Shanmugam pays DPM Teo tribute for ‘highly effective’ Home Team
Deputy Prime Minister and former Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean at a Home Team farewell parade today. Newly sworn in Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam praised Mr Teo for the ministry’s ‘strong foundations’. Photo: Ernest Chua
SINGAPORE — His term at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was not a “planned move”, but Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean “re-engineered” a sprawling, manpower-intensive organisation like the Home Team to better face demands as the security environment around the world became more complex and dangerous, said newly sworn in Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam today (Oct 2).
He was paying tribute to Mr Teo at the latter’s farewell parade at the Home Team Academy.
Mr Teo was appointed Home Minister in 2011 when Mr Shanmugam moved to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, replacing Mr George Yeo who lost in the elections that year.
Mr Shanmugam noted that Mr Teo pushed for various departments to work better together, leveraged on technology to improve capabilities and reinforced manpower through upgrading opportunities and extending the retirement age, among others.
The result of the Home Team becoming “a highly effective organisation” under Mr Teo’s leadership was evident when Singapore topped the Global Law and Order 2015 Report on people’s sense of safety in neighbourhoods and their experiences with the police, Mr Shanmugam said.
“This is what the work of the Home Team is all about: For every Singaporean to feel safe and secure, and to have the freedom to pursue their dreams. This has been achieved despite an uncertain background, regionally and across the world,” he added.
The farewell parade involved about 580 Home Team officers and was attended by about 1,000 guests from the Home Team and the MHA.
“The Home Team was lucky to get you (Mr Teo) as the minister, though I can safely say it was not a planned move,” said Mr Shanmugam, noting that Mr Teo had the unique set of skills and vision to make major changes in the Home Team.
“The Home Team is in a good position with the strong foundations laid by DPM. We are now in the midst of a long-term planning exercise. This exercise will seek to transform the Home Team. This is the journey that we will continue,” Mr Shanmugam added.
Mr Teo, who is now Coordinating Minister for National Security, acknowledged in his speech that there were a few occasions when the Home Team had fallen short in carrying out their duties or living up to their values, but they had “faced these squarely”.
He added that his time with the Home Team has also seen improvements in their capabilities, which have helped them pre-empt and prevent incidents, respond effectively and smoothly manage major events.
“But it is not enough to do well today, we must also prepare for the future. ... Many of you are now working on long-term plans or trying out new concepts, technology and equipment. And these will, in time, significantly enhance our capabilities so that the Home Team will be more integrated, resilient, responsive, nimble and forward-looking, ready for contingencies and for the future,” said Mr Teo.
He added that he now hands over the MHA “with full confidence, into the good hands” of Mr Shanmugam as well as the new leadership team.
One of the guests at the parade, Mr Alan Loh, chairman of the National Fire and Civil Emergency Preparedness Council (NFEC), described Mr Teo as someone who “sees a good proposal, endorses it and provides his personal support”.
The council had already been doing well in promoting fire safety awareness in the local community, but it was Mr Teo’s encouragement that propelled the NFEC to take its work beyond Singapore, said the NFEC chair.
Together with the Singapore Civil Defence Force, the NFEC organised its first Fire Safety Asia Conference in 2011 where Mr Teo attended as the guest-of-honour, said Mr Loh.
