Singapore forgets courtesy campaigns as avarice grips

IT might happen in wild Shenzhen, but surely not in strict Singapore? But yes, greed overcame conditioning yesterday as stock riots broke out among anxious would-be investors in Singapore Telecom.

Well, perhaps not quite riots - no one was hurt - but the crowd did get unruly, and the Police Task Force (PTF), which is trained in riot control, was called in.

Prepared to deal with reds under every bed, the PTF instead found itself facing rampant capitalists, trying to push their way into The Exchange building in Singapore's central financial district yesterday.

Their fanatical aim was to open central depository accounts ahead of the Singapore Telecom float.

Caught up in the frenzy gripping the island republic over the public offering of Singapore Telecom shares, which the government is encouraging Singaporeans to buy, thousands of people gathered outside The Exchange before it opened, some of them arriving as early as 4 am.

''People were milling about,'' a witness said. ''There were no proper queues and when the doors opened at 8.45 am everyone surged forward. It was mayhem.'' The Stock Exchange of Singapore telephoned the police at 9 am, and the first officers on the scene in turn called in the PTF. About 40 members of the special team soon arrived and quickly brought the crowd under control.

The incident highlighted the near-hysteria aroused by the opportunity Singaporeans see to participate in the current stock-market bull-run with a minimum of risk.