K Shanmugam
Singapore
“Bank accounts are frozen when there is reason to suspect that the bank accounts are involved in illicit activities, including money laundering activities.”
“The Singapore Police Force does not track the requested data. Distinguishing artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content typically requires more detailed forensic examination which may not be necessary in every investigation and may also not be conclusive as to whether AI-generative tools were used.”
“The Building and Construction Authority’s Code on Accessibility provides baseline requirements for accessible and inclusive buildings. It stipulates a minimum width of 1.5 metres or 1.8 metres for primary accessible routes, depending on the building type.”
“The Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Driving Licence) Rules under the Road Traffic Act set out the scope of the medical assessment required for motorists aged 65 and above who wish to retain their driving licences.”
“When a Police report has been made, the Police will investigate to determine if a criminal offence has been committed. If there is reasonable suspicion that a case is scam-related, the Police can direct online service providers to restrict Singapore users' access to the relevant online activity under the Online Criminal Harms Act.”
“Through intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement actions, the cross-border operation disrupted a transnational drug trafficking syndicate and downstream drug trafficking activities, with the UK arresting seven persons so far and further investigations underway.”
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“I have also said that births are declining in Singapore and there are limits on the growth of resources. Government agencies are put on a very tight quota on new employment. We can understand it, rightfully so because you cannot have a situation where the public sector continues to grow and employ Singaporeans while the private sector suffers through severe shortages. The public and private sectors need to share resources across many fields, and MHA is no exception. The fact is, both public and private sectors in Singapore face shortages of manpower, particularly if they wish to employ Singapore citizens. In MHA, we are obviously in a position of having to employ Singapore citizens for most of our work. One way we try to deal with this, partially, is to use technology wherever we can. My colleague, Minister Josephine Teo, will talk about these efforts in the Home Team. Second, we have also been relying on retired officers, community partners and volunteers. Mr Murali Pillai asked about this. We encourage our retirees who are suitable to consider re-employment. Over the past five years, 36% of our retirees were re-employed in uniformed roles. So, that is a significant number. Our volunteers with the various Home Team Departments, for example, the Police, Prisons and Civil Defence, are also critical. They are on the ground, raising awareness of crime prevention, patrolling their neighbourhoods, supporting ex-offenders' re-integration into society and performing many other roles. 5.30 pm In response to Mr Murali Pillai's question, recruitment numbers for the Voluntary Special Constabulary (VSC) have steadily increased in the last three years by 30%.”
“Mr Christopher de Souza suggested leveraging on social media to reach out to young people. We agree. CNB puts out information, evidence, stories on the harm of drugs on multiple social media platforms in formats that are easy to digest. But CNB cannot do this alone. We need the help of the community. This is one reason why we have appointed DrugFreeSG champions, social workers, educators and youth mentors. Last week, for example, I spoke with more than 1,000 of these anti-drug ambassadors and other partners. Their response was very positive. They are happy that we are doing this, standing firm on drugs. And they are eager to share the message, make it clear, especially to our young people, that drugs destroy societies, destroys their families, and can destroy their lives. And that is why we must not allow it to take root here. Mr Chairman, I will now touch on resourcing. The demands on the Home Team across all the departments are growing sharply. The SPF has been dealing with more sophisticated crimes, including financial crimes and money laundering. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has been receiving more emergency medical services calls, with annual demand increasing by more than 30% in the last five years. Calls are expected to continue to rise as our population ages. The ICA has been dealing not only with an increase in traveller volumes, but is also preparing for new gateways into Singapore, like the Rapid Transit System Link with Malaysia and Changi Airport Terminal 5. Mr Murali Pillai and Ms Sylvia Lim asked about the manpower situation in MHA agencies. I have said it before, it is very tight. This shortage of manpower is faced not just by MHA, including all the Home Team departments, but by many other parts of the Civil Service as well.”
“To deal with this youth drug problem, last year, we formed an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) which I chair. And let me share three of the IMC's planned initiatives. From this year, every third Friday of May will be designated as "Drug Victims Remembrance Day" so that we remember the victims of drug abuse. Activism usually focuses on drug traffickers and the penalties they face, but there are thousands of others whom we should think about. These others are the victims of the drug traffickers and the lucrative drug trade – the abusers who suffer, their families, their loved ones. They are forgotten in activism, but we must remember them, and we must remember the suffering that they have gone through, and the harm that drugs have done to them and their families. The Government, schools, Institutes of Higher Learning will all be organising various activities on this Remembrance Day. More details will be given in due course. Second, to encourage students to think critically about drugs, schools will cover this in their school curricula by extending it to other subjects, such as General Paper. This builds on an initiative announced at COS last year, when we said CNB would expand preventive drug education, or PDE, efforts in schools. All secondary schools have completed at least one PDE engagement session in the last two years. At the primary school level, 42,000 students from 116 schools participated in the Anti-Drug Ambassador activity in 2023. Third, we will also enhance PDE for full-time National Servicemen (NSF) and better equip NS commanders to identify and support drug abusers and those at risk. This will better sustain the drug-free message beyond schools. Mr Derrick Goh also asked about measures to curb online misinformation about drugs.”
