Singapore is vulnerable to both natural and man-made disasters alongside its
remarkable economic growth. One of the most significant disasters is the Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003. The SARS outbreak was
eventually contained through a series of risk mitigating measures introduced by the
Singapore government. This would not be possible without the engagement and
responsiveness of the general public. This chapter begins with a description of
Singapore’s historical disaster profiles, the policy and legal framework in the allhazard
management approach. We use a case study to highlight the disaster impacts
and insights drawn from Singapore’s risk management experience with specific
references to the SARS epidemic. We draw on the lesson-learning from Singapore’s
experience in fighting the SARS epidemic, and discuss implications for future
practice and research in disaster risk management. The implications are explained
in four aspects: staying vigilant at the community level, remaining flexible in a
national command structure, the demand for surge capacity, and collaborative
governance at regional level. This chapter concludes with a presence of the flexible
command structure on both the way and the extent it was utilized. This helps to
explain the success level of the containment of the SARS epidemic.