Missing person numbers fall over past 3 years but those aged 11 to 20 consistently form about a third of cases
SINGAPORE — The number of missing people in Singapore has gone down over the past three years, but children and young adults aged between 11 and 20 consistently formed about one-third of the cases each year.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Monday (Feb 14) that of the 5,072 persons who went missing between 2019 and 2021, about 15 per cent were vulnerable persons such as young children and seniors.
Mr Shanmugam revealed this in a written response to a parliamentary question raised by Member of Parliament (MP) Mohd Fahmi Aliman for Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency.
The first-term MP asked Mr Shanmugam for statistics about missing people over the past three years that included a breakdown by age group, ethnicity and income level.
He also asked for the proportion of vulnerable persons out of the total number of missing persons, an update on the Singapore Police Force’s current approach in preventing and identifying missing persons, and whether they will consider implementing more measures to prevent and locate missing persons.
In a table provided by Mr Shanmugam, the number of people aged between 11 and 20 who went missing in 2019 was 634, or about 30.7 per cent of the total number who went missing that year.
The absolute figures for that age bracket dropped to 559 in 2020, and 530 in 2021. However, the proportion of the total number of people who went missing for those two years increased to 34.7 per cent and 37.9 per cent respectively.
For comparison, the total number of people who went missing in each of the three years, starting from 2019, was 2,064, 1,611 and 1,397 respectively.
In terms of ethnicity, Chinese made up the largest group in 2019 at about 32.5 per cent of missing persons, with Malays forming the second largest group at 30.5 per cent.
However, the proportion of Chinese among those who went missing fell to 29 per cent in 2020 and 31 per cent in 2021, with Malays forming the largest group in both years.
In 2020, the percentage of the total number of missing persons in Singapore who were Malay rose to 33.6 per cent. In 2021, this figure jumped to about 38 per cent. Malays make up about 15 per cent of Singapore's population.
The statistics did not break down missing persons by gender.
Mr Shanmugam said that the authorities do not track the income level of reported missing persons.
In terms of procedures, he said that when the police receive a missing person report, investigations will be conducted to locate the individual.
“The police will interview the person who lodged the report to establish background facts pertaining to the missing person such as the state of his or her mental health and the circumstances under which he or she was last seen.”
Mr Shanmugam added that the police will also disseminate lookout messages for the missing person to all police resources, especially those within the particular area where the missing person is “reasonably believed to be”.
As for vulnerable missing persons, Mr Shanmugam said that the police “accord priority” to them as they may be at higher risk.
Such individuals include young children, elders and persons with intellectual disabilities such as dementia.
“In addition, (the) police have established procedures with other government agencies to get their help to locate missing persons.”
For instance, the police will make enquiries with other government agencies such as education institutions, hospitals and the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
Alternatively, the police may also issue appeals for information to seek the public’s assistance.
And on Mr Fahmi’s question about whether the police will consider implementing more measures to prevent and locate missing persons, Mr Shanmugam said: “We welcome further suggestions to locate missing persons more effectively.”
