AUGUST 8 — Last week we learned that Social Distancing Enforcement officers in Singapore have the power to enter private residences without a warrant — at any time of day.  

A resident complained that officers attached to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) accompanied by police officers had visited and entered his home late at night to check that his family was complying with Covid-19 gathering restrictions.  

Currently under Singapore’s Covid-19 control measures, gatherings even at home are restricted to just two outside visitors and no more than two individual visitors per day and officers are empowered to search homes where they believe these restrictions are being broken. 

According to the Infectious Disease Act which covers Covid-19 restrictions, safe-distancing enforcement officers may: at any time without warrant and with such force as may be necessary, stop, board, enter, inspect, and search any premises or conveyance; require any person to furnish any information within his knowledge; demand that any person provide his or her name and address and other proof of identity. 

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Effectively, officials can enter any premise at any time and question anyone so long as they have some suspicion that Covid-19 regulations are being broken. 

Years of American TV have conditioned us to assume officials can only enter our private residences with a warrant — though in Singapore this is not exactly the case. 

Police officers in Singapore have long been empowered to enter homes without a warrant especially when investigating serious crimes/ potentially arrestable offences.  

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Still in this case, the powers are granted not just to the police but to all Covid-19 enforcement officers. 

Residents of a public housing estate queue up for mandatory coronavirus disease swab tests in Singapore May 21, 2021. ― Reuters pic
Residents of a public housing estate queue up for mandatory coronavirus disease swab tests in Singapore May 21, 2021. ― Reuters pic

It is important to note these aren’t the volunteer ambassadors you see at restaurants, but officials attached to various government bodies including the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Home Affairs.  

But this does mean they don’t necessarily have to be police officers. 

We trust that police officers are suitably trained to enter and search premises and engage with citizens in that context — do officials from other government departments have the same training to conduct these searches safely?  

And in any case, what exactly constitutes “such force as is necessary” to enter a premise?  

Fundamentally, while it is vitally important to combat Covid-19 there should always be scrutiny of the amount of power being granted to authorities.

Personally, this headline made me uncomfortable. 

Of course, it is vitally important to combat Covid-19 but I believe it is equally important to scrutinise how we do it and what this means for our privacy and freedoms. 

It also sets the stage for petty neighbours to feed feuds and ultimately it comes down to a lack of individual responsibility — will we do only the right thing because we are afraid someone will come knocking?

Today, Singapore has fully vaccinated 70 of its population and over 80 per cent of more vulnerable elderly groups. 

In general, after almost two years of unprecedented restrictions, Singapore’s population has been very compliant so surely it is now time to think about and re-establishing a New Normal — not ramping up restrictions and surveillance.  

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.