Photo: “Little green men” at a military base in a village in Crimea in March 2014. /Anton Holoborodko/
-> Ng Eng Hen – Defence Minister
<<Lessons from Lithuania>>
Government agencies distribute manuals very often on a host of issues that affect their populations – health, education, tax, benefits and so on.
But recently, the Defence Ministry of Lithuania distributed a manual that is not so common – a 98-page manual titled “Things to know about readiness for emergency situations and warfare”, to help their 3 million citizens prepare for the possibility of invasion, occupation and armed conflict.
Why? No one doubts the reason. Lithuania was under Soviet control from 1940 to 1991; it joined NATO in 2004.
The Lithuanian Defence Minister recently said: “When Russia started its aggression in Ukraine, our citizens here in Lithuania understood that our neighbour is not friendly”, and that what happened in Georgia and Ukraine “showed us that we cannot rule out a similar kind of situation here”.
The manual also includes instructions on how to respond in a “hybrid war” situation, an obvious reference to alleged Russian insurgents (also referred to as “little green men”) assisting rebels in Ukraine.
“Lithuanian citizens who notice unknown and unidentified armed groups operating in their neighbourhood or elsewhere should notify the authorities,” the manual advised.
Lastly, Lithuania is now looking into reinstating military conscription for their male citizens – something which they had stopped in 2008, much to their regret now.
There are many lessons that Singaporeans can draw from Lithuania. We must keep up our strong defence if we are to avoid being in their precarious and hapless situation.
– Ng Eng Hen
