NOVEMBER 18 — The other day some friends and I were driving home after 2am and frankly, I couldn’t wait to be in bed.
However as we stopped at a traffic light in Bishan, we saw a woman, barefoot and staggering across the road.
Her behaviour wasn’t normal and it also didn’t seem to be a result of intoxication. It looked like she needed help so we stopped the car and approached her. We asked her what was wrong but her responses weren’t coherent.
She appeared to be in distress but we couldn’t ascertain why and as none of us were medical professionals, we decided to call the police — perhaps her family was looking for her?
The police responded promptly and said they’d be on the scene shortly. In the meantime, we tried to guide the woman to the side of the road.
After what seemed like ages (but was probably 10 minutes), a police car arrived and seeing professionals on the scene we made to leave. However, at this point a policeman (very politely) asked me to produce my ID. As I had made the call, I had to submit my details.
I was, to be honest, a little irritated at the delay. It was late, I did the right thing, the situation was now under control with many officers on the scene so why the formalities? However the procedure was painless and professional.
It’s broadly a rational system — I assume getting details prevents people from making nuisance calls and allows for follow-up.
Encouragingly on this occasion, the system worked well; people stopped to help the woman, the police responded fast and we were on our way quite quickly.
However, I do think we might still want to look at the procedures Singapore has in place where people do find themselves rendering assistance.
Now I know Singapore doesn’t have Good Samaritan laws — these are laws that protect people who render assistance ie. provide CPR to someone who was drowning etc. from being sued if their efforts don’t work or even make things worse.
The idea is that this protection encourages people to come to the aid of those in need.
In some countries, the law in fact goes even further. In Germany, for example, people are required to help provide first aid to those in visible distress and can be prosecuted for failing in this duty.
Again it does seem quite a logical concept; we live in small dense communities and providing a positive duty to help can help bring people together and see themselves as citizens with responsibilities and not just privileges.
Now whether Singapore needs to go so far as to compel people to help each other is unclear but fundamentally every measure should be taken to encourage people to provide assistance where they can and when it’s really needed.
I think perhaps we should look at technology to accelerate and encourage the right actions.
For example, perhaps in cases similar to the one my friends and I just encountered we should have the option of fill in our details via an app or online which would accelerate the procedure but ensure responsibility.
There are times when you might want to make a report but simply can’t wait for the police.
There are also cases like domestic abuse — especially among friends, family or neighbors when you may not want it to be so clear the call or complaint came from you.
In these case perhaps there should be some means (online) of making an anonymous report.
Insisting on ID details can also put off foreigners, workers and maids from contacting first responders and they too are vital in terms of spotting and preventing accidents and emergencies.
It’s a complex situation, you don’t want everyone reporting on everything and everyone all the time but I do think a positive duty and culture of helping needs to be fostered and both legislation and technology should be deployed where possible for this purpose.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
