SINGAPORE: Every year on Feb 15, sirens are heard islandwide over Singapore’s public warning system to commemorate Total Defence Day.
But if those sirens were to sound in a real wartime emergency, would you know where to go and what to do?
Singapore has a network of civil defence public shelters in which you can take refuge if you are outside. More than 580 such shelters are located in selected underground MRT stations, void decks of Housing Board blocks, schools, community centres and government buildings.
In an overnight exercise with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), CNA got an exclusive look at what it takes to turn an MRT station into a bomb shelter.
CLOSING THE BLAST DOORS
SCDF’s Public Shelter and Resilience Units are tasked with operating these safe havens.
Past 1am, about 70 operationally ready national servicemen are in full gear at Buangkok MRT station, which has ended train services for the day.
They are there to rehearse the conversion of the MRT station into a functional public shelter that can house about 7,000 members of the public.