Minister’s Appreciation Event for HT Boards, Councils & Committees – Speech by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs

Good afternoon, everyone

Members and guests of Home Team Boards, Councils and Committees,

My Home Team colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen.

Introduction

1. Very good afternoon to all of you.

2. It is a real pleasure to be able to say thank you to all of you in person, and I say that warmly on behalf of myself and my colleagues at the Home Team. Thank you very much for your service to the Home Team over many, many years. We will take the opportunity later this afternoon to honour a few of you who really served us for many years and beyond, and we look forward to that continued partnership.

Value of BCCs and Members’ Service/Contributions

3. Our officers, volunteers and our valued partners –  all of you, play a big part in the success of the Home Team. If you look around the room today, you will see you have a diversity of experience, depth of insight and also, strength of networks. All of these and your perspectives have helped the Home Team achieve our shared mission.

4. On this, I am reminded of this quote from Helen Keller: “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” I think that really epitomises the value of the partnership that we share, which we deeply cherish with all of you.

5. Your wisdom and your dedication have helped us strengthen our work, maintain high trust among the public in keeping that very important mission of keeping Singapore safe and secure.

Findings from HT Volunteer Engagement Survey

6. We recently conducted a Home Team Volunteer Engagement survey with our volunteers, and findings show that 81% of Home Team volunteers registered high satisfaction with their volunteering experience. Over 90% resonate strongly with our mission and are proud to volunteer with the Home Team. 80% of volunteers cited the desire to serve and give back to their society, the home that they live in, as their motivation to volunteer with us.

7. I must say that these findings are really encouraging. Our volunteers, each one of you, passionate about serving the society, carry with them deeply a strong sense of purpose and of mission to work alongside us to keep Singapore safe and secure, something we can never take for granted.

Recognition of Commitment

8. Today, we have the pleasure of your company and the honour of the occasion to recognise and thank our Boards, Councils and Committee members, for your invaluable contributions to the Home Team. All members bring their expertise from a wide range of sectors, including legal, technology, business, social services, coming together so that we are greater than the sum of our parts to help us examine issues from different perspectives and arrive at far better outcomes.

9. Let me take the opportunity to share a few examples.

10. Take the case of appeals. Those of you who serve in this aspect, review and deliberate on appeal cases to ensure fair, thorough and an impartial consideration of decisions which deeply affect individuals’ rights. Members provide valuable and rich insights to contribute to the rehabilitation and treatment of inmates as well.

11. On public awareness and outreach, you provide strategic guidance and give us a 360 perspective on how we can grow our networks to collaborate better with stakeholders to design targeted awareness and outreach efforts. Take, for example, two campaigns, the “I Can Act Against Scams” and “DrugFree SG” are key examples of what we have achieved.

12. On fund raising, you support our fund-raising efforts not just in terms of building on the networks that you have, but you provide strategic direction and leverage your networks to bring in donors –  whether it’s for the Yellow Ribbon Fund, or to raise funds for road safety or crime prevention programmes in Singapore.

13. And finally, on matters of governance. For some of you who serve on our statutory boards such as Home Team Science and Technology Agency, Gambling Regulatory Authority and Yellow Ribbon Singapore, you exercise fiduciary responsibility by monitoring performance, approving key decisions and safeguarding public interests through effective risk management as well as institutional oversight. The stronger we are on transparency and governance, the more well-run we are, the greater the confidence that the public will have in each of our Home Team agencies.

14. Overall, your contributions have also helped to shape the Home Team's transformation over the years and supported us in navigating an increasingly complex and challenging landscape.

Long Service Award Recipients

15. Today, we acknowledge the commitment of 77 long service award recipients. Their sustained commitment ranges from 5 years to a remarkable 35 years of service.

16. Our long service award recipients represent the very best of what it means to show up, year after year, with heart, with purpose and with an unwavering commitment and belief in what we do. I would like to highlight two long service award recipients.

17. First, Mr Gerald Singham. He served on the National Crime Prevention Council for 25 years. I meet him all the time at many functions. I don't know how many hats he wears,  but I am grateful and glad that he has found time to spend 25 years with Crime Prevention Council.

18. Gerald has spearheaded major initiatives such as the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline, and impactful public education campaigns such as the ever popular Crimewatch. He also successfully secured vital funding for various initiatives and represented the Council extensively as a strong advocate for crime prevention. Thank you very much, Gerald.

19. Mr John Wu has also served on the National Fire and Emergency Preparedness Council (NAPC) for 25 years. John has spearheaded significant initiatives aimed at improving fire safety and emergency preparedness across different segments of the community. These include impactful fire safety campaigns in the commercial and industrial sector.

20. In fact, just earlier this morning, I was at a grassroot event where we demonstrated fire safety. We taught residents how to use the fire extinguisher and explained that very simple things like overcharging your devices can lead to simple fires, which can quickly escalate. So, it is about awareness and raising public education.

21. John also represented the council extensively as a strong advocate and spokesperson for fire safety and prevention. Most recently, John spoke for the newly launched “Better Awareness, Safety Home” campaign, exactly what I said earlier, to promote better fire safety awareness and prevention among the general public.

22. John and Gerald look after two very important areas for us. Sometimes, we take these for granted – fire preparedness, prevention, and dealing with scams and threats online. So, thank you very much to Gerald and John, and to the many of you out there who, in the interest of time, I have not been able to elucidate by way of example, but thank you very much to all of you for your time and dedication.

Appreciation

23. In closing, let me really say a big thank you to all of you, Boards, Councils and Committee members for standing with us, giving us your time, your talent and treasures so generously. All of you do so to a cause that is bigger than all of us – it is about Singapore.

24. There is one more segment of society that is important, and that is each of your family. The work that you do takes time away from home, takes you away from your loved ones. It is a sacrifice for all of you, it is also a sacrifice for your family members. This afternoon, I want to thank your families, and I am glad that some of you are present today as well to share in today’s occasion. Thank you very much for being that quiet strength behind the commitment that each of our volunteers put forward for the Home Team mission. Your support for their work has made this mission and the service for our nation possible. Thank you very much.

25. With that, I would like to invite all to join in a toast to all of our volunteers. Thank you very much on behalf of the Home Team.