Launch of Home Team Day 2024 – Speech by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Mr Wong Kan Seng

Distinguished guests

Home Team colleagues

Partners, Volunteers, Families, Friends

A very good morning to all of you.

Genesis of Home Team Concept

1. 27 years ago, on 24 February 1997, then-Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Wong Kan Seng launched the Home Team concept.

2. It was a major shift for us, a game changer, a new paradigm of how to think about internal security.

3. At that time, the Ministry of Home Affairs included the Ministry HQ, and seven of the Departments we now have: SPF; ISD; SCDF; SPS; Singapore Immigration and National Registration Department - the two of them merged later to become ICA; CNB; and SCORE – Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises, which is now YRSG.

4. Each of these departments came under MHA, but at the same time, each had their own separate specific focus and role, in keeping Singapore safe. And each department was professional, proficient, and achieved their respective missions well.

5. If you think about it – that is what you see in most countries. The Police does its job - fights crime, keeps the country safe; the civil defence forces, fire and ambulance services respond to emergencies, save lives; border security officers ensure the security of checkpoints and borders.

6. Yes, they work with each other, the Chiefs know each other, senior officers know each other. But at the level of each organisation, , the lines tend to be quite separate and quite clear. Firemen are firemen, prison officers are prison officers. To think about them being part of the same team, was then unusual, and still is unusual in most countries. They are quite separate, in their separate territories.

7. But 27 years ago, the Ministry, Mr Wong and his management team, recognised that when there is an emergency, the role of the Police in maintaining law and order, and security is as important as the role of the Emergency Responders in extricating casualties, saving lives.

8. If you are trying to reduce drug offending and trying to reduce recidivism, CNB  just can’t do it alone through drug enforcement and messaging. What is done in Prison, what is done in DRC, for those who had been arrested and are undergoing rehabilitation, is also very important, so that when they come out, they don’t go back to drugs.

9. Mr Wong Kan Seng, and the leaders in MHA back then, realised that we needed to change the entire plan and take a very unusual, defining big step for our individual departments to see themselves as part of a larger team, working on their individual missions, but all pulling together in the same direction, for the same broader objective of  keeping Singapore safe, secure, stable.

10. So, in 1995 the idea of the Home Team was conceptualised. And in 1997, it was officially launched.

11. There was a good degree of uncertainty at the beginning. Each department had its own SOPs, its own ways of doing things. There were serious questions of whether they can really align their  operations plans and do things together, whether this would really work out.

12. For example, Police and SCDF ran their operations in quite different ways. They had different operational boundaries.

13. But the Ministry pressed ahead.

14. Under the Home Team concept, new “Home Team Sectors” were created - North, South, East and West regions. Individual boundaries were then realigned according to these sectors. And gradually, over time, officers began to realise it was more productive. They achieved more by working together.

15. For example – instead of different officers from different units raiding the same premises, it could be for vice, drugs, immigration offences and fire safety -  joint operations could be done. The element of surprise could be retained, and it cut down on duplication of efforts.

16. But aligning the operational processes was just one hurdle. Even more important is how do you to align the culture, to persuade people, at the individual-level, to adopt a new model of thinking.

17. Home Team leaders constantly engaged and consulted officers, they made the changes based on what worked and what did not work.

18. Officers also leaned forward to work together over time.

19. It took some years.

20. But we have come a long way, thanks to the foresight of Mr Wong, and the MHA management at that point.

21. Today, the Home Team concept underpins the way each of our departments train, plan, and work with each other.

22. It is now pretty standard and routine for our departments to do up joint plans both for major events as well as routine incidents, they train together, and they deal with situations as one team.

23. Cross-cutting department exercises, like Exercise North Star, take place regularly.

24. We have seen how this synergy, cooperation, and working as one, has served us well in dealing with issues like the threat since 9/11; the Nicoll Highway collapse; the Little India Riot; and the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

25. Because of this “One Home Team” mindset, we have been able to achieve much more.

26. Let me highlight two examples.

27. First – in terms of training: We recognised that training together forms a core foundation of being able to operate together. If you don’t have a good appreciation of each other’s mission, capabilities, and modus operandi, if you don’t have strong working relationships across all levels, it will really be difficult to work together seamlessly when you are called to do so.

28. So, in 2006, MHA set up the Home Team Academy.

29. This was purpose-built to become MHA’s Corporate University, to meet the cross-cutting training needs across different Home Team Departments.

30. Today, HTA conducts joint foundation and leadership training for officers across the Home Team and it is a key element, a key factor in building a common ethos, culture, and set of values in the Home Team.

31. The second example is on the technology front.

32. We realised that there were many technological capabilities that could serve  needs across the different Home Team agencies, and it would make us even more effective if the systems that we all used were inter-operable and aligned.

33. So in 2019, we took the significant step of bringing together the engineers, scientists and technicians from across the Home Team, into a single agency – HTX.

34. We put together the officers from the different agencies who were in these disciplines. We employed new, younger people as well, engineers, scientists. And the multiplier effect in the last five years has been quite significant.

35. Engineers and scientists working together meant that there were more opportunities for developing new technology that could work on the ground. It allowed them to share and learn more closely,  deepen their technical expertise.

36. Within the short period, it has allowed us to push out many best-in-class solutions – for example, capabilities in robotics, automation, and unmanned systems -  which has become a force multiplier for the Home Team.

37. We will be deploying more ground robots, drones, and unmanned surface vessels to support our officers’ frontline work across the Home Team.

Looking Ahead

38. Looking ahead,  we will find ways to continue to work better as One Home Team.

39. I will just mention five points.

40. First, in terms of operations – we are building the Home Team Operations Centre (HTOC), that will co-locate the ops centres from SPF, SCDF, ICA and CNB. From receiving 999 or 995 calls, to dispatching of resources, and managing of incidents, the HTOC will allow us to respond more quickly, more comprehensively, regardless of the type of incident.

41. Second – in terms of community outreach and education to reduce drug abuse – Ministry HQ, SPS, CNB, YRSG and HTX will continue to work closely with other agencies like MOE, MSF and community organisations.

42. We have appointed community leaders as DrugFreeSG Champions, and agencies will work with each other to better integrate our harm prevention approach.

43. Third, in terms of technology – we are building Home Team-wide UAV capabilities, for all Home Team Departments to make more effective use of drones. For example, to respond to emergencies, do sensemaking during anti-crime operations, and monitor crowd levels at major events.

44. We now have a Home Team UAV command led by the Police – but the resources and capabilities are shared across the entire Home Team.

45. Fourth, in terms of resourcing and infrastructure –we have been integrating and co-locating NPCs and fire stations, we are building common Home Team facilities like the Home Team Tactical Centre (HTTC).

46. The HTTC, for example, houses training facilities for specialist units like the Police Special Operations Command and the SCDF Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team. Besides allowing for better use of space and resources,  officers from both teams get to train together, and become familiar with one another. That has already proven to be very helpful when they are deployed together in emergencies.

47. We will continue to look for more such opportunities. For example, exploring Joint Maritime Bases between the Police Coast Guard, ICA and SCDF.

48. Finally, the fifth point – we will continue to strengthen the Home Team culture that underpins everything else and that is the most important. This is really at the heart of what the Home Team Concept means.

49. Generations of officers have gone through this, put this into practice, in building the Home Team of today. We will build on this, through the launch of a Home Team Culture Guide today. The Guide will set out our shared values and Home Team ethos, and acts as a common reference as to what defines us as one Home Team.

Conclusion

50. Today, we are launching the Home Team Day on 24 February – to mark how far we have come, since 1997 and to remind ourselves to continually strive to do better as a Home Team.

51. It is very good to see so many of us coming together, celebrating the Home Team concept,  recognise the contributions of our Home Team officers, NSmen, and volunteers.

52. Colleagues, thank you to each one of you, past and present, for your hard work and sacrifice. The Home Team Day is dedicated to every one of you.

53. Thank you also to the family members, for your support.

54. Wish you all a very happy Home Team Day.