By Teh Joo Lin
Crime Reporter
joolin@sph.com.sg

 

THE death of Singaporean lawyer Lo Hwei Yen in the clutches of terrorists in Mumbai attracted an outpouring of public sympathy - she was Singapore’s first known fatality in an overseas terrorist attack.

But among the strangers in Singapore who shared her family’s grief in the week leading up to her funeral last Thursday were a handful who - perhaps more than others - felt a deeper sense of pain.

They had been victims of terrorist attacks before.

One of them was a woman who on May 12, 2003, was ensnared in a Saudi Arabian gated compound when terrorists swamped it, bombed it and shot at residents.

News reports then said suicide bombers in booby-trapped cars filled with explosives drove into three housing compounds that night. The attack - attributed to Al-Qaeda - killed 26 people and hurt over 160.

She survived after she took refuge in a swimming pool before clambering out to hide in one of the villas in the compound. Help came later.

Now 46, the Singaporean kept mum about the incident until August, when she spoke to Berita Harian. She opened up to The Straits Times again last week after the Mumbai attacks.

To hear her say it, it is not the physical injuries that plague one in the aftermath of a terrorist attack - though she lost 30 per cent of her hearing after a bomb exploded near her.

It is the lingering mental trauma.

“That’s the thing about terrorism: they kidnap your mind for life,” she said.

In the aftermath of the Saudi Arabian attacks, she remembers ducking while sitting in cars, checking every corner of the building she enters imagining what terrorists could do and refusing to stay out after dark.

This is the real effect terrorists can create in their targeted population. A climate of fear. A cult of paranoia.

Five years on, she has become calmer, but she retains “heightened senses” towards anything suspicious.

Some degree of alertness is a trait she wishes more Singaporeans could share as they go about their lives.

“Singaporeans are into their own lives, you feel that it (terrorism) is not so real for them,” she said.

Referring to the rationale behind MRT station announcements that warn the public to look out for suspicious packages, she said: “But for me, it’s real.”

By their very design, terrorist attacks are unexpected. Because of that, the threat can never be too far away from Singaporeans, who are venturing to all corners of the globe by the millions.

It could happen here too.

Responding to a question last Friday on whether Singapore could face a terrorist attack like the one in Mumbai, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said: “It can happen. We take this possibility very seriously.”

While security precautions were taken at major events, also needed was “a secure environment in the region, good cooperation among neighbours and good intelligence, depending also on our neighbours”.

Security agencies are working together on this. Meanwhile, individuals can do no worse than to “keep their antennae up”, the survivor said.

Another survivor, a 40-year-old male victim of the Aug 2003 JW Marriot Hotel bombing in Jakarta, said the incident has made him more aware of his surroundings when he travels.

He was one of four Singaporeans hurt.

“And everyone should be more careful too. It doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from, what nationality, race, or religion...you take precautionary steps. It’s about readiness...you never know,” he said.

The victims speak with the pain of experience - one that is best learnt second-hand.

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