By Arul John

WHEN the Mumbai terrorist attacks happened two weeks ago, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) called the 115 Singaporeans who were in the Indian city to check on their safety.

It did the same with 1,075 Singaporeans a day earlier, when anti-government protesters in Bangkok besieged the international airport, forcing it to shut.

There were probably more Singaporeans in the two cities when trouble broke out.

The Singaporeans whom the MFA called were just those who had eRegistered with it to indicate that they would be in Mumbai and Bangkok at that time, said Mr Jai S Sohan, director of the consular directorate at the ministry, in an interview with The New Paper.

He added that not enough Singaporeans are alerting the MFA when they are going abroad.

Going by The New Paper's street poll of 100 Singaporeans, Mr Sohan is right.

Though more than half said they know about the MFA's eRegister system, only about a third of those who said they know did eRegister.

The rest said they could not be bothered.

Most don't register

The rate of Singaporeans who register, though on the rise since 2005, is still 'a drop in the ocean', Mr Sohan said.

The eRegister system was set up in May 2000 to allow MFA or its embassies to contact Singaporeans who are in disaster areas or in emergency situations to provide consular assistance.

The MFA wants more Singaporeans to eRegister. It does not have to be just a long trip or because they are going to a troubled place.

Mr Sohan said: 'Even if you are in Kuala Lumpur for just five hours, eRegister.

'We can contact Singaporeans only if we know they are in the affected area, either through eRegistration or if they are in another database or someone called the MFA or the embassy or consulate to find out about them.'

But Mr Sohan believes people tend to eRegister with MFA only when they are travelling to crisis-prone countries.

He said: 'Between 2006 and 2008, there have been many crises in the world and many people have seen the benefits of eRegistering.

'But I would like to see more Singaporeans eRegistering.

'We hope for a 100 per cent response rate eventually.'

He added that the MFA and Singapore embassy staff also help Singaporeans who have lost money or personal documents when they are abroad.

Mr Sohan said eRegistration is more convenient than just calling the MFA.

'Anyone with Internet access can do it. When is it via phone, there is the risk of human error in taking down the information.

'But for eRegistration, there is less risk as (the eRegistrant) is the one keying in the information.'

Mr Sohan recalled how the eRegistration helped the MFA reach out to Singaporeans in Bangkok recently.

The MFA and the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok helped about 1,600 people leave Bangkok after liaising with airlines like Jetstar Asia, Tiger Airways, SilkAir and Singapore Airlines.

The people included those who had eRegistered, Singaporeans who called the MFA and the Singapore embassy in Bangkok and others referred to the MFA by those (meaning eRegistrants, families and friends) they called.

Mr Sohan said: 'Bangkok was a slow boil. If we had the number of Singaporeans there much earlier, we could have done forward planning.

'But we had so few people who had eRegistered then. During the crisis, many Singaporeans started calling.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Dec 10, 2008.