New Commissioner of Prisons

1. Mr Desmond Chin Kim Tham, 50, will be appointed Commissioner of Prisons on 1 October 2016.

2. Mr Chin is currently Deputy Commissioner of Prisons.  He has served 26 years in the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) and has held various key appointments in the Home Team, including Superintendent of Changi Prison, Head Joint Operations Planning and Head Joint Emergency Planning in the Ministry of Home Affairs HQ and CEO of SCORE.

3. The current Commissioner of Prisons, Mr Soh Wai Wah, 52, will be appointed Principal and CEO of Singapore Polytechnic on 1 October 2016. Mr Soh has served the Home Team with distinction for 34 years. A Singapore Police Force (SPF) overseas scholar, Mr Soh began his Home Team career in the SPF where he held several key appointments, including Commander of Clementi Police Division, Director (Planning & Organisation), Director (Operations) and Chief-of-Staff.  He has been Commissioner of Prisons for close to seven years, during which he led the significant enhancement of Prisons' capabilities and effectiveness.

4. Under Mr Soh's leadership, the SPS gave added focus on a "throughcare" approach, encompassing both incare in Prisons and aftercare upon release, to improve the reintegration of inmates into society. Inmates systematically undergo skills training based on the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA)'s Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) framework to better equip them for employment after release. Mr Soh also deepened ties with community partners and increased the number of volunteer befrienders. All these initiatives have resulted in low and stable recidivism rates.