Exercise Heartbeat - Joint exercise against terror attack on Sentosa Island

1. More than 200 people, comprising role players and officers from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), participated in Exercise Heartbeat on Sentosa Island today. This exercise, involving a simulated terror attack at one of Sentosa’s attractions, was jointly organised by SPF; Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), and Ministry of Manpower (MOM), and supported by KidZania Singapore and SCDF.
2. Member of Parliament for West Coast GRC, Mr Patrick Tay, was present to observe the exercise, which served to test the coordination between Home Team Agencies, community and business stakeholders in their collective emergency response to a terror attack.
3. The impact of a terror attack has implications to businesses and it is important for building owners or organisations like SDC to bring businesses in their community together, to boost incident preparedness and response during peacetime. These include putting in place effective communication channels to enable swift dissemination of information during crises, and ensuring that their crisis management plans take into account factors such as coordination with neighbouring businesses during evacuation.
4. On this front, SDC has collaborated with its Island Partners (tenants) and the Sentosa Cove residential precinct to strengthen the resilience of the Sentosa community through various measures. These include an average of 50 SDC-organised exercises and drills annually with scenarios ranging from business disruptions to those related to safety and security, as well as regular training to enhance the competency of frontline service staff, such as identifying suspicious persons, items and behaviour during the course of their work. SDC also engages its staff and tenants on the SGSecure movement through regular workshops on how to deal with terror threats.
5. With the support from SDC, most Island Partners have registered their SGSecure representatives with MOM and several have started on the bizSAFE journey to raise their risk management capabilities against terror threats.
6. “SDC is committed to doing our part in building the resilience of the community in Sentosa to terror threats. With some 19 million visitors annually and being home to more than 6,000 residents, it is of utmost importance that we stand ready to respond effectively to any emergencies, so that everyone in Sentosa has peace of mind. We therefore value the close partnership with stakeholders such as our island business partners, SPF and SCDF, from where exercises such as Heartbeat strengthen the robustness of our crisis response plans,” said Mr Quek Swee Kuan, CEO of SDC.
7. KidZania Singapore has also invested in staff training and developed a business continuity plan in preparation for a terror attack. “As an attraction where our guests comprise mainly families with kids, the safety of our guests and staff are of top priority. Being the latest family attraction on the island, we are honoured to participate in today’s exercise for the first time. While we have detailed contingency plans in place, this joint exercise allows us to put our emergency-preparedness measures to the test and work with various agencies to fine-tune them, so as to always ensure we maintain a safe learn-through-play environment at all times”, said Mr Leong Yue Weng, General Manager of KidZania Singapore.
8. Our collective response as a community matters. Exercise Heartbeat and the SGSecure at Workplaces Programme serve to enhance community preparedness to handle any emergency situation effectively. Beyond exercises, MOM will also be collaborating with the industry to organise seminars and outreach activities under the SGSecure at Workplaces Programme. These activities will encourage companies to take the first step in being prepared by registering their SGSecure representative with MOM at www.mom.gov.sg/sgsecure and embarking on the bizSAFE programme.