Bomb hoax forces evacuation at Xinmin Secondary School
The police and school personnel conducted a thorough check at the premises and no suspicious items were found.
Police vehicles parked at Xinmin Secondary School on Aug 13, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Ang Hwee Min)
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SINGAPORE: Students and staff members at Xinmin Secondary School in Hougang were briefly evacuated following a bomb hoax on Thursday (Aug 13).
In a notification to parents seen by CNA, the school said it evacuated its students and staff at about 8.30am after being alerted to a "potential bomb threat".
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said it was alerted to the incident at around 8.20am.
"The police and the school personnel conducted a thorough check at the premises and no suspicious item was found," it added.
All students and staff members were accounted for and safe, and regular lessons had resumed, the school said.
When CNA arrived at about 11.45am, there were four police vehicles parked inside the school.
In a statement on Thursday night, Xinmin Secondary said that it immediately contacted the police upon learning of the potential threat.
"All students and staff were evacuated to the school’s designated assembly area in a swift and orderly manner," said the school's principal, Mr Tan Soon Hui.
He added that the school will continue to support the well-being of its students and staff and ensure that appropriate measures are in place to respond to emergencies.
A Secondary 4 student told reporters she heard the school’s principal make an announcement over the PA system at about 8.30am.
She added that all the students were evacuated to the field, where the principal told them it was because of a bomb threat.
"It was a bit sudden ... It caught us really off guard. Some of them were still having exams," the student said.
"SHOCKED" AND SURPRISED
Mr Cheng, whose child studies at Xinmin Secondary, said he was "shocked" to receive the notification about the bomb threat.
"I never imagined such an incident happening in Singapore schools," he said.
He added that he was "deeply concerned" about his child’s safety and worried that a similar incident could happen again.
Another parent, Mr Cho, said he was "a bit shocked" and surprised to hear about the bomb threat.
Mr Cho, whose son is in Secondary 2, said he found out about the incident after 10am through Parents Gateway, an app used by schools to communicate with parents.
He also received an update in the school's WhatsApp group for parents in the early afternoon.
"I think the school did a good job to calm us down and all that, because they messaged us and told us everything’s ok," he added.
Mr Albert Hooi, another parent who lived nearby, said he heard police sirens after 8am. He also received the Parents Gateway notification at about 10am.
"I was feeling very confident that I think the school has followed the safety protocol. Of course, this is all very new to us, very scared as well, but I think the school has done the right thing," he added.
The school handled the incident very professionally and made the right call to make sure everything was in order before informing parents, said Mr Hooi, whose child is 15.
"Imagine if all the parents were rushing in, then we’d get a lot more problems. I’m just happy that everything went well," he said.
The police said it is investigating this incident as a case of communicating false information of a harmful thing, which carries an imprisonment term of up to seven years, a fine of up to S$50,000 (US$39,000) or both.
"The police take all security threats seriously and will not hesitate to take action against those who intentionally communicate false information on bomb threats," it said.
CNA has contacted the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for more information.
The latest bomb hoax comes four years after a similar incident at Evergreen Secondary School in Woodlands. Even though the threat was determined to be false, such security threats should still be taken seriously, MHA said then.
