Home Team Academy Workplan Seminar 2026 & 20th Anniversary Celebration - Keynote Address by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs

Mr Wilson Lim

Chief Executive, Home Team Academy 

Distinguished guests

Home Team colleagues

1. It’s a real pleasure to be able to join you this morning, celebrating not just the commencement of the work plan for the year – and we saw some really exciting images in the videos earlier – but also the Home Team Academy (HTA)’s 20^th anniversary.

2. Twenty years is a significant milestone, and I think it is a time to reflect on HTA's journey, honour those who made it possible, and also more importantly look ahead, see what’s ahead of us, look what the demands are in the landscape, and how we can respond and react to it. Let us first take stock of what the Home Team has achieved, and how HTA has contributed.

3. Public safety remains one of Singapore’s defining strengths. Gallup’s 2025 Global Safety Report ranked Singapore the safest country in the world for the 12^th consecutive time and second in the Law and Order Index.

4. Crimes such as shop theft and voyeurism have fallen, as have reported scam cases. 

5. Our borders remain secure, drug controls effective, and fire fatality rates low. 

6. Our prisons remain safe, with zero escapes, and recidivism among Drug Rehab(ilitation) Centre inmates has fallen.

7. These outcomes don’t not happen by chance. They are built on sustained investment in our people, in their values, in their capabilities and in their readiness – their operational readiness to respond to any situation, under any environment. 

8. And this is where HTA plays a critical role, as the Corporate University of the Home Team and a key institution for building Home Team capabilities, identity and leadership.

9. HTA was established not simply to centralise training, but to bring the Home Team concept to life, creating a shared learning environment where officers from the different departments and different parts of the Home Team can come together and train together, building common values and develop a One Home Team identity. 

10. Over the past two decades, HTA has grown alongside the Home Team. The co-location of the Home Team Departments’ (HTDs) training schools has created more opportunities for collaboration as well as shared learning. Common programmes have strengthened our collective identity. You know when you train together, you go through tough times together, even if you might come from different parts of the Home Team, there is a bond that you create, and I think this bond is critical when it comes to seeing out missions collaboratively. Leadership programmes have prepared officers to lead beyond their own departments and understand the wider Home Team mission better.

11. HTA has also professionalised trainer development, advanced simulation training, strengthened civilian officer development, and equipped officers with emerging skills. Together, these efforts have transformed how we prepare Home Team officers. 

12. HTA’s 20-year journey has been made possible by the dedication of its people and of it’s partners – past leaders have set the direction, staff built the systems and programmes, trainers every day, day in and day out, brought them to life, and our partners supported HTA’s mission. 

13. So today, we celebrate this milestone and we also thank them for their invaluable contributions over these past two decades.

14. That being said, we cannot rely only on what has worked in the past. What’s in the past has been effective, has kept Singapore and Singaporeans safe, but there is an evolving threat landscape that emerges ahead of us.

15. The Home Team's operating environment is becoming more dynamic and a lot more challenging. Threats are more digital, transnational, fast-moving. Of course public expectations are also higher. Technology is changing how officers work and how they respond – the tools they have, and our workforce is becoming more diverse.

16. Our officers must therefore be able to learn, as well as unlearn and relearn throughout their careers. It’s a tough challenge; not just lifelong learning, but lifelong learning, unlearning and relearning. 

17. And so training must keep pace with operational demands, technological change, evolving threats and of course new ways of working.

18. HTA's next bound of transformation is not about technology for its own sake. It is about helping officers train better, learn faster, apply their skills their skills more effectively, and overall work together more seamlessly across the Home Team.

19. Building on the vision shared earlier, let me outline five areas that will shape HTA's next bound of transformation.

20. First, Virtual and Immersive Training. HTA will make greater use of virtual and immersive training to provide realistic, scalable and safe learning environments. The Home Team Virtual Shooting Range will complement live shooting and allow officers to train with realistic weapon replicas, recoil and sound. I understand that HTA has arranged for a demonstration of this at the exhibition area. HTA will also enhance the existing training village with Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) capabilities. This will allow officers to experience more realistic scenarios and repeat critical drills. So that you can build in muscle memory each time, you can’t always replicate this without AR or VR. 

21. Second, AI-Empowered Training and Learning. HTA will build an AI-empowered training and learning community and equip trainers and curriculum developers with the tools and skills to design, deliver and also to evaluate training more effectively. AI can support content creation, detect changes in standard operating procedures, automate assessments, and deliver adaptive and personalised learning. Used well, it can really help our trainers focus on coaching, critical thinking and professional judgement. These are still areas where you need the human in the loop. Where the human judgement, instinct, intuition, is a lot more important. Therefore, AI must be used responsibly. Human oversight, accountability as well as the appropriate safeguards must always remain in place. AI should support but not displace the professional judgement and the role of trainers.

22. Third, Next-Generation Simulation Training. The Home Team Incident Management Simulation System will provide a new platform for command-post and as well as first-responder training.  It can link up to 21 satellite centres and support up to 120 users within the same virtual environment. This allows officers from different HTDs to train together in complex scenarios, supported by immersive first-responder training capabilities, responsive AI-driven avatars. The value is not simply in having a more advanced or a more high-tech system. It is in enabling better learning, stronger coordination, richer feedback and more consistent assessment.

23. Fourth, Campus Modernisation and Climate Resilience. HTA will modernise its campus to better support future training needs. New and refreshed facilities will help strengthen leadership development, simulation training, as well as medical preparedness, and this includes pandemic readiness as well. We also want to ensure and look after our trainee well-being. A new IPPT centre with an indoor running track will help ensure greater training continuity under different weather conditions. And the refreshed Home Team Gallery will be reopened today. Through its exhibits, multimedia features, interactive displays, the Gallery will tell the story of the Home Team. It tells the story of the Home Team’s mission, its evolution, and how the different departments work together as One Home Team to keep Singapore safe and secure. It will at the same time, also honour the contributions and sacrifices of generations of Home Team officers, while helping us to deepen public understanding, trust and partnership in what we do with the Home Team. The Hall of Honour will also be refreshed as an important symbol of Home Team identity and service.

24. Fifth, People Development and Home Team Integration. Even as HTA doubles down on new technology, we adopt new technology, we refresh it, we evolve, people must remain at the heart of its mission. HTA will continue to refresh its programmes to prepare Home Team leaders for a more complex operating environment. And this includes digitalisation, AI transformation, as well as organisational change. Officers will also be equipped with the right digital, AI, as well as emerging skills to perform their roles well. And technical competence, we feel, alone is not enough. Officers must understand how, not just what to do, but how to work across departments. So that they can build trust. Officers from different departments coming together and operate as one Home Team. In major incidents and complex investigations, success really depends on seamless collaboration, not so much in silos but really working across the different departments. Building a stronger shared understanding, and through that, confidence in one another.

25. HTA's next bound of transformation will therefore uplift not only HTA, but the wider Home Team training and learning ecosystem. This will require close collaboration with all of the HTDs, training institutes, the Training and Competency Development Division of MHQ, the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), and as well as our other partners. 

26. Coming together, we must take care and be concerted in, and be very intentional in raising training standards. We must deepen joint training, strengthen trainer capabilities, and ensure that new technologies will translate into better learning and much stronger operational outcomes.

27. So HTA's transformation, that I’ve described, is really not an end in itself. It must have an outcome. And that outcome must be better training, stronger officers, closer Home Team integration, and more effective operational readiness and control. And ultimately, that is the best measure of our success.

28. These plans, which I’ve outlined, will help the Home Team remain ready for a more uncertain world. A more uncertain, unpredictable future, and it will help us continue to do our best to keep Singapore safe and secure.

29. As we celebrate HTA’s 20^th anniversary, let me express my deep appreciation to all who have shaped its journey – our past and present leaders, many of whom are present today; staff, trainers, HTDs, training institutes, our many alumni, stakeholders and partners.

30. I would like to in particular acknowledge the former Chief Executives who are with us today. Your leadership and contributions, and the vision that you had when you were in charge years ago, has helped us to shape HTA into the institution it is today. We have stood on shoulders of giants to reach further. And today at the 20^th mark, that’s the recognition of what we have done in the past. 

31. The best way to honour this legacy is to continue to build on it. Let us strengthen HTA as the Corporate University of the Home Team. Let us keep training and learning at the centre of operational excellence. And let us build a Home Team that is future-ready, united and trusted by Singaporeans.

32. I wish all of you a very fruitful Workplan Seminar, and HTA a very happy 20^th anniversary. 

33. Thank you.