“We have seen this for ourselves. In January this year, a man slashed a victim after consuming cannabis. The media reported that the man was suffering from cannabis-induced psychotic disorder at the time of the offence. After a drug-fuelled session, the man became paranoid. He thought that the victim wanted to harm him, so he grabbed a chopper from his kitchen and slashed the victim on the wrist, hand and knee. We will see many more such cases if we go soft on cannabis. These are all instructive examples. There are also good examples from outside Singapore and we do not have to look very far. Thailand decriminalised cannabis in June 2022. Since then, thousands of cannabis dispensaries, cafes, street vendors offering cannabis or cannabis-infused food have come up. Within six months of changing the law, the number of people considered by the health authorities to be addicted to cannabis increased fourfold, from 72 cases per month to 282 cases per month. The Thai media reported a few weeks ago that estimates on the number of cannabis users in Thailand has gone up 10 times to about 10 million, or around one in seven Thais. Now, one and a half years later, having seen the consequences of decriminalisation, the Thai government is now deliberating a Bill to ban the recreational use of cannabis. But it will not be easy because the genie is out of the bottle. Maybe there will be strong pushback from businesses who have invested large sums of money in the industry and those already addicted to cannabis will struggle to cope if supply is suddenly restricted. The healthcare system will feel this burden for many years to come. So, we really have to be very careful about this.”
“An IMH survey published last year also found that many Singaporeans start abusing drugs before the age of 16. Also, as Mr Christopher de Souza highlighted, cannabis is of particular concern. Cannabis abuser arrests in Singapore were at a 10-year high last year, in 2023. It was the third most-commonly abused drug overall and the second most commonly abused drug amongst new drug abusers. Of the new cannabis abusers arrested last year, more than 60% were young people under 30. There is a slightly more permissive attitude amongst our younger people towards drugs. They are sometimes influenced by what they read and see online, the lifestyles promoted by permissive cultures and societies, and the falsehoods that are peddled. Globally, cannabis is the most-commonly abused drug. Arguments for cannabis legalisation are often driven by parties with commercial interests. They say that cannabis is a harmless soft drug. They even suggest that it can benefit those who consume it. These are all untruths, blatant untruths, much like what tobacco companies used to claim that smoking tobacco, smoking cigarettes was harmless. You have it on TV and videos. But the scientific evidence is that cannabis abuse causes harm to the abuser's health. Studies show quite clearly that cannabis can cause irreversible brain damage, brain shrinkage and serious mental and psychiatric illnesses. Research from the United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime has shown that in places where cannabis has been legalised, the proportion of people with (a) psychiatric disorders and (b) suicides associated with regular cannabis use has increased, together with the number of hospitalisations. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Cannabis not only harms the individual, but also those around them.”
“There is not a single magic bullet, an ironclad shield against scams, unless we roll back digitalisation, which means no more Internet shopping, no smartphones and social media, no Internet banking. And that is obviously not possible. The key line of defence – the critical line of defence – has got to be every individual who has to guard himself or herself, friends, families from scams, and, together with all the other efforts by the Government, banks and other partners, it may be possible to put up a better barrier. The Government has also been conducting extensive public awareness campaigns – and the Minister of State, Sun Xueling, will elaborate on that in her speech. Next, on drugs. In the last decade, there has been an increase in the global push to decriminalise and legalise drugs consumption. A number of MPs spoke about it. I will be delivering a Ministerial Statement later this year, where I will speak in more detail on the drug situation around the world and our approach. Today, I will focus on our response to the youth drug problem. Minister of State Faishal Ibrahim will be elaborating on our other measures to combat drugs. Mr Christopher de Souza, Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, Mr Keith Chua and Mr Derrick Goh, as well as Assoc Prof Razwana Begum have raised concerns about the rising number of young drug abusers. They asked about our plans to deal with this problem. Our drug situation remains generally under control, but in 2023 there was an 18% increase in the number of new drug abusers arrested in Singapore, and more than half of them were under the age of 30. The youngest were 14-year-olds. Just earlier this month three Singaporean girls, aged 13 and 14, were arrested for taking drugs.”
“In this regard, the Government works with stakeholders to strengthen our communications and banking channels, our digital systems and our online platforms. For instance, telecom companies now block likely scam calls and SMSes from reaching victims in Singapore. Banks have introduced new banking features to secure monies in bank accounts, such as the "Kill Switch" and the "Money Lock". Government agencies and banks have upgraded our e-services to protect users from malware scams. MHA is also progressively operationalising the Online Criminal Harms Act, or OCHA. OCHA will allow the Government to require designated online platforms to put in place stronger safeguards against scams and other criminal activities. 5.15 pm Prevention is one limb. We have also strengthened what we can do, post-incident. The Police Anti-Scam Command, or ASCom, works with more than 100 partners, including financial institutions and online platforms, to combat scams. Staff from financial institutions are co-located with the ASCom, and that allows us to trace and freeze funds and trace and freeze accounts quickly before they are gone. Last year, we also amended the CDSA, which is the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, and the CMA, which is the Computer Misuse Act, to make it easier to punish money mules and those who abuse Singpass. MHA will also be introducing new laws next month to punish the abuse of local SIM cards for scams. The Government has done what it can do. It continues to explore other measures to protect the public from scams. But there is a limit to what we can do.”
“Thank you, Mdm Chairman. MHA's budget has grown over the years and that has allowed us to build up the Home Teams' capabilities – so that we can deal with security challenges more effectively. I thank Members who have spoken up and raised a number of questions. We have many challenges and those challenges evolve. I will touch on three issues – the scam situation in Singapore; drug abuse among youths, especially cannabis; and the resourcing of the Home Team. And my fellow officeholders will deal with the other points raised by Members of Parliament (MPs). In terms of overall safety and security, Singapore continues to rank well in international assessments. In the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2023, we were ranked one of the top three countries in the "Order and Security" category – for the seventh time in a row. Our physical crime and drug situation has remained relatively stable and under control. However, similar to 2022, scams were the main driver of crime in 2023. There were more than 46,000 reported scam cases, which is a nearly 50% increase from 2022. And the total amount lost to scams was more than SGD$650 million. Several MPs have asked about the Ministry's efforts to combat scams. We face two major challenges in this. First, the speed and convenience of online transactions. Scammers can reach out to potential victims easily. They can move stolen funds quickly and they can hide behind the anonymity of the internet. The second major challenge is that most scammers operate from overseas, beyond our jurisdiction. Once the monies leave Singapore, it is very difficult, if at all possible, to recover them. So, the most effective way to tackle scams is really to prevent them from taking place at all.”
