Campaign the Singapore Government to Stop Producing Cluster Bombs
The Singapore government, through its government linked company, Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd (ST Kinetics), manufactures, stockpiles and publicly advertises two types of cluster ammunitions for sale (Cluster Munition Coalition 200 
.
They are the ‘155mm DPICM artillery projectiles (containing 63 or 49 grenades) equipped with electro- mechanical self-destruct fuzes with an advertised dud rate of 3 percent’ and ‘a 120mm mortar bomb which delivers 25 DPICM grenades’ (Singapore Technologies Engineering n.d., cited in Cluster Munition Coalition, 2008 ).
As world governmental representatives converged in Dublin on the 19th May to seek an agreement on banning cluster bombs, the absence of major producers such as United States, China and Russia have seriously undermined these efforts (Gergely 200 . The U.N. Development Programme claimed that ‘cluster munitions have caused more than 13,000 confirmed injuries and deaths around the world, the vast majority of them in Laos, Vietnam and Afghanistan’ (Gergely 2008).
In a brief online scan of Singapore’s two major newspapers, TODAY and Straits Times, dating 16 to 20 May, both well- read media in the country, have remained silent over this issue. The online blogosophere has also been muted on Singapore’s role in posessing such bombs.
Singapore has also not attended the international conferences held in Oslo, Lima, Vienna, and Wellington which seeks to prohibit the use of cluster bombs. As of April 2008, Singapore remains not having subscribed to the Wellington Declaration which ‘affirms the country’s “objective of concluding the negotiation of such an instrument prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians’. The declaration is a prerequisite to full participation in the conference in Dublin (Cluster Munition Coalition 2008).
Cluster munitions can cause excessive harm to civilians even when the conflict has been over for it ‘can remain a threat for decades’. It is primarily a weapon which contains ‘multiple explosive submunitions’ which are ‘dropped from aircraft or fired from the ground and designed to break open in midair, releasing the submunitions and saturating an area that can be the size of several football fields. Anybody within that area, be they military or civilian, is very likely to be killed or seriously injured’. Those that are not exploded, and most of them don’t, ‘are left on the ground and, like landmines, remain a fatal threat’. As such, people are prevented from using ‘their land and access schools and hospitals’. Cluster munitions have been used since the Second World War and most recently in Lebanon in 2006 (Cluster Munition Coalition Ireland 2008).
Given that the world-wide trend is towards banning cluster bombs; and that the Singapore government has remained steadfastedly committed to manufacturing and selling such munitions, Singaporeans should be duly concerned about these weapons being used against innocent civilians.
What then, can Singaporeans do, given that the media has not reported on this issue?
They can:
1.act as citizen journalists by highlighting this issue in their website or blog.
2.sign and forward the petition which is to campaign on the ban at Dublin at http://www.stopclusterbombs.ie/petition.
3.Execute a nation-wide campaign to pressurise the government into entering into negotitions with the aim to ban cluster bombs.
4.Write to their MPs and urge them to field questions about this issue during Question Time in Parliament; or to the Opposition, appealing them to take up this cause.
5.Tell everyone you know about Singapore’s involvement as a producer of cluster munitions and its detrimental effects.
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Hey…I am just a bypasser of this blog and I found this topic interesting. My view is that despite having quite a fair amount of anti government wave in the blogosphere and advancements made in the net with youtube and what not, one video isn’t going to be detrimental to the current government. Because the vast majority of people in our country donot care and bother about politics, as long as they have their food and shelther, nothing else matters and in particular as long as the majority race is happy and pleased, what can the minority do? protest? how many people would turn up?
There will be no blog write-up from me as I fully support the existence of cluster explosives.
interesting topic..but seriously..this is spore……….if they ban this….would we still have to carry out arti drill?? haha
just mind yr own business as u dont know anything about military
So Mr. Rambo, are you then telling me my status as a Singaporean is not enough for me to talk about issues about my own country? Are you telling me that only doctors are allowed to discuss medical complications or unethical behaviour? That only pilots can discuss plane crashes? I find your reasoning a little skewed.
having military power is way of strengthening our country, remember our country has an increasing ageing population and we don’t really have land to hide in case of war. Bomb shelters can only help so much don’t you think? With terrorist groups in countries surrounding our nation, we need to protect ourselves as best as we could. And if having this additional military power though its dangerous can portray a strong image to our enemies, that will be good! I disagree on this petition. though i suggest discussing it would educate more people on this topic. its good that you’ve raised this issue here!
-passerby
Wow looks like a lot of Singaporeans like the idea of WAR and KILLING!
Bravo, Singaporeans! Please support your enemy nation using landmines and cluster bombs even when your own children step on a land mine and had their legs blown off!
as civilians, i think it suffices to have met or even seen landmine victims to know the extent of damage these can cause to innocent people.
i’m not sure i agree with the deterrence approach being espoused. there really are other options, given the advancements in technology from the vietnam war etc. seriously, why use cluster bombs?!
i FULLY support singapore armed forces continue use of lethal weapons including cluster munitions in defence of our country.
its not because singaporeans love war or have a fetish in killing innocents.
BUT our fathers and sons and brothers are all soldiers, we are all human too… its NOT RIGHT to demand soldiers to sacrifice for the country and family, yet at the same time deny them the tools to win and stay alive.
ask any singaporeans who have a father, son, husband or brother serving in the SAF, if they would like to send their love ones to war with anything less should war befall on our country.
the only ones who would deny their love ones in times of war, the best weapon we can give to increase their chances of survival, must either be a heartless demon or a mentally ill frankenstein.
@ clawsandjaws
its your right to express your opinion as a singaporean, but please put yourself in the shoes of our soldiers before you make your idealistic comment.
it would be best if war never comes, but should it come… would you like to put our soldiers lives at risk, by limiting their weapon choices?
limiting a soldier his weapon options is like limiting a doctor their surgical equipment and medicine… should our soldiers die for your humanitarian belief? is that even humanitarian to begin with???
every soldiers are someone’s father, son, husband or brother… where is your humanitarian towards them may i ask? or do soldiers deserve to DIE defending you and your family because they wear green?
WAR is about killing or be killed, DO NOT even think otherwise.
what is the difference BETWEEN firing one shell with 64 CM from firing 64 shell each containing a single warhead?
let me tell you…. a single shell carrying 64 CM, lets assume it carries a total about 30KG of explosive TNT…. calculate for yourself how much explosives is carried by 64 shells each carrying a single 30KG TNT explosive.
which is more lethal? 30KG of TNT or 2TON of TNT?
@dingo
i assume non in your family serve in the military.
in singapore, every man is required to serve in the miliary, to ask any singaporean if they would limit their weapon options to the soldiers, is akin to asking any of us, if we would like to shoot ourselves in the head.
the answers apart from some retarded idealistic idiots… should be pretty obvious.
@puja
why do you think NORMAL people is DISGUSTED at war?
its the cruelty of war that is the ultimate DETERRENCE of war…
remove that cruelty, and we will have ENDLESS war.
@ singapore soldier
What goes around comes around. Violence begets violence.
It is difficult to shake a hand that has blood on it.