Neighbourhood Activist

Summary

Mr Wallace Chew has the distinction of having been the first to inject CEP elements into an Emergency Preparedness (EP) Day with a Nee Soon South EP-cum-CEP Day in 2007. He has set up an EP Centre in Nee Soon South to serve as a meeting point for other grassroots members and a centre where trained grassroots members conduct EP training for residents.

The event in October 2007 event marked the finale of five months of CEP activities as well as the official launch of the Nee Soon South Crisis Contingency Plan and Crisis Alert System. The plan was the product of the deliberation and discussion by participants during a CEP Table-top Exercise, which included detailed terrain mapping of each zone in the constituency and contact numbers of all grassroots leaders and key appointment-holders in the constituency. The Crisis Alert System was the first of its kind, and consisted of an automated SMS and e-mail alert system to facilitate swift and mass activation of Nee Soon South leaders during a major crisis.

Following the success of the event, Mr Chew advised the organizing committee for the CEP Plus Day in Ang Mo Kio GRC in 2009. He also set up a Caring Action in Response to an Emergency (CARE) team in the constituency. This team of dedicated volunteers is trained in counselling so as to provide quick psychological support to those in emotional distress during a crisis. The fact that both the victims and the counsellors are from the same constituency and know one other would add to the healing process. He has “groomed” other committed grassroots members into leadership positions in the current Community Emergency and Engagement Comittee (C2E), while remaining patron of the group.

Mr Chew says that preparing the community to weather a crisis involves calming the masses and reducing racial and religious tensions by improving communications and emphasizing the speed and accuracy of messages.