WHEN the trains stop running and City Hall MRT station shuts tonight, a 'terror attack' will cause a commotion.

Some 280 students from 26 schools, including three madrasahs, will exit a stationary train into the tunnel as part of an emergency drill.

When they emerge above ground, some will have to use the first-aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills they learnt at an ongoing camp on safety and security issues.

The four-day camp is supported by the Singapore Civil Defence Force, SMRT and Singapore Food Industries, among others.

Visiting the students yesterday, Law and Second Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said the camp had the 'right mix'.

Having also judged the camp's Community Engagement Programme poster design competition, Mr Shanmugam came away impressed.

Citing a poster that caught his eye, he said:

'They are 14-year-olds, they talk about...a potential terrorist threat, and then they draw a circle of human beings. And they said that as long as that circle of Singaporeans, humans, united, none of these terrorist threats and bombs will work.'

'It is very profound,' he said, noting that students from different races - and including 28 from madrasahs or Islamic religious schools - were working with facilitators of junior college level.

'This is how you encourage active citizenry. It is interesting, it is challenging for them, it's proactive and it's positive. It's very refreshing.'

Students also got the chance to make new friends and to bond.

Madrasah Aljunied student Muhd Nazirul Mubin, 15, said: 'Our syllabus is quite different, and I thought I'd feel left out, but it was easy to get along with my teammates.'

Anderson Secondary's Kevin Yong, 14, chipped in: 'When we talk and learn about CPR or how to counter terrorism, we find we share much in common.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jun 5, 2008

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