Debated in Parliament on 14 Apr 2014.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Defence what assistance has the Ministry provided to Malaysia during the incident involving Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.
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Mr David Ong asked the Minister for Defence what is the extent of assistance rendered by Singapore to Malaysia in the search and rescue of Flight MH370.
Madam, if I may have your permission to take the next two questions together?
Yes, please.
First of all, let us extend our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew of MH370. Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time.
On 8 March 2014, when news of the disappearance of flight MH370 first broke, MINDEF deployed our C-130 aircraft to assist in the Singapore Rescue Coordination Centre's search and locate efforts in the South China Sea. The C-130 aircraft arrived at the search area at about 2.00 pm that same day. Minister Ng Eng Hen also spoke with his counterpart, Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, to see what else we could do to help. We subsequently deployed a Victory-class Missile Corvette (RSS Vigour), a Formidable-class frigate (RSS Steadfast) with a Sikorsky S-70B naval helicopter embarked, as well as a submarine support and rescue vessel (MV Swift Rescue) with divers on board to assist the search efforts in the South China Sea. Our Chief of Defence Force and Service Chiefs have also been in close touch with their Malaysian counterparts.
When the search and locate efforts expanded to the Malacca Strait, we further deployed a Fokker-50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft to Butterworth Air Base, Malaysia, to assist in the search efforts in the Malacca Strait.
When the search efforts were shifted to the Indian Ocean, we activated our Navy's Information Fusion Centre to reach out to its network of navies and shipping companies to report on any sightings in the new search areas. Relevant information received was then conveyed to the search coordinators in Malaysia and Australia.
Mdm Speaker, a quick question for the Second Minister on whether there is an ASEAN response plan and what kind of collaboration among the defence forces of ASEAN nations can be deployed such as information-sharing, security alerts on flight routes, as well as crisis
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management, in light of this unfortunate event.
Mdm Speaker, I think this incident is rather unprecedented. Various members of the ASEAN community have tried their best to provide assistance that would be useful to the Malaysians and the other parties involved in the search. We also have foreign liaison officers working with us in the Changi Information Fusion Centre to share such information.
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