Launch of New Community Space for ISCOS – Speech by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs

Ms Denise Phua, Mayor of Central Singapore District,

Mr Phillip Tan, Chairman, Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG),

Mr Teo Ser Luck, President, Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants,

Ms Fann Kor, CEO, Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants,

ISCOS and NeuGen board members,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Introduction

1. I arrived back in Singapore from a very long plane ride from New York City just yesterday. I'm still on a different time zone. But even before this trip was planned, I had been asked whether I would come for the opening of Just BrewIN. When I learned more about what Just BrewIN was supposed to be, I thought, “Of course we will come!”

2. The reason is very simple. You're located in Jalan Besar, and I don't mean this, in a mischievous sort of way. It's because the team in Jalan Besar, comprising of Mayor Denise, Senior Minister of State Heng Chee How and Dr Wan Rizal and myself. When we first came together as a team to serve in Jalan Besar GRC in 2020, we really appreciated what a blessing it was for us as colleagues with many common passions.

3. One of those common passions was actually for families. We talked about how to really level up Jalan Besar for families. Now, as we all know, there are families and there are families. Just as there are occasionally persons with special needs, there are also families with special needs. If we really want to build an inclusive community in Jalan Besar, we want as many opportunities as possible, and for all these families to feel that they belong, and that there is a place for them.

4. So, the concept of Just BrewIN – being a place where a very special group of families can gather, provide the avenue for them to bond, and also an environment that welcomes them, and seeks to support them in their journey as a family – this is something that is so consistent with what we would like for Jalan Besar. So, in that sense, I'm really not surprised that besides myself, Mayor Denise is also here because it speaks to our passion.

5. Now let me just say something about what this means, also for the Home Team. Now for the Home Team, we have been truly, truly fortunate that, apart from our very dedicated officers, our professional teams, we've been able to bring onboard volunteers who really see the value of providing support to the ex-offenders as they reintegrate into society.

6. It is a very difficult journey, and we need as much help as we can. It is really not about meeting the recidivism numbers, which is actually very good by world standards. When corrections officers from around the world come to Singapore, they are mightily impressed by what we have been able to do. In fact, there was just such an international gathering of correctional officers from around the world, which took place just last month. This was something that really gave us an opportunity to see what it is that we've created in Singapore that is well-known around the world as being absolutely necessary, but actually not so easy to pull off.

7. A big part of why we have been able to do this is because we have very dedicated volunteers, in addition to our professional teams, and ISCOS is one such organisation. Of course, it also has its own staff team, but a lot of the contributions made towards the reintegration journey is with the help of volunteers.

8. So by now, ISCOS is 35 years old. When you think about it, that is not a short journey. And to have sustained the efforts all these years must mean that it has had to constantly reinvent itself in order to be relevant – relevant to the cause, and also relevant to the changing profiles of our ex-offenders.

9. On a year to year basis, in addition to the 20,000 members that are now part of ISCOS, hundreds of people benefit from your programmes – something that we take for granted. Such as the use of SingPass, being able to use e-payment. It’s not so simple if you have been away for a number of years.

10. In 2023 alone, through Project ReConnect, ISCOS enabled 500 of such ex-offenders to pick up these kinds of basic life skills, that make them part of our community.

11. It is very disconcerting if you imagine yourself suddenly showing up at whether Hong Lim Food Centre or Whampoa, and you’re trying to pay for something but you have never seen this logo, you have never used a CDC voucher, and you don’t even know that you have a CDC voucher. You go to the bank, you go to HDB, and you go to CPF – everyone asks you to use SingPass. You’re very disoriented. So, something as basic as that makes a meaningful difference to the reintegration journey.

12. Beyond that, you have also helped the families of these individuals through various support initiatives.

13. Even when you live together, there can be friction. Imagine if you have been apart and suddenly to have someone back in the household – how to sort out the new family arrangements is something that maybe is not so easy for us to imagine.

14. On top of the wonderful programmes that makes available training support to everyone, which therefore brings down the cost of skills upgrading, sometimes there is still that cash component, that maybe most people find to be not so problematic in copping out. But if you don’t have savings and find that your family is not in the position to help, then that’s when ISCOS comes in to close that gap and make that difference.

15. All in, when you add up Project ReConnect, when you add up the support through training, as well to the families, 800 members benefitted from ISCOS programmes in last year alone.

16. One thing that I think is very encouraging is that I believe Just BrewIN is going to be managed by what you call a Titan. Titans are individuals who have gone through the reintegration journey. They have stumbled and they have fallen, but they have risen again. Their ability to pick up the pieces of their lives, to finally carve a new path for themselves is inspiring.

17. Even more inspiring is that these individuals chose to pay it forward now, because they now say “I did it, but I know how hard it is to do it. Therefore, let me serve as the shining light, and let me give hope to others who are trying so that they can have the confidence that it is doable. Not because other people nag at them and say it’s doable, but because I am a living example that it is doable.”

18. Finally, I would like to say something about Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA). Thank you very much for partnering with ISCOS for this. I have found interaction and engagement with ISCA right at the start, even before CEO Fann Kor was there. And before my friend, Teo Ser Luck, was in a position to serve as president of ISCA. At the time, he was still in Government, and I was also serving in the Ministry of Finance at the time. We had thought it was an important profession in Singapore that provides meaningful careers to so many of our accounting and auditing talents, and we want to find a way for them to continue to grow in their profession. That’s how ISCA came about. There is no better person than Ser Luck to lead it, because he is passionate about it, and also knows the practical realities that you have to deal with.

19. But I would also just like to say that this partnership with ISCA is also reflective of several other changes, which is that the profile of our ex-offenders is not what we imagine anymore. They equally would like to have a chance to build up their financial resources, not overnight, but over time. Because they see that other people in Singapore have done it. And as part of their reintegration, they should not be left out of it.

20. I think it is a very meaningful partnership that points to the changing face of our ex-offender profile, and also addresses their more current needs. I am particularly cheered by the possibility that new career pathways may open up for our ex-offenders, if not then to provide role models that they will interact with, that their families, their children, can aspire to. So, I want to thank ISCA for being willing to come on board to partner ISCOS in this very meaningful endeavour. There is no better place than something like Just BrewIN, to show what the possibilities can be for our ex-offenders in terms of how they reintegrate into society, and chart a new way forward for themselves and their families.

21. I should also say that the other really gratifying thing for all of us who serve in the community is – how partnerships can be formed. If you had asked me from all those years ago, when we were starting ISCA, would I imagine a partnership like that? I don’t think so. It was just not in my mind. So, when I saw this, I thought “Wow, this shows something about how society has made progress”.

22. Thank you all for being here and have an enjoyable and fruitful time at Just BrewIN. Come and visit us at Jalan Besar and support this wonderful – I think it is not just a social enterprise – I think it is really an enterprise of the heart.

23. Once again, well done to ISCOS, as well as to ISCA, and all the good people that have put this programme and initiative together. Thank you.