Last Friday (14 Feb), the police released the annual statistics showing that there were “549 cases per 100,000 population last year, as compared to 584 cases per 100,000 population in 2012”, a marked 6% drop:
- 2012 – 584 cases per 100,000 population
- 2013 – 549 cases per 100,000 population (6% drop)
It is all the more impressive against the backdrop of a 1.63% population increase from 5,312,400 residents in 2012 to 5,399,200 residents in 2013. That’s another extra 86,800 people net:
- 2012 – 5,312,400 population
- 2013 – 5,399,200 population (1.63% increase)
However, if we factor in the 42,663 deaths, we are looking at about 129,463 new residents to our shores, about 2.4%. Using the average household size of 3.5 people (2012/2013), that’s another 24,800 residential units needed to house the net newcomers.
The report was summarized to show “declines in four categories — housebreaking, theft, crimes against persons and miscellaneous crimes — but the number of commercial crimes and violent and serious property crimes rose.” [Link].
It went further to give instances of only “commercial crimes”. Ostentatiously, nothing was said about “violent and serious property crimes” which rose. Surely, violent and serious property crimes that cause serious damage to possessions, lives and limbs are more important for citizens than petty online payment frauds or as important to know about as dating scams.
Hence, like Jos Teo, we are left “scratching our heads”. Why, huh?
Is it because the police is concerned that our people cannot stomach the gory details?
Is that MSM trying to set the e.g. of reading only ‘the right thing’ for TRE and others to follow?
After all, people may also start to ask if those serious crimes have been solved and, if not, what’s happening? Or, worse, isn’t it more important to achieve a decrease in “violent and serious property” crimes than of minor ones?
(We guess that more details of the serious, violent crime categories will not do justice to the wonderful, sweet, comforting headline, “Crime rate falls to lowest in 30 years” that the government knows how much Singapore citizens really need.)
Please forgive me if I seem
To take the tone of judgement
For I’ve no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us. (J Browne)
So, a round of applause for our boys in blue, everybody! We all can relax happily as much as we can afford to open our floodgates even wider since our boys in blue have shown that any increase in population will see a corresponding drop in crimes (albeit, not necessarily the serious, violent ones).
Let’s also help our boys in blue with an even more active Cyber Reporting Corp to expose more bigotry, bullying and bad behaviour in general, whether foreign (Anton Casey) or local (Quek Zhen Hao). We are fair-minded people.
Epilogue – Do readers want to suggest the “rate of omission” of our police against alleged cases of crimes reported but not followed up in 2013?
2cents