Strong leadership key to Home Team’s transformation: Shanmugam
Tan Jin Hsi Gabriel (R) receiving the SPF Scholarship from Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam (L) during the Singapore Police Force Scholarship and Home Team Scholarship Award Ceremony at Istana on Aug 11, 2017. Photo: Wee Teck Hian/TODAY
SINGAPORE — A strong leadership is essential to the Home Team’s transformation as it embarks on a journey to ramp up the use of technology and integrate its operations to stay ahead of challenges, said Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Friday (Aug 11).
Speaking at the Singapore Police Force Scholarship and Home Team Scholarships award ceremony held at the Istana, Mr Shanmugam said new scholarships, such as the Home Team Science and Technology and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Scholarships, were introduced as part of efforts to invest in developing leaders.
A new Home Team Leaders-in-Development programme was also introduced last month to identify young talents early, develop and groom them to lead the Home Team, he added.
Mr Shanmugam, who is also the Law Minister, cited several challenges that the Home Team faces. Globally, there have been terror attacks around the world, including the region, while the Internet has made it easier to commit cybercrimes. In many parts of the world, those with liberal attitudes towards drugs consumption are also pushing their values on Singaporeans, but Singapore is drawing a clear line in saying “no”, he added.
On the domestic front, Singapore faces manpower constraints due to a declining birth rate. “We are already a very lean outfit in the Home Team, and we will have to do more in the future, with technology and less manpower resources,” he added.
Having embarked on its transformation journey to stay ahead of challenges, Mr Shanmugam said the Home Team is substantially increasing the use of technology to better combat crime, secure borders and save lives. For example, the authorities are using unmanned air, land and sea vessels in their operations.
Apart from that, the Home Team’s operations will be integrated across the different departments. This includes working on a Home Team Operations Centre to pull together feeds from the islandwide network of sensors and cameras for a comprehensive situation picture across Singapore and coordinate actions effectively.
Substantial resources will also be invested to train, reskill and upskill the officers as the Home Team moves towards new operating models.
In particular, a strong leadership is “essential for this transformation”, he said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is investing heavily in developing leaders at all levels. In addition to the new Home Team Leaders-in-Development programme, there is also the Home Team Centre for Leadership that was set up in July last year. The centre has leadership development programmes for junior supervisors to the top leadership ranks.
The ministry also wants to recruit the best and brightest and train them well, added Mr Shanmugam.
Among the 19 individuals who received the Home Team scholarships on Friday was Mr Gabriel Tan Jin Hsi, 19, the sole recipient of this year’s Singapore Police Force Scholarship, the highest-tier scholarship offered by the MHA.
He will be studying law at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Others also received new scholarships that were introduced this January, such as the four recipients of the Home Team Science and Technology scholarship, given out to develop leaders who are strong in technology and attuned to the Home Team operational needs
Upon graduation, they will take up foundational postings similar to other police officers. They will then be posted to ops-technology or ops-science positions in the Home Team. These are jobs that look into adopting cutting-edge science and tech solutions to meet the Home Team’s operational needs.
The first recipient of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority Scholarship, 21-year-old Aloysius Thum Yong Ze, will pursue a degree in Public Policy and Global Affairs at the Nanyang Technological University.
