Voicing his support for police raids on illegal brothels, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam put up two posts on his Facebook page — one on Saturday and one on Sunday — in response to online comments criticizing the tactics employed by officers in the recent raids at the Rowell Road area.
Twenty-two people were arrested after the police conducted several raids on brothels in the vicinity on Friday, Channel NewsAsia reported. The police had explained that the suspects, who were work pass holders, reportedly took advantage of their stay in Singapore to “commit vice-related offences”.
Some of the comments questioned the nature of police raids on illegal brothels, citing that breaking down doors and wearing masks were wrong. But Shanmugam explained that “speed and surprise are key elements during raids”, and that the police “cannot be expected to knock on the door, and wait for a response”.
He went on to say that “police wear masks during such operations because criminal gangs could go for them, if their identities are known”.
“The police are acting to protect everyone, from illegal vice,” he declared, adding that sympathy for victims of the syndicates “should not colour our views on what the police need to do”.
In a follow-up post the next day, Shanmugam provided some background, stating that there had been complaints about sex workers in the area, seemingly operating under a syndicate.
According to his post, the police had noticed a woman filming their raid operations, and she later put up criticism of the police online, calling them a waste of taxpayer money for “terrorizing women.”
“Would she prefer that police didn’t do anything? She would like the sex workers to continue soliciting for customers along the roads and bringing them into HDB estates among our families and children? What about the exploitation of underage youngsters?,” Shanmugam questioned. “Why not upload a video of what the sex workers have been doing on the roads and in the HDB flats?”
The lady also reportedly accused the police of using the services of the women, and Shanmugam declared that she should lodge an official complaint if “she really believes these allegations.” He went on to say that she should come forward, offer credible evidence, and subject herself to questioning as well.
“Where our police officers have done wrong, we take action against them, openly and transparently. We hold them to higher standards than we do a member of public,” he added.
In ending his post, Shanmugam made known that “unjustified attacks” against the police “must be rebutted.”
“Such attacks do a huge disservice to the men and women in blue who put their lives at risk every day to make Singapore safe for all of us,” he said.
Reader Interactions