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Source:
www.mha.gov.sg |
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Written Answer to
Parliamentary Question on Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages in
Foreign Workers Dormitory |
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Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: |
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To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Home Affairs whether foreign workers are allowed to consume
alcoholic beverages in their dormitory compound and, if not, will the
Ministry reconsider this policy so as to reduce the number of foreign
workers loitering, drinking and creating disturbances in HDB housing
estates. |
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Mr Wong Kan Seng: |
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Whilst Police regulates the sale of
alcoholic beverages in licensed outlets, generally, it does not
regulate the consumption of such beverages. |
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Police had previously discouraged the
consumption of alcoholic beverages in foreign worker dormitories
to minimise possible law and order problems due to drunkenness,
which can be difficult to tackle within the confines of a
dormitory. |
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It is for this same reason that some
dormitory operators impose their own ¡°house rules¡± to prohibit or
restrict the consumption of alcoholic beverages within their
premises. |
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However, if the law and order concerns
can be managed, we are prepared to modify the present policy and
allow foreign workers to drink alcoholic beverages in designated
areas within their dormitories. |
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In a pilot test, Police has allowed
beer to be sold in four dormitories1, and where the
beer is then consumed at designated social areas inside the
dormitories. |
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The operators of these dormitories
have to comply with conditions in the beer licence and take
necessary measures to ensure that law and order within the
dormitory is not compromised. |
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They also have to ensure that they can
effectively deal with any problem arising from the workers¡¯
drunken behaviour. Thus far, Police has not encountered any
serious law and order problems resulting from beer being sold and
consumed in these dormitories2. |
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Police is now conducting a review to
assess if the sale and consumption of beer can be extended to
other dormitories. |
1These
dormitories are Acacia Lodge, Starlite Dormitory, Jurong Penjuru
Dormitory and Toh Guan Dormitory.
2Incidents involving intoxicated foreign workers at
these dormitories generally arise from disputes. There was only
one case of voluntarily causing hurt at Starlite Dormitory in Oct
2006. |
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Source:
www.mha.gov.sg News Release 12 Feb
2007 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sun 18 February 2007
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