three 'terrorists' arrived in front of the Singapore Cruise Centre in a speed boat.

The gunmen then moved on to the Cable Car Tower and HarbourFront Centre.

At a bridge linking HarbourFront Centre to VivoCity, they fired random shots at the ceiling, startling shoppers, some of whom tried to run down a nearby fire escape staircase.

Ten shoppers were captured in the chaos and held hostage at a stairwell on the first level of the shopping mall.

People who heard gunfire called the police.

When the men in blue arrived, they split themselves into three groups and cordoned off different areas of the shopping mall.

Officers from the SOC also manned the inner cordon and conducted search and containment operations.

Minutes later, the Special Tactics and Rescue (Star) unit officers positioned themselves in the area where the hostages were held.

The elite team from the police crack unit then stormed the stairwell, shooting dead the three terrorists.

All the hostages were rescued. Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) paramedics rendered first aid to the injured.

Two shoppers who witnessed part of the enactment said they were not aware that there was an exercise. But they were confident that it was not for real.

Said Madam Teng Yang Hui, 79, in Mandarin: 'If it was for real, they (the officers involved) wouldn't be running so slowly.'

Her daughter, housewife Madam Ang Ser Kiang, 52, chipped in: 'The hostages would have been crying too.'

So what would they do if there was a real attack?

'Run and hide,' said Madam Teng.

The first day of the exercise, on Monday, took place at Cafe del Mar on Sentosa's Siloso Beach.

In that attack, terrorists arriving by sea gunned down party-goers at the beachfront bar, leaving 10 'dead' and more than 20 others 'injured'.

Police officers, including those from the SOC, threw a cordon around the area and combed the island's shoreline for further threats.

The second test scenario was enacted at Raffles Place MRT station where two terrorists attacked commuters early yesterday morning.

Next Wednesday will see Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel storming Rasa Sentosa Hotel in a bid to rescue hostages held there.

Exercise Northstar VII involves more than 2,000 participants from 15 agencies including the Home Team, the SAF, the Land Transport Authority and SMRT.

Hundreds caught with illegal plates

Over 700 motorists hauled up in first four months of this year alone

THEY are bright, stylish and illegal.

And they are hot, so much so that some car owners are willing to risk a jail term of up to three months just so they could have number plates that look good even though they do not conform with Land Transport Authority (LTA) stipulations, such as European Union-style ones.

The LTA told my paper that 726 drivers were caught in the first four months this year for such offences. For the whole of last year, only 2,039 were caught.

Car workshops told mypaper that such licence plates are still flying off the shelves despite the severe penalty.

On the average, the workshops said they each receive between 35 and 50 requests per month from drivers wanting to switch to the illegal licence plates which can cost between $40 and $65 each, depending on the size and design.

Mr S. L. Teo, 32, from Autozone Motoring, said: "There will always be a demand for the nicer ones that are illegal.

"The approved ones have too many restrictions in terms of how they should look and how big they should be."

Another workshop operator, Deck Carcraft's Jackson Kang, 27, said: "Customers are willing to take the risk even after we tell them the plates are not approved ones.

"To them, how their car looks is more important."

Another reason smaller plates appeal to drivers is to avoid detection by the authorities.

Illegal plates that use reflective fonts and contain ornamental marks alongside the vehicle's registration number may make it difficult to read the car's licence number when the vehicle is moving, for example, when it is involved in a hit-and-run accident.

A staff member of a workshop, who declined to be named, said: "The majority of the drivers come with heavily modified cars they use in illegal races and the smaller the plates, the harder it would be for the Traffic Police to read them."

According to LTA guidelines on the One.Motoring website, approved licence plates should have letters and figures that are 70mm high, 50mm wide and 10mm broad.

However, illegal plates usually have fonts that are between 10mm and 15mm smaller than stipulated by the LTA.

A spokesman for LTA said drivers caught with plates that do not conform to requirements face a fine of up to $1,000 or a jail term of up to three months.

In addition, the drivers would have to have the defective plates made good within seven days or risk facing a maximum fine of $2,000 or six months' jail the penalty for repeat offenders.