AN ‘UNEASY’ FEELING
A 34-year-old mother, who only wanted to be known as Nur, said her daughter called her around 9.20am to say she was on the way home.
“Everyone was told to (be) dismissed from school as there was an emergency situation in school. She was not sure what happened but saw there’s quite a number of police cars and vans in school. She also saw police with their K9 dogs patrolling around the school,” she told CNA.
Ms Nur recalled feeling uneasy when she received her 16-year-old daughter’s call during school hours.
“It’s unusual. (I thought) maybe she is sick and needed to be (picked up) from school but instead got shocked when she explained that they were all dismissed. Feeling worried for her safety, I video-called her to accompany her on the way home, (which) was about 15 minutes walk away,” she said.
“I told her to just be aware of her surroundings as my head kept thinking about the River Valley (High School) case.”
After realising it was a false bomb threat when she read the news, Ms Nur said she felt a bit relieved.
“Also, (my daughter’s) form teacher texted that they are safe to be back to school tomorrow … I would like to thank all the teachers, principal and staff in school for their fast (action) to ensure all the students are safe. They even made a Zoom meeting to check again on the students if they are already safe at home.”
Another parent, Ms Jamilah Ali, who lives opposite the school said her 14-year-old son had received the message from the school at around 8.30am telling him to stay home.
“Right after that, I received (a message) from the Parents Gateway (app). So I felt that it’s quite serious already. My window is just facing the gate and I saw a few police cars. I was quite worried. For me, the safety of the children is more important,” said the 52-year-old who works at the People’s Association as a Residents’ Committee manager.
“At the start, (I was) quite anxious. To me, Evergreen is quite a good school in Woodlands area. So I just hoped there was nothing silly (that happened),” she said.
It was not until Ms Jamilah saw the Education Minister’s Facebook post that she realised there had been a false bomb threat.
She shared that her son also told her there was a spam message circulating regarding the false threat.
“To me, this bomb thing (is) quite serious. How can this message leak out until it trigger and panic everybody?” she said.
“I’m glad the Government, the teachers, the management all take things seriously. I can see the patrol dog going around the school (sometime after) 9am. Very fast.”
Mr Chan in his Facebook post added that teachers are checking in with students on their well-being, and school counsellors are on standby to assist any student if required.