SINGAPORE: There were 129 cases of murder, attempted murder, robbery, rioting and serious hurt involving knives from January to November 2024 – and the figure is “comparable” to the number of cases in the past three years, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said on Tuesday (Jan 7).
Between 2021 and 2023, there was an average of 133 cases a year.
None of these crimes occurred at a place of worship, except for the knife attack at St Joseph’s Church in November.
Providing the figures in parliament, Ms Sun added that the Ministry of Home Affairs does not track the cases by whether the offenders had mental health issues.
Ms Sun was responding to questions from Members of Parliament, including Dr Tan Wu Meng (PAP-Jurong) and Mr Christopher De Souza (PAP-Holland Bukit Timah), about whether there has been a rise in knife crimes, as well as the safety and response measures in place.
“Our police officers are trained and equipped to deal with crimes involving knives, and will respond swiftly to neutralise the threat when alerted,” said Ms Sun.
“When there is information on specific threats or the general threat level is escalated, the police will step up security measures such as increasing the frequency of patrols. They will also engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that appropriate security measures are put in place.”