“Regarding the query on the response of emergency services and the protocols in place, the Police deploys on the ground for festive events with large crowds to ensure law and order and to coordinate swift response to any incidents, including by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Depending on the Police's assessment of the event, SCDF resources may even be forward deployed on the ground. As for the other queries, the Member may wish to refer to the response by Minister of State Sun Xueling to Parliamentary Questions No 9 to 15 during the 28 November 2022 Parliament sitting. [Please refer to "Measures to Prevent and Manage Risks from Crowd Surges during Festive Periods and Public Events", Official Report, 28 November 2022, Vol 95, Issue 76, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“Between 2021 and 2023, there were a total of 69,795 Police reports of alleged offences under section 3 to section 7 of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014; 498 Protection Orders were issued by the Courts; and 10 persons were prosecuted for contravening the conditions of their Protection Orders.”
“Between 2021 and 2023, the Police received 178 reports of road rage. The Police do not track whether the perpetrators of road rage incidents are drivers or other road users.”
“Compared to manual counters, automated lanes clear travellers up to 40% faster. They also take up less space and require fewer officers to operate. Travellers who require special assistance will be able to use the Special Assistance Lanes (SAL). These lanes are wider and are designed for travellers using wheelchairs as well as those travelling as a family, including with the elderly or young children. The SAL can clear up to four persons at a time. Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers will be at hand to assist those who require help. In 2023, ICA installed a total of 58 SALs across Woodlands Checkpoint, Marina Bay Cruise Centre and Changi Airport. ICA will install more SALs this year. To cater to the increasing number of travellers, ICA installed more than 160 automated lanes in 2023 and has plans to install 230 more this year. These lanes, equipped with the next generation Automated Border Control System (ABCS), will progressively replace existing automated lanes and manual counters. The ABCS will allow all foreign visitors, regardless of nationality and whether they are first time visitors, to use the automated lanes. The ABCS, supported by biometrics and data analytics, is designed to detect forged passports, high-risk travellers and unauthorised entries. ICA officers deployed on-site will receive alerts to intercept relevant travellers. They will also conduct profiling to look out for travellers exhibiting suspicious behaviours. To mitigate the risk of cyber threats, all ICA systems have to comply with stringent security and data protection requirements, and there are also regular audits to identify and address vulnerabilities.”
“ICA will still set aside lanes for dedicated use by Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. The proportion of dedicated lanes will be flexibly adjusted to meet prevailing operational needs, taking into account the traveller profile.”
“There have been media reports of Singapore Citizens (SCs) participating in foreign legislatures and political organisations. SCs are required, under section 79 of the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021, to declare their membership in such bodies to the Registry of Foreign and Political Disclosures. SCs who joined such bodies prior to 1 February 2024 have until 1 March 2024 to declare their involvement. SCs who join such bodies after 1 Feb 2024 have to declare their involvement within one month of joining. They can do so at https://eservices2.mha.gov.sg/rds. There have not been any declarations as of 14 February 2024.”
“MHA does not generally disclose such information on individuals, for reasons of confidentiality. The Ministry may disclose the information when warranted by specific fact circumstances. In this specific case, the events which led to the designation of the individual took place much after his naturalisation; and we do not think it appropriate to make an exception to the principle of confidentiality.”
“My Ministry is currently reviewing this with the Ministry of National Development.”
“Police do not track the number of cases under Section 6(1) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993 according to the specific type of harm or injury caused. For each case of ill-treatment of a child or young person, the Police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers will assess the facts and circumstances and determine the most appropriate charges, recognising that there may be multiple forms of harm involved in a single case. From 2021 to 2023, 89 persons were investigated for ill-treatment of a child or young person under the CYPA. 11 were prosecuted.”
“The figures that the Member requested are in Table 1 below. We have also provided figures between 2017 and 2019, in Table 2 below, to show a longer time trend. While the total number of injury and fatal accidents involving children below the age of 18 increased in 2023, it was lower compared to pre-pandemic figures in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The main causes of the accidents were motorist faults, such as failure to keep a proper lookout of the road situation; failure to have proper control of the vehicle; and failure to give way to other traffic which has the right of way. The Land Transport Authority had done an assessment of the fatal accident locations between 2020 and 2023. Seven of them were further enhanced with road safety features such as installing a hump, warning signs and road markings to slow down and alert road users to look out for pedestrians. The other locations were assessed to be adequately safe or the accidents at these locations were attributed to human behaviour.”
“Volunteers on the Citizens on Patrol (COP) scheme patrol their community and neighbourhoods and alert the Police when they notice suspicious activities or persons. They also engage the community on crime prevention measures. The COP scheme has grown from about 5,000 volunteers in 2019, to about 7,000 volunteers in 2023. In the past five years, the volunteers contributed an average of around 16,500 hours of patrol annually. The number of patrol hours took a dip during COVID-19. In 2023, the total number of patrol hours was around 24,000, or 2,000 per month.”
“Officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) are stationed at SingPost Centre to screen all inbound articles and look out for prohibited, controlled or dutiable items. SingPost officers support ICA by loading and unloading the articles for screening, and opening and re-sealing those that require physical inspection. The screening process is carried out by ICA and SingPost officers in accordance with safety protocols. For example, if an article is suspected to be hazardous, both the ICA and SingPost officer would don personal protective equipment prior to inspecting and handling the article. Upon detection of drugs, contraband or hazardous materials, the article will be referred to the competent authority for further investigations. ICA utilises screening equipment for the screening process and only activates sniffer dogs when needed.”
“The cost of installing a new traffic enforcement camera at a signalised intersection ranges between $100,000 and $170,000, depending on the site conditions. The Traffic Police adopts a risk-based approach and deploys traffic enforcement cameras at locations which are more prone to accidents and traffic violations. It assesses the situation on our roads and where merited, will install such cameras.”
“I have delivered my answers to Parliamentary Written Question Nos 6 and 7 as part of the Ministerial Statement at the Sitting on 6 February 2024. [Please refer to "Allegations Surrounding Suicide of Sgt Uvaraja s/o Gopal", Official Report, 6 February 2024, Vol 95, Issue 121, Ministerial Statements section.]”
“It is not possible to confirm who or how many individuals were charged under section 165 of the Penal Code from 1965 to 2023 because records were not kept for the entire period. This Parliamentary Question appears to be referencing the charges brought against Mr Iswaran. First, let me say that cases against Ministers are very rare in Singapore. Since Independence, there have only been three reported instances, involving Mr Wee Toon Boon in 1975, Mr Teh Cheang Wan in 1986 and now Mr Iswaran. Mr Teh Cheang Wan committed suicide as investigations were ongoing. The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) does not generally give reasons in public why a specific charge has been brought, under one provision as opposed to another provision. These are matters of prosecutorial discretion, exercised on the basis of several possible factors, including the evidence available. Thus, if Mr Giam’s real question is why there are charges under section 165 of the Penal Code against Mr Iswaran when there have been no Ministers charged with this offence before, then the direct response is that this is only the second case in 58 years to be brought in Court against a Minister and AGC makes the decision based on the facts of each case.”
“The Singapore Standard 9:2014 was developed in 2014 in consultation with industry and technical experts. All motorcycle helmets must meet this standard today. The Traffic Police and key stakeholders from public and private sectors, including testing laboratories and academia, have convened a working group to review the motorcycle helmet standard. This is supported by the Singapore Standards Council, overseen by Enterprise Singapore. The review will include assessing whether other overseas and international standards meet our local safety requirements. We will provide an update when the working group completes its review this year. Time is needed for the review due to the need for industry consultation and review of overseas publications”
“This is affecting the entire country. It is affecting the Public Service, it is affecting the Police force and it is a matter of concern. Any question on morale has to be qualified by this perspective. It is quite a serious perspective.”
“Thank you, Sir, for letting me make this clarification. This is the answer to Mr Singh's question on the morale of Police officers. I went and checked. I think in February 2022 – that is now two years – I had said that the morale of Police officers is high based on surveys. What I would like to, and in the context of the future as well, I think I should, tell Members that while Police officers have a very strong esprit de corps, they are very happy to be part of the Police force, and are proud and their morale in terms of their work is very high, and I have talked about this in Parliament I believe, or certainly outside, we are facing a severe manpower shortage. I talked about it in the context of the Parti Liyani case, and we have talked about it in other contexts. For example, for investigating officers (IOs), we are short and we have not been able to overcome the shortage for a variety of reasons. That has put a lot of load on our officers. The load, I think, has gotten to unreasonable levels and that eventually would affect how Police officers view what they can do and what they cannot do. It would have an impact on morale. So, I should make that clear as well. Apart from allegations that may be made, the load in terms of the workflow and the shortage of staff, there are shortages in different areas, but IO is one example we have talked about publicly. So, I want to caution that it is not as if everything is rosy and fine. I foresee potential problems. It is something that we are trying to address and deal with, but the solutions are not easy. Not least because there is an overall manpower shortage across the Public Service. There are caps on how much the Public Service can grow, for good reasons, because the private sector is short as well.”
“Certainly, not in the private sector, but the Police force had been very, very supportive of trying to help this officer. And that is the approach they take to every Police officer. Any Police officer taking his life is a tragedy for us. We do not want to see that. And likewise, any allegation, whether by a Police officer or not, has to be taken seriously, as I explained why. And when it is by a Police officer, it will be taken seriously by the public; and the Police will, of course, also take it seriously, simply because a Police officer making these allegations can be expected to know more about what he is saying in context. And we need to really investigate. Which is why it was investigated thoroughly, and I had the AGC review those findings, and then I reviewed them myself. There are proper cases for a Committee of Inquiry. There are proper cases for a Commission of Inquiry. I have explained when some matters will go for Committee of Inquiry and Commission for Inquiry. This is a matter where I have set out the facts publicly and people can assess for themselves how the facts look. 1.50 pm”
“I thank Mr Leong for that clarification. It is a matter of considerable regret to me personally, and I am sure to every Member in this House, that someone took his life. In particular, it is a matter of considerable regret and dismay for the Home Team, that he is a Police officer. Of course, it affects us. It affects me, it affects the Police force and his colleagues. None of us wants to see it and we have the deepest of feelings for his family and for himself. And that is why I have taken considerable care not to go into what exactly happened, except to set out in the briefest of outlines. So, it is very, very sad matter. Deepest condolences to the family. Regret is even not adequate to convey the very deep feelings we have about what happened. We wish it had been otherwise. What the Police force can say is that they did everything they can to help him. They provided psychological assistance; they gave him days off and they gave him leave. If you take 2015, if a person does not turn up for work for 150 days –100 days of no-pay leave and 40 days of medical leave – I think it is an extraordinary organisation that gives that level of flexibility. And then, the next year, no-pay leave of 216 days and 70 days of medical leave – that makes it 286 days out of 360. So, it is 80 days where he was at work, minus weekends or days off. So, again, that level of flexibility was given. This is a caring organisation that cared for him and gave him a lot of support. I think Members will accept that. Then, come back to 2022, he was on no-pay leave for about 160 days, and he was on medical leave for 80 days – that is 240 days out of 360, excluding weekends. I do not think you will see this in many organisations.”
