 The Ordinance required renewal after three years.In August 1958, the Ordinance was amended to provide for the preventive detention without trial of persons associated with criminal activities for up to six months.During the Second Reading of the Amendment Bill, the Chief Secretary of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore, Edgeworth Beresford David, said that such powers were needed to combat gang fights or other crimes committed by secret society members, particularly violent conflict between such societies.