SINGAPORE, Jan 7 – Flick knives and knuckledusters will be added to Singapore’s list of regulated weapons in 2025 to strengthen public safety, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling reportedly announced in its Parliament today.
Straits Times reported that these items will be controlled under the Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act, expected to take effect in the first half of the year.
“While the incidence of crimes involving knives is low, it is important, nevertheless, that we all know how to respond when such attacks occur,” Sun was quoted saying.
She highlighted the knife attack at St Joseph’s Church in November 2024, where a priest suffered severe injuries during an assault.
The attacker, Basnayake Keith Spencer, was charged with using a dangerous weapon to voluntarily cause grievous hurt to Father Christopher Lee.
Sun was replying to questions from Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong GRC) and Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) on the government’s response to knife crimes.
There were 129 cases of serious crimes involving knives in 2024, similar to the annual average of 133 cases between 2021 and 2023, Sun revealed.
The Ministry of Home Affairs stated in 2022 that there were about 150 knife-related incidents annually from 2017 to 2021, averaging one every two days.