“Let me give the figures: "85% of the Police officers in the survey by the Police Federation of England released last year said morale within the force is currently low or very low; 70% would not recommend others to join the police; 95% said their morale was harmed by their treatment by their government", which includes these sorts of committees of inquiry. If there is something specific that the Member, Mr Leong, has in terms of the facts that have been disclosed, dpes the Member question the form that I set out on the medical leave and the no-pay leave of the officer? These are matters of record. Does the Member question the point that I made that he made three allegations of bullying? Two of them were found to have been substantiated, but they had been investigated when he had first made the complaint and he did not follow up. He accepted it. The third one was unsubstantiated. The Police had actually taken action against the officers. So, when the Member talks about a Committee of Inquiry or Commission of Inquiry, I would invite the Member to say which part of this explanation does he disagree with or finds questionable? Perhaps, if the Member would illuminate that and explain that, then we can discuss, rather than, in generalities, that we ought to follow other systems when our system is doing much better than any of these systems that the Member can refer to. Perhaps the Member can tell me which part of the explanation he thinks is questionable.”
“Thank you, because I thought I had not seen the Member. Then the Member would have heard me saying what the morale of the UK police officers was. I think the Member would recall more than half, a significant number, take a very dim view of their prospects; 70% will not recommend somebody else to join the force and a significant number blamed their own government and the endless inquiries. Every time there is an allegation, there is a committee of inquiry. Every time there is an allegation, they are made the subject of being scapegoated. If you put officers through this each time there is an allegation, that is, public inquiries, what are you really saying? That they will be put out there and hung out to dry regardless of the facts. You ask yourself: do you think more people are going to join the Police force? Is that good for Singapore? Is that the kind of society we want? The bottom line is, do we trust the Police force? Do we trust the Internal Affairs Office? Why do you think 90% of Singaporeans have trust in the Police force? Why do we take a theoretical approach when, in practice, in Singapore, it is a low-crime society, and it is a high trust society; there is tremendous trust in the Police force? We solve crimes with the methods that we have used. So, what is it about those methods that are wrong? Why do you want to go down a route like the UK has? Have you seen the results of their system? Yesterday I set out what happens in other countries; and today, I went back to talking about what happens in other countries.”
“Ministerial Statement, where I referred to—”
“Sir, it is precisely because of the sentiments like what Mr Leong has expressed, which have found favour in some countries, that you see the morale of the Police force and public trust in the Police force is going down south. Let me explain. I think the Member perhaps did not listen to my Ministerial Statement. I am not sure if he was in the Chamber when I talked about the UK. I am not sure. Perhaps the Member can confirm. Were you in the Chamber? Sir, can I ask, through you, whether the Member was in the Chamber when I talked about the UK?”
“Sir, there are rules which govern all Police officers set out by and following the Public Service Division's rules. Assessment of the Police officers' performance has to be made over a period of time. His performance grades will have to be looked at over that period of time. Reports will have to be put up. If he falls below a certain standard consistently for a number of years, then he will be out. So, those are objective criteria. Subjectively, in terms of how people will help, at least speaking for the Police force and from this case, Members will know that if a person is not performing, his colleagues do come around him to try and support, which they have tried to do even at the expense of their own leave arrangements; they have tried to rally around him and support him to try and get him to perform better. The third aspect to the question is: if allegations are made and investigations are conducted, those have to be professional and independent. You have the Internal Affairs Office. You have the Police. A different department, or CID, will conduct the investigations where, quite often, you can be sure that the Police will do that robustly without consideration of the fact that the person is a Police officer. In fact, the fact that he is a Police officer often counts against the person in Court if, indeed, he is charged.”
“May I ask the Member to clarify the question? Is the question about how do we make sure he is in employment, meaning how do we make sure that he remains in employment or how do we make sure that he does not remain in employment? I am not quite sure.”
“I thank the Member for that question. There are two parts to it. One, there has to be a proper and thorough investigation. There can be no caveats to that. And that, in itself, I accept can be stressful and will often be stressful, but we have no choice. We have to investigate. And the officer will know that if he has done nothing wrong, the investigations will clear him. Equally, he will know that if the allegations against him are likely to be made out, then, of course, I can understand that that would add to the stress. The situation does not mean that the officer is precluded from seeking psychological assistance that I spoke about. He can continue to avail himself of the help, speak with his counsellors and receive such psychological support as necessary because he continues to be a member of the Police force.”
“For example, even though a Superintendent, a senior Police officer, is caught by another Police officer at a roadblock drunk driving, he will be charged. The public know that. The Police know that. That is why we have transparency; they know we have transparency; that is why we have trust. We do not make the Police the subject of political football. And we do not make the Police the scapegoats every time there are inconvenient questions. We come out; we tell the truth; we defend them where they ought to be defended. We admit when something has gone wrong. So, that is the approach. If the Member could tell me what the third question is, I will deal with that, too. Sorry, I did not answer the Member's question on morale. That is on trust. On Police morale, Pulse surveys – surveys which I have described. There are different kinds of surveys that are done that suggest Police morale is extremely high. It is strong. There is strong esprit de corps and strong morale, because they know that this Government does the right thing by them and this Government has always done the right thing. My predecessors have done the right thing. We do the right thing. The Police know that. They trust. They know that people cannot just make allegations against the Police force. The morale is high. If the Member wants precise numbers, I can give them to the Member if he could put in a PQ.”
“Sir, I thank Mr Pritam Singh for the four questions. I said in my Statement that the investigations covered not just Mr Uvaraja's allegations but those that have been made by others, and that includes the allegations made in that post. On the second question as to what happens when a matter is referred to a psychological team, I covered that in my Statement. In this case, he was referred to a para-counsellor, for example, last year, and then to a Police counsellor. I forgot the exact specification; it is in my Statement. How much further it needs to go and how long it needs to go is fact specific. It depends on the facts. But the Police have a team. There are internal resources. There are also external agencies that the Police can tap on too. The kind of support that will be given and the very extensive structure of support available will be fact specific and will depend on what the officer needs. I did not take down the third point. So, I will go to the fourth point. On morale in the Police force, what I can say is, let me give a few statistics off the top of my head and give a broader perspective. People's trust in the Police Force is in excess of 90%. I have said that in public before. In Singapore, more than 90% of Singaporeans trust the Singapore Police Force (SPF). You do not get those figures in other countries and there is a reason. The reason is, among other things, with yesterday's passing of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), the Police know that we will give the appropriate powers. The Police know I will stand up here and make a Ministerial Statement defending the Police when they have done no wrong. We will also charge our Police officers when they have done wrong in public.”
“So, when we find that statements made against officers or the force are unfair, then we will defend the Police officers and SPF robustly. I think Members will agree that the facts I have set out today paint quite a different picture, compared to the accusations that were made in the posting and the conclusion that some people had come to last year. I said in May last year at the Police Workplan Seminar: “Our officers know that when there are false or unfair allegations, we will act quickly and decisively to tell the truth and stand by the officers. And that starts with me and the Permanent Secretary and the entire Police leadership. We will stand by our officers and defend them". That remains our position. This is a larger issue. We cannot allow what has happened to the police forces in some other countries to happen in Singapore. We will set out the facts, defend our officers – clearly and strongly – if they have done no wrong. And they must know that that is our position, in contrast to the position in many countries where the police and the public service are often made the scapegoats in public debates.”
“The Police force alone has about 10,000 regular officers and 4,000 NSFs. There will be officers who do wrong. For example, a few months ago, in October last year, Police Commanding Officer, Superintendent Lim, was convicted after being charged in Court. He was caught drink-driving at a Police roadblock. Second example, in March 2020, Ground Response Force officer, Sergeant Lim, was convicted in Court for criminal breach of trust and sent to jail. He had misappropriated for himself more than $200 in cash from wallets that had been handed over to him while he was on duty for safekeeping. In many countries, I dare say, these offences by police officers which were picked up by other police officers would have never seen the light of day. A police officer who drinks and drives and is caught at a police roadblock, he will not be charged. But in Singapore, he will be, because the Police force takes a very serious view of errant Police officers. Members might also be aware of the case involving Staff Sergeant Kevin Chelvam, who allegedly stood by while his domestic helper was abused by his family members. He was charged for abetting his wife in starving the domestic helper, causing hurt to the helper, removing evidence and lying to the Police. And he is currently on trial. When we come across these situations, action is taken, and it is dealt with publicly. No cover-ups. But as I said, these are the exceptions, a very small number of exceptions. The vast majority of our officers are honest. They have strong ethos, strong esprit de corps and integrity. They go on duty, day in and day out, and put their personal safety on the line, to keep Singapore safe.”
“The US Department of Justice said in October last year that law enforcement agencies across the US are facing an “historic crisis in recruiting and retaining qualified candidates”. Police forces around the world are facing increasing challenges for many reasons. Some of them are: first, there is a trend of laws in other countries being progressively weakened against law enforcement, making it more difficult for the police to arrest, more difficult to investigate and more difficult for the state to prosecute and get convictions. It is easier for people to commit crimes due to laxer laws and it is easier for those who have committed crimes to walk away. The mentality is often one of the “individual versus the system”, where the system – the law enforcement institutions – are usually painted out to be the villains. Officers feel like the situation is stacked against them. It is difficult to do their job. And this is compounded by a second reason. Around the world, many police forces are struggling to pay their officers adequately. I have spoken about this before. If conditions of service are not good, it will be difficult to attract and retain good people for this tough job. Third, some police forces are also struggling with corruption in their system. This arises due to many factors – poor discipline, low morale and poor leadership, among others. We have to guard against all of these developing in Singapore and to make sure that SPF continues to retain the trust of Singaporeans. Finally, a fourth reason, which is unfair attacks against the Police. Let me speak about this in Singapore's context. The Home Team has about 29,000 regular and civilian officers, with another 7,700 National Service Full-time officers (NSFs).”
“Our officers have access to a range of support, such as (a) MHA's in-house psychological services; (b) peer support programmes where fellow officers are trained as para-counsellors; (c) a 24/7 helpline managed in-house by our psychologists and para-counsellors; as well as (d) external agency-administered services. Officers can go and get these measures without needing to report that they have done so, so that it preserves confidentiality. Officers also attend workshops and courses on how to cope and adapt when dealing with operational and work stresses, and they are sensitised to common mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, suicide and the helplines that are available. In October of every year, the Home Team Psychological Services community organises a month-long campaign. The aim of the campaign is to build awareness of the importance of mental health, the importance of self-care and where to seek help when needed. This approach and culture have been in place for some years now. And we regularly review and update them to try to ensure that our programmes continue to be relevant. Sir, let me conclude by briefly setting out our perspective on how we handle these matters. Policing is not easy, and it is not getting easier, either in Singapore or around the world. In the UK, a survey by the Police Federation of England released last year showed that 87% of police officers said that morale was either low or very low, seven in 10 said that they would not recommend others to join the police force, while 95% said that their morale was harmed by the treatment by their own Government. In the US, Gallup found, in 2022, that public confidence in the police was just 45%.”
“In 2019, two female officers reported that a male officer had touched them inappropriately on multiple occasions. That was investigated by the IAO. The male officer was charged in Court. He was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment and was dismissed from service. The second example: in 2020, a Station Inspector (SI) attending a course made sexually insulting and offensive remarks against, or in respect of, his fellow trainees. The SI was told by the course coordinator to refrain from making such remarks, but he continued. He was investigated by the IAO and then charged at the Police Disciplinary Board, where he was found guilty and sentenced to a reduction in rank. These are the small number of exceptions. The vast majority of our officers hold themselves to a very high standard of conduct, and we cannot allow a small minority who do wrong to colour the public perception of the rest of the force. And coming to racial insults, of the 310 cases, six complaints were on racial discrimination. Three were substantiated and action was taken. Of the 29,000 officers in the Home Team, six complaints, and three were found to be substantiated in the last five years. On the ground, the Ministry conducts six-monthly Pulse surveys, biennial Public Service Employee Engagement Surveys and triennial 360° surveys of supervisors. These are all avenues where officers can also provide anonymous comments and feedback, including on workplace issues, so that the Ministry has a good idea of how officers are perceiving issues and what the feelings are on the ground. Finally, for the fourth aspect of my Ministerial Statement, I will touch on my Ministry's efforts to support the mental well-being of our officers.”
“A core pillar of the framework is training. During induction and training of new staff, from the junior ranks to senior officer levels, officers are trained on SPF’s code of ethics, workplace harassment and the actions to be taken if they are victims or witnesses. Supervisors are also specifically trained on ways to create a harassment-free workplace and support victims of workplace harassment. In terms of investigating allegations, every functional unit in SPF has a discipline committee headed by the Commander or Director. In terms of how they function, these discipline committees can convene formal inquiries on their own, or they can refer issues to the Internal Affairs Office (IAO) for further review. The IAO reports to the Deputy Commissioner of Police and is directly accountable to the Commissioner of Police. All cases of sexual harassment and serious workplace harassment are referred to the IAO for investigations. If wrongdoing is uncovered, the Police, or in appropriate cases, the Public Service Commission, will take disciplinary action. If criminal offences are disclosed, the Police will recommend prosecution. The Courts take into account the officer’s duty to uphold the law, so the punishment that a Police officer faces is usually more severe than what any other defendant in the Courts or any member of the public can expect to face. In the past five years, the Home Team Departments have investigated 310 cases of allegations of workplace grievances including harassment, discrimination and misconduct. Nine of these were reported to the Public Service Division and Ministry headquarters. Of the 310 cases, 131 were found to be substantiated and the offending officers were subjected to various disciplinary actions. I will now give two examples from the Police.”
“One officer who had partnered Uvaraja shared that she had encouraged him to start afresh when he was given a new posting, despite his past unhappiness. However, she was disappointed that he frequently did not show up for work. Another officer recalled how he had put in effort to arrange one-on-one chats and meals with Uvaraja and sent well-wishes to him on his birthday to motivate him. I have only mentioned two officers, but there were several others, who have helped him during his period in the SPF. These teammates had worked alongside Uvaraja. They tried their best to help him and their best to care for him. They covered his shifts when he was absent from duties, sometimes even when they had made prior leave plans. So, it is fair to say that many officers pulled together to help him, and they were sad to see a colleague pass away in these circumstances. But there is also a considerable feeling among the many officers who helped him that, despite so much being done for him by them in their individual capacities, and by SPF as an organisation – because SPF went to considerable lengths to accommodate his needs, including his leave and medical needs – he seems to have externalised many of his issues onto his colleagues in the SPF. And there is considerable sadness at that. For the third aspect of my Ministerial Statement, I will now describe the Home Team’s framework to deal with workplace harassment and grievances. We had answered Parliamentary Questions (PQs) on this issue last September as well. There can be no tolerance for any form of harassment or discrimination in the SPF. The responsibility starts at the top; from me down through the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) management, to the respective agencies’ leadership and then the ranks below.”
“Thank you, Sir. Members may also access this Annex through the MP@SG PARL mobile app. Members will see that in 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2023, he took respectively 70 days, 56 days, 59 days, 80 days and 60 days of medical leave. And in addition, in 2015, 2016 and 2022, he took more than 100 days of no-pay leave. That is the way the Police have supported him. It is a very significant level of support in terms of giving him time off. Beyond this, since 2016, Uvaraja’s superiors had also arranged for counselling and psychological assistance for him. In January 2023, Uvaraja reported that he was experiencing work stress. A para-counsellor was assigned to him. On 16 February 2023, Uvaraja reported to a new unit, following his request to be transferred. On that day, Uvaraja showed signs of being unstable. He was counselled by a para-counsellor on the same day and was later attended to by a psychologist from the Police Psychological Services Department. Third, on coaching. While Uvaraja was at work, his superiors assessed that his performance was generally below average and had provided guidance to him. This took the form of face-to-face engagements, reviews on the plans for him and setting of achievable targets. For example, when he was at the Community Policing Unit from 2018 to 2021, various work templates and resources were given to him to help him carry out his job functions. Uvaraja’s passing and his allegations has affected his Police colleagues. His fellow officers who had worked with him across various postings and who were aware of his situation felt sad that he had taken his life. But they were also disappointed with the untrue claims and allegations that he had made against the Police force.”
“Sir, with your permission, may I ask the Clerks to distribute an Annex, with a table setting out some information on the number of days of medical and no-pay leave that Uvaraja had taken, since 2015?”
“First, he was under criminal investigation for offences under the Penal Code and the Protection from Harassment Act. Second, Uvaraja was under internal disciplinary investigation for disobedience of orders, arising from the incidents in July 2023. He had been granted medical leave from duty at that time to rest and recover. Instead, he left his house on multiple occasions – and that is a disciplinary offence in the Police force. In fact, he had not only left his house, but he got into an argument with his family of origin at their flat, which led to calls to the Police and Police reports. Uvaraja had previously been investigated for similar behaviours in 2016 – going out while on medical leave. At that time, he had left his place of residence while on medical leave to attend a relative’s graduation and he was given a verbal warning. Third, in April 2023, he was under another internal disciplinary investigation for disobedience of orders. He had left his uncompleted work unattended and refused to comply when told to return to finish the tasks. He only did so after being told a third time. Sir, now I will turn to the professional support that the Police gave to Uvaraja. First, leave arrangements. The Police had allowed Uvaraja to take substantial amounts of time-off over the years. In some of the years, Uvaraja had used up all his paid leave entitlements. So, he applied for no-pay leave and his requests were approved. From 2014 to 2023, Uvaraja took an average of about 120 days’ of leave every year and this, as Members can appreciate, is well beyond normal leave entitlement and much more than what a typical Police officer would get.”
“In addition, Uvaraja also seems to have faced psychological stresses and chronic insomnia. Since 2017, he had attended multiple psychological consultations for his chronic insomnia. He also displayed anxiety and depressive symptoms. I am setting these out in summary, without details, because it would be preferable not to go into too much detail about an Officer who has passed away. Second, Uvaraja seems to have had a tense relationship with both his wife and his family of origin, meaning his mother, his parents, his brother and so on. In April 2023, Uvaraja’s wife called for Police help during an argument in their matrimonial home. She had been stopped by Uvaraja from leaving their home. On 13 July 2023, the Police received multiple calls for assistance from Uvaraja’s parents’ residence. His brother alleged that Uvaraja had assaulted him over financial matters. On 14 July 2023, the next day, Uvaraja’s mother lodged a Police report against Uvaraja, saying she feared for her safety. On the same day, Uvaraja’s sister-in-law called for the Police, because Uvaraja had come to her house to look for Uvaraja’s parents. There is more background and there are more facts, relating to these events. We need to say something of the facts, because Members need an understanding of the situation he faced at that time, when he committed suicide, and the stresses he was under. And I am trying to convey the position to Members without going too much into the disputes he had with his wife, his mother, his brother and his sister-in-law, which led to the Police reports, and some background to the psychological issues he had and was receiving help for. In summary, at that time when he passed away, he was the subject of three ongoing criminal and disciplinary investigations.”
“He was also awarded the COVID-19 Resilience Medal. Fourth, Uvaraja alleged that he had been treated like an outcast by his team. He said that he had invited his team to his wedding, but nobody had showed up. This was untrue. He had only invited his Officer-in-Charge (OC). His OC had accepted the invitation but was unable to attend, as he had fallen sick on that day, and the OC had apologised to Uvaraja. Uvaraja had also informed his Commanding Officer (CO) about the wedding, but did not follow up with an invitation. Nevertheless, the CO had congratulated Uvaraja in front of his teammates. So, in summary, Police have done a review of the allegations. The findings for this case were also reviewed by AGC. And I have reviewed the Police and AGC’s findings and assessment myself. Some of his allegations are untrue. As for the allegations which were true, actions had been taken when he made the complaints and Uvaraja had been told of the steps that had been taken. More broadly, moving to the second aspect of my Ministerial Statement, I will set out how the Police had supported Uvaraja. Investigations showed that Uvaraja was dealing with a number of personal issues. Some at the time of his passing and some for periods throughout his Police career. These included health problems as well as family problems. First, his health issues. Throughout his career as a Police Officer, he had frequently applied for medical leave for periods that sometimes ran into several months in a year. In some of the years, Uvaraja had also applied for no-pay leave to manage his health issues after he had fully used up his paid leave entitlement. Police then granted him the unpaid leave. I will come back to this later.”
“All the lockers and personal belongings within the Police compound were checked, even though Uvaraja’s complaint was directed only at a few specific officers. The officers concerned were interviewed as well. The complaint was not made out. Throughout this process, the identity of the whistle-blower, in this case Uvaraja, was not disclosed to the independent superior nor the officers concerned. For context, in a separate incident in January 2023, Uvaraja reported fellow officers smoking within a different Police compound. Investigations did find evidence of this. The officers involved were referred to the Police’s Internal Affairs Office for investigations and disciplinary action was taken against them. So, when the complaint is made out, disciplinary action is taken. When the complaint is not made out, he is told that the complaint is not made out – no cover up. Third, Uvaraja claimed that he had been unfairly held back in his career and was given unfair performance appraisals. These are untrue. Uvaraja was given opportunities to apply for postings, like his colleagues in the Police Land Divisions. When Uvaraja asked to be transferred, his superiors had facilitated and acceded to his requests, wherever possible. At Uvaraja’s request, he was transferred to six different work units in nine years. Those who know about the Police Force will know that that is a significant number of postings. This is significantly more than what is normally given. Two of his transfers were related to his whistleblowing on the alleged smoking offences because Uvaraja felt uncomfortable working with the colleagues against whom he had reported. On performance appraisals, investigations found that his performance grades were a fair assessment of his work contributions.”