SPS-YRSG Corporate Advance 2024 – Speech by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Commissioner Yong Lee,

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

Mr Sunny Lee, Chief Executive of Yellow Ribbon Singapore,

Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. A very good morning to all of you.

Introduction

2. The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) and YRSG, together with our community partners, have delivered results.

3. You can see it from our rates of recidivism. The two-year recidivism rate was among the lowest in the world for some time, and they continue to be so at 22% for the 2021 release cohort. We have also made significant progress in the five-year recidivism rate. If you look at the 2018 release cohort, it is now at 36.8% , down from 40% previously , and we will continue working on it.

Rehabilitation and Reintegration Framework

4. Last year, at the Corporate Advance, I spoke about Associate Professor Jeffrey Pfeifer and his research in Singapore on our correctional models. He is from the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia.

5. He has completed his study, and he has expressed the view after a careful study that our correctional agencies and practices are among the best in the world. He has highlighted three particular strengths in our approach. One , the very high level of investment and commitment to rehabilitation. It starts from the top, from the Political Office holders all the way down – there is a very strong commitment to this. SPS and YRSG invest very significantly in training and upskilling their staff and volunteers. The second aspect that Professor Pfeifer highlighted is the safe and supportive environment that SPS provide for officers to work, and a conducive environment for rehabilitation. The third aspect he highlighted is that we work very closely with community partners, to deliver services throughout the period of incarceration . This is something that is often overlooked. In many aspects in Singapore, rather than the Government trying to do it by itself, we try to bring in community partners and tap into the energies of people, while providing the financial and staff support.

Corrections 2030

6. Some years back, SPS and YRSG embarked on Corrections 2025. Corrections 2030 seeks to build on those foundations. The aim is not just to secure and rehabilitate inmates but also to uplift them together with their families.

7. To do this, SPS and YRSG will focus on building up the economic and social capital of inmates and ex-offenders.

Economic Capital

8. Looking at economic capital. For ex-offenders, getting and staying in a job is critical in both keeping them from reoffending, and for getting them to uplift themselves.

9. In 2023, YRSG introduced the YR Sandbox initiative that seeks to increase career and training opportunities for ex-offenders, including in sectors that are new and emerging.

10. This year, YRSG will collaborate with partners to further expand those opportunities, focusing on the Hospitality and Tourism sector , covering hotels, travel agents, and beauty and wellness industries.

11. YRSG will also improve its Critical Core Skills curriculum. This is a training framework for inmates, which seeks to identify the skills that employers are looking for.

12. Inmates will have more flexibility to select their preferred training track, based on their experience, interests, and aspirations on which sectors they want to be involved in.

Social Capital and Community Capital

13. We also want to build on inmates’ social capital . Not economic capital, but social capital, because you cannot succeed focusing on economic capital alone. Social and community capital means strengthening their support networks within the community and within a narrow circle of family for the inmates, so as to help in their journey of reintegration.

14. Over the years, there  have been many steps taken by SPS that focus on working with the family to prevent reoffending.

15. In 2023, family-focused programmes benefited slightly more than 3,000 inmates. SPS also partnered more than 20 agencies to support families with children impacted by detention of their parents, involving around 1,000 children.

16. Family support is important, and community support networks are equally critical. So the Prison Fellowship Singapore and FITRAH have run a successful programme, currently supporting around 300 ex-offenders in aftercare.

17. We want  to take this further.

18. One example is the expansion of the Yellow Ribbon Community Project (YRCP). Today, YRCP volunteers focus on providing support to the inmates’ family, at the start of their incarceration.

19. Moving forward, this support will be provided for a longer period for up to six months – their limitation is actually resources –  to try and  better address their needs.

20. Let me give a real-life example of how we see Corrections 2030 helping ex-offenders, and also to help them to desist from crime.

21. I can refer to Eophailus, when in prison he was linked up with a YRCP volunteer, Edna. Edna supported him throughout his incarceration. After he was released, she continued to engage and encourage him, and motivated him to stay away from crime.

22. Edna involved Eophailus in her work with YRCP and other grassroots initiatives. She brought him to volunteer with the elderly, distributing food to them, and lending them a listening ear.

23. Eophailus also had the opportunity to upgrade himself by attending skills training. He received financial assistance through the Yellow Ribbon Enabling Fund.

24. Today, Eophailus is working as a Senior Patient Service Associate in a hospital. He is doing very well, and is a role model for how other ex-offenders can turn their lives around. It’s going to depend on the individual, but it also depends on the system, Prisons, YRCP, the YR movement as a whole, the community, all the support. It is very intensive, but every life is worth saving.

25. I am hopeful that there will be many more of such stories, as we implement and move towards Corrections 2030..

Strengthen Mindshare, Locally and Internationally

26. To keep improving, we must keep up with the research, try and understand the different perspectives, and of course, learn from the experiences of other countries.

27. This year, SPS will be hosting the International Corrections and Prisons Association 2024 Conference.

28. The theme of the conference is “Enabling Desistance, Beyond Recidivism”. We expect more than 500 participants, including correctional officers, academics and non-governmental organisations, from more than 50 countries. It is an opportunity for Singapore both to share our experiences, and also to learn from others.

Yellow Ribbon Project 20th Anniversary

29. All these efforts would not have been possible without the Yellow Ribbon Project (YRP).

30. Since it started in 2004, the YRP has sent a powerful message about second chances.

31. This year, the YRP will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. We have many activities lined up to commemorate the 20th anniversary.

32. Our annual flagship event, the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run, targets to bring together more than 10,000 participants this year. There will also be a new Kids Dash race category to include the children.

33. There will also be concert titled, “Celebrating 20 years of 2nd Chances”. It will be co-created with inmates, ex-offenders, and the community as a whole, and will honour the contributions of the many community partners and stakeholders in the Yellow Ribbon cause.

34. Let me share the story of Upu, someone who has benefited from the acceptance and support of YRP over 20 years.

35. Upu discovered his interest in music while he was in prison, through the basic music programme. During his incarceration, he participated in the Yellow Ribbon Songwriting Competition, and performed at the Yellow Ribbon Fund Charity Gala. He is now a member of the Yellow Ribbon Performing Arts Centre Alumni band, and he will be performing at the Second Chances concert.

36. Upu also actively gives back to society. He employs ex-offenders at his barbershop, and shares his reintegration journey with inmates, to encourage them to stay on the right track.

37. Upu went from being a recipient of second chances, now to someone who gives second chances.

38. His story is an excellent example of what can be achieved, when we give others a second chance.

Conclusion

39. To conclude, Corrections 2030 is a whole-of-society endeavor.

40. To showcase the work done by our partners, volunteers, and desistors in supporting the reintegration of ex-offenders, YRP has put together a new web publication titled “Yellow Ribbon: Our Journey of Second Chances”.

41. I hope this will inspire others in the community to give ex-offenders a second chance.

42. I wish everyone a good Corporate Advance.