Singapore Prison Service
The Singapore Prison Service (Malay: Perkhidmatan Penjara Singapura; Chinese: 新加坡监狱署) is a government agency of the Government of Singapore under the hierarchy of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It runs 14 prisons and drug rehabilitation centres in Singapore. Its responsibilities encompass the safe custody, rehabilitation and aftercare of offenders, and preventive education.
| Perkhidmatan Penjara Singapura 新加坡监狱署 | |
 Logo of the Singapore Prison Service | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1946 |
| Type | Correctional Agency |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Singapore |
| Headquarters | 407 Upper Changi Road North, Singapore 507658 |
| Minister responsible |
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| Deputy Ministers responsible |
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| Agency executives |
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| Parent agency | Ministry of Home Affairs |
| Child agency | |
| Website | http://www.sps.gov.sg[2] |
History
1800 – 1899
On 18 April 1825, the first batch of penal convicts arrived in Singapore and were housed in temporary huts along Bras Basah Canal. The philosophy of deterrence through punitive measures rather than rehabilitation was adopted. In 1847, a civil jail was built at Pearl's Hill but overcrowding remained a perennial problem and a continued punitive approach in prison management led to a high rate of recidivism.
1900 – 1999
Changi Prison, a maximum security prison, was built and operationalised in 1936 as a training ground for the reform and rehabilitation of its inmates. The Singapore Prison Service was institutionalised as a Department in 1946 and G.E.W.W. Bayly became its first Commissioner. On 1 November 1973, Quek Shi Lei was appointed Director of Prisons.
The Ministry of Home Affairs set up a Prisons Re-Organisation Committee to review the system of rehabilitation, industrial training and work discipline. A new system of classification was then adopted in which inmates were grouped into 16 classes under three broad categories.
On 1 January 1988, Tee Tua Ba took over as Director of Prisons, while Quek Shi Lei acted as an advisor to Singapore Prison Service and became CEO of the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE).
When Tee Tua Ba was posted to the Singapore Police Force (SPF) as Commissioner of Police on 1 July 1992, Poh Geok Ek took over the Directorship of Singapore Prison Service until 1 November 1998.
Another milestone in Singapore Prison Service’s history was the official opening of Tanah Merah Prison and Changi Women’s Prison/Drug Rehabilitation Centre on 23 April 1994 by Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng.
In 1998, Chua Chin Kiat took over as Director of Singapore Prison Service from Poh Geok Ek when the latter retired. Under Chua’s directorship, the Singapore Prison Service organised a visioning exercise in January 1999 to collectively craft a shared vision and conduct a review of its mission to better accommodate the changing needs and expectations of its stakeholders and the public.
On 31 December 1999, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the redevelopment of Changi Prison Complex, Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng unveiled the new vision and revised mission together with the “Captain of Lives” tagline.
2000 – Present
On 3 January 2000, Kaki Bukit Centre was established as a prison school for inmates’ education and skills learning. Teaching resources were centralised and more inmates were able to pursue further education.
Presently, the new Changi Prison or the Changi Prison Complex houses the most serious criminal offenders in the country, including criminal offenders who are serving long sentences and those who have been sentenced to death. Changi Prison Complex serves as the detention site for death row inmates at Changi, before they are executed by hanging, traditionally on a Friday morning. It is also one of the main places (though not the only one) where judicial corporal punishment by caning is carried out. Caning sessions at Changi are held twice per week. A former employee of the prison was quoted in 1995 as saying: "They are flogging more and more these days. Before they were doing maybe 60 on Tuesdays and Fridays, now they're doing a hundred".[3]
The Yellow Ribbon Project was also launched in October 2004 to raise public awareness and acceptance of the community towards ex-offenders, so as to garner community support for inmates’ re-integration into society.
On 1 November 2007, Ng Joo Hee took over office from Chua Chin Kiat, the latter moving on to become the executive director or AETOS Security Management. In the same year, Selarang Park Prison/DRC was also transformed to a community supervision centre to manage inmates emplaced on community based programmes and released on supervision.
After two years as Director of Prisons, Ng Joo Hee moved on to become the Commissioner of Police. On 1 January 2010, Soh Wai Wah took over office and is the current Director of Prisons. Soh oversaw the official opening of a new prison cluster in Changi Prison Complex - Cluster B, on 20 January 2010.
Organisation
The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) is a uniformed organisation under the hierarchy of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Its responsibilities encompass the safe custody, rehabilitation and aftercare of offenders, and preventive education. SPS is made up of uniformed officers as well as civilian staff, including psychologists and counsellors
Organisation Structure
SPS currently administers 14 institutions. They make up SPS’s line units and are grouped under four clusters – Cluster A and B which are within the Changi Prison Complex (CPC), Cluster C which includes the Prisons School, and Operations and Security Command (OSC).
SPS has seven staff divisions - Operations, Staff Development, Corporate Services, Rehabilitation & Reintegration, Strategic Planning & Research, Intelligence, and Psychological & Correctional Rehabilitation Division (PCRD) – that comprise 29 staff units; as well as three standalone units, namely, Corporate Communications & Relations, Provost, and Staff Inspectorate.
| Department / Division | Director / Commander |
|---|---|
| Corporate Communications & Relations Division | AC Kong Ling Chieh Titus |
| Operations Division | SAC Koh Tong Hai |
| Staff Development Division | Ms Cecilia Chew Li-Hwa |
| Rehabilitation & Reintegration Division | SAC Lee Kwai Sem |
| Logistics & Finance Division | SAC Chiew Honk Meng |
| Intelligence Division | SAC Chew Chwee Leong Vincent |
| Strategic Planning Division | DAC Foo Ee Lin |
| Psychological and Correctional Rehabilitation Division | Leo Hee Sun Timothy |
| Transformation & Technology Division | DAC Loh Teck En |
| Inspectorate and Review Division | SUPT Kan Hsueh Yee Carolyn |
| Provost Division | SUPT Lam Mong Teng |
| Cluster A Management Office | DAC Lim Ai Lian Caroline |
| Cluster B Management Office | AC Chia Jin Ming Benjamin |
| Cluster C Management Office | DAC Tan Eng Keong |
| Community Corrections Command | AC Rockey Francisco Junior |
| Operations and Security Command | DAC Soh Beng Koon |
Related Initiatives
CARE Network
The Community Action for the Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders (CARE) Network was formed in May 2000 to coordinate and to improve the effectiveness of various agencies engaging in rehabilitative works for ex-offenders in Singapore.
The CARE Network is the first formal structure that brings together key community and government agencies to promote seamless in-care to aftercare support for ex-offenders. The Network consists of 8 major community and government organisations responsible for the rehabilitation of ex-offenders.
New Prison Headquarters
On 10 December 2012, it was announced that a new S$118.5 million Prison Headquarters of the Changi Prison Complex will be constructed by December 2014. The project was awarded to Sembawang Engineers and Constructors (Sembawang), which is owned by the Punj Lloyd Group Company.
The new headquarters will have four buildings and several smaller ancillary buildings that will house office facilities, a multi-purpose hall, a club house and an auditorium. It will also be in closer proximity to Cluster A and Cluster B within the Changi complex.
Equipment
Although the SPS officers are armed with less-than-lethal weapons such as the PR-21 side handle baton (more commonly known as the T-baton) and pepper spray while on duty, they are trained in firearms, which may be issued depending on the circumstances.
- Pistols
- .38 Caliber Revolver- Taurus Model 85
- 9mm Semi-Automatic Handgun- Glock 19
- Shotguns
- Ithaca 37
- Remington 870
- Sub-machine guns
- Heckler & Koch MP5
- Assault rifles
- M16 rifle
Vehicles
- Nissan Diesel - Bus
- Isuzu S7 - Bus
- Toyota Coaster - Bus
- Fiat Ducato - Van
- Iveco Daily - Van
- Toyota Hiace- Van
- Toyