Some members of the public were caught by surprise when the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) sounded the “Important Message” signal at about 6.20pm on Sept 15, with several taking to social media to share their reactions.
The alert, which is sounded twice a year on Sept 15 and Feb 15, is meant to warn of attacks from the air, land, or sea, as well as natural and man-made disasters through the island-wide network of Public Warning System sirens. The exercise has been conducted for over three decades, with testing of the sirens beginning in the early 1990s.
Information about the exercise was shared in a Sept 3 report by The Straits Times. On Sept 10, SCDF also shared in a Facebook post that members of the public can tune in to local radio stations for a Total Defence message when they hear the alarm.
In May, a new national alert warning system, SG Alert, was rolled out for residents whose mobile providers use the Singtel network. This system uses cell broadcast technology to deliver alerts without needing mobile data.
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Those on StarHub’s network will receive the alerts by end-2026, while other telco subscribers will be added by mid-2027.
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