Minister’s Awards Presentation Ceremony – Speech by Mr K Shanmugam, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs

Home Team Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Good afternoon.

Introduction

2. Today, we celebrate the outstanding achievements of over 100 Home Team officers, teams, and partners.

3. We do this every year.

4. You know, we talk about law and order, it is not something top of the mind for Singaporeans; for good reason, because the law and order situation is stable, and therefore, over a long period of time, Singaporeans have been conditioned not to even think about it.

5. But good law and order is an essential condition for Singaporeans to lead a decent day-to-day life.

6. And secondly, it is also essential for our economy. Businesses can operate without disruption. International companies know this and they choose to base their headquarters in Singapore, and hold important meetings here.

7. We know that an effective, respected, credible Home Team is vital for Singapore to succeed.

8. And that is why we have invested, and continue to invest, significantly in the Home Team, including building new capabilities and services, and adopting new technology.

9. All of this contributes to a safer and more secure Singapore.

Public Order

10. If you look at this year, Gallup’s 2025 Global Safety Report, we are ranked second for law and order.

11. Same survey shows that now 98% of residents surveyed said that they felt safe walking alone on our streets, even at night. That is the highest in the world, and for a cosmopolitan, international city, that is an incredible figure.

12. Last year, MHA conducted a survey to understand public perceptions of our public order regime.

13. And the results show clear and strong support among Singaporeans for how we approach law and order.

14. 82% of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the level of public order in Singapore.

15. And for us, Singapore, law and order is a key competitive advantage - it is the foundation of our lives, stable, good; and at the same time, it is a foundation of our economic prosperity.

16. So the sense of safety that we enjoy is extremely precious: the freedom that all of us, our families have, to go about our daily lives with peace of mind.

17. And the survey findings show that Singaporeans understand this. And they support the approach we have taken.

Dedication and Excellence – A Key Enabler of Our Success

18. As Home Team officers, all of you play an important role in maintaining law and order.

19. Today, we recognise your dedication and excellence. Your efforts have helped the Home Team succeed.

20. One example is the Central Narcotics Bureau’s (CNB) dismantling of three major overseas syndicates in 2024.

21. These operations disrupted cross-border supply chains, and they removed more than 160 kilograms of dangerous drugs from our streets. It led to the arrests of 89 drug traffickers, including three syndicate leaders based overseas.

22. This shows the importance of close cooperation within the Home Team, as well as the need to cooperate with our regional counterparts.

23. Another example is the Prison’s Reintegration Hub.

24. This Hub brings together community organisations, volunteers, and employers, to provide a more total support for inmates.

25. It offers pre-release counselling, it offers job matching, it offers social reintegration support, all under one roof.

26. And that helps inmates to rebuild their lives and reintegrate into society more effectively.

27. And in the fight against scams, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) has worked with Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), GovTech, and InfoComm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to develop AI-driven solutions, to detect and disrupt scam websites.

28. And these tools have improved efficiency, and contributed to SPF’s ability to disrupt scams.

29. In the first half of this year, SPF was able to disrupt over 30,000 scam related websites compared to about 18,000 last year.

30. And our officers have also gone the extra mile in showing compassion and care to those in distress, even when not on duty.

31. In June of last year, off-duty Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer Hamzah, he saw a passenger fall into a gap between a bus and the berth at Eunos Bus Interchange. This happened while he was commuting home, he immediately went to help.

32. He lifted the person to safety, stayed with him until help arrived, and provided information to the paramedics.

Strong Outcomes through One Home Team

33. We have also been able to achieve more together as One Home Team.

34. A good example is the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority’s (ICA) Integrated Services Centre.

35. ICA, working with HTX, transformed its three service centres into a single Integrated Services Centre.

36. I visited the Centre earlier this year, in July.

37. Now they use a lot of robotics and automation to improve ICA’s operations. And that has meant that ICA can now deliver services faster, with more convenience to the public.

38. Public feedback on this has been extremely positive.

39. Another example is the MHA NS Portal and Contact Centre. This is a collaboration between the Human Resource Division in the Ministry of Home Affairs and HTX, with the support from SPF and SCDF.

40. This new portal provides a more intuitive and responsive interface tailored to the needs of Home Team NSmen.

41. It reduces the time required for Home Team NSmen to access essential services and information.

42. Since its launch in July last year, it has achieved around 90% user satisfaction.

43. Home Team departments have also worked hand in hand during major incidents.

44. In February of this year, a large industrial fire broke out at 11 Kranji Crescent.

45. SCDF officers worked with SPF officers to contain the situation. SCDF firefighters battled the fire over four days. SPF officers supported the operations by working with civilians, making sure of the safety of civilians.

46. And together, they prevented the fire from spreading to the adjacent factories and that helped to make sure that no lives were lost.

47. It was a massive effort, showed the operational standards, professionalism, and teamwork.

Closing

48. The achievements we celebrate today reflect the Home Team’s unity, its drive to innovate, and its commitment to serve with professionalism, care and compassion.

49. There are complex challenges ahead of us.

50. But as long as we pull together as One Home Team, I have every confidence that we can continue to keep Singapore safe and secure.

51. To all award recipients, my heartiest congratulations.

52. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to the Home Team’s mission and also thank you to every one of you here and out there, in keeping Singapore safe and secure.

53. Thank you.