BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2000-2002
President - Jenny Koh
1st Deputy President - Tan Soon Hoe
2nd Deputy President - Mohd Zulkifli Kassim
Secretary General - Juliana Adam
Dy Secretary General - William Cheong
Vice President, Finance - Kwa Chee Beng
Dy Vice President, Finance - Salmiah Hj Sayadi
Director, Alumni Development - Sharifah Masturah Shahab
Director, Computer Network - Vacant
Director, Corporate Communications - Perumal Magayson
Director, International Affairs - Mohd Imhar Mohd Said
Director, Local Programme - Ramlan Rasidi
Director, Membership - Jenny Lee Chew Yee
Director, Rainbow Love - Muhd Hafidz Bin Zainal Abidin
Director, Social & Recreation - Vacant
Director, Travel Network - Daniel Lim
Board Member - Koh Chin Chin
Board Member - Son Wei Ming

BACKGROUND
Since being entrusted with the responsibility of running the SSEAYP local programme in Singapore in 1999, SSEAYP International Singapore (SIS) had, for the past two years, made it a practice to start preparations at least four months before the start of the programme. In line with this practice, the SIS Local Working Committee (LWC) had commenced preparation for SSEAYP 2001 in May and, by September 2001, all preparations were in place for Singapore to host the Farewell Ceremony as the last port-of-call, a first in the history of SSEAYP. However, it was to be a farewell of a different nature which prematurely ended SSEAYP 2001.

It was a sunny Sunday on 23 Sep 2001 in Singapore. At about 2.00pm, one of our Board member received an SMS from an SPY who was in Philippines that there had been an accident involving SSEAYP in Brunei and that five people were reported killed. Twenty minutes later, another SIS member received the news via a phone call from Ms Naoko (Japan NL 95). NYC and other Board members were informed of the news and by 6.30pm, a number of Board members and Mr Lim Teng Leng, Head, International Affairs (NYC), had gathered at the NYC. A Crisis Centre (CC) was set up and which remained in operation until 3 Oct 2001.

Deputy Director, NYC, Mr Yeo Eng Kwan, flew to Brunei on 24 Sep (together with the brother of SNL, Grace) to facilitate communication and provide support for the Singapore contingent. He flew back to Singapore with Grace on 26 Sept.
After 10 days in Brunei, it was decided that the Nippon Maru will sail to Singapore where the programme will be ended and all participating youths, with the exception of the Japanese PYs, will disembark and return to their respective countries. The Ship arrived in Singapore on 4 Oct and, after all the other PYs had disembarked on 7 Oct, sailed off for Japan on 8 Oct 2001 bringing home onboard all the Japanese PYs and Admin Staff.

ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN BY SIS/NYC
Organisation of Crisis Centre
The Conference Room of the National Youth Council was immediately converted into a Crisis Centre (CC) upon confirmation of the news of the accident in Brunei. As it was a non-working day for most government departments, including NYC, SIS assisted with the establishment and manning of the CC. All information (incoming and outgoing) were recorded. From then on, the CC was manned daily and SIS board members were rostered to attend to the hotline together with NYC staff. The CC also took on the responsibility of keeping the NOKs of SPYs informed of every development in Brunei. In short, the CC became the nerve centre where decisions were made after due discussions were held between NYC and SIS so as to respond speedily to any enquiry or feedback required by Japan. This especially pertained to the fate of the programme and the status of the PYs in Brunei. It also became the drafting table where fresh programmes were dished out to replace the original country programme as circumstances and expectations changed with every development arising from the aftermath of the accident.

Adjustments to Local Programme in Singapore
NYC/SIS were informed that the final leg of the programme will be held in Singapore from 4-7 Oct 2001. As the date was much earlier than the planned date of 24-29 Oct, all the preparations that were made earlier had to be rescinded and fresh arrangements made. The programme also had to be adjusted as items like Welcome Ceremony, institutional visit and homestay were removed. In addition, the Administrator had decided that other itinerary such as the Condolence Book Signing and the trip to Sentosa upon arrival in Singapore be included. As such, there were plenty of adjustments and arrangements that had to be made to accommodate the changes. SIS also had to activate our Local Working Committee (LWC) and volunteers about the change of date and programme and, as most of them had already cleared their leave for 24-29 Oct, a number had problems changing their leave at short notice and fresh volunteers had to be sought.

Safety for PYs
In view of the paranoia that was naturally felt as a result of the tragic accident, and also to the Sep 11 attack in America, safety became a paramount issue and every measure foreseeable was taken into consideration to reduce the anxiety and stress that PYs and others may undergo. These included careful planning of routes, entry/exit points at Sentosa and attaching two Liaison Officers to every group, among others.

The Emergency Response element of LWC, which has played an important role since SIS took on the coordination of SSEAYP, was beefed up to oversee the above arrangements in addition to its prescribed role of managing urgent PY matters during homestay such as illnesses and other mishaps.

Care for PYs
Emotional trauma is a likely experience among those who were not involved in or who survived the accident. As the local committee feared that some PYs, admin staff, etc, may be affected, professional counsellors were sourced. However, as it was more than 10 days after the accident, it is likely that those affected would have coped in their own way and it was better to bring in ex-PYs who are trained in emergency behaviour as they can empathise more with those affected.

Publicity and Information Management
SIS also worked closely with NYC to handle the information dissemination especially where the media is concerned. As the affected parties such as the NOKs, host families and SIS members were hungry for information, SIS had to ensure that they received the information needed accurately and unbiasedly.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED & LESSONS LEARNT
Lack of Information
As it was a Sunday and most government offices were closed, confirmation and information about the accident was slow in coming. Although both NYC and SIS tried to reach our respective counterparts in Brunei, it was impossible to get in touch with anyone. It was not until 6.15pm that NYC officially received the notification from MFA about the accident which occurred at about 9.00am. Subsequently, in the week following, any development or decision made in Brunei by CAO/IYEO and Ship Administration were also slow in reaching the respective governments/AAs.

Information Flow
Having mentioned the speed of information flow, the channels of communication/information flow between AAs was also not so clear. Frequently SIS received updated information through direct phone calls to SPYs onboard.
Changes in Decision
The other issue that was a huge problem for SIS was the changes in decision as to the next destination for the Ship. SIS first heard that the Ship will head to Singapore and just as preparations were beginning, the information received was that decision is now to sail to Vietnam. So all preparations were dropped only to be informed later that the Ship will sail to Singapore after all. The tentative arrival date in Singapore was also changed several times that again, preparations were disrupted resulting in a lot of miscommunication among SIS members and between SIS and other parties.

Responsibility for Local Programme
When the Ship arrived in Singapore, NYC/SIS received a shock when all the plans that were made went disappeared into thin air as the PYs had been given the approval to leave the Ship for a free programme i.e. either to go Sentosa, meet their relatives/friends in Singapore or to go shopping on their own.
There were no co-ordination and monitoring of PYs movements. As the local committee is responsible for the programme in their respective countries, NYC/SIS felt that we should have been consulted or informed of the decision prior to arrival in Singapore.

CONCLUSION
Although the accident in Brunei is a tragic incident which no one wanted to happen, it did on a sunny Sunday morning. SIS is appreciative of the various enhanced working relationship that arose out of the incident. The handling of the crisis has secured the information sharing process between NYC and SIS and has further strengthened the cooperation between the two organisations.
On the international front, in spite of the problems encountered, the crisis has also enabled the respective AAs and Japan to forge a stronger bond in the promotion of friendship and mutual understanding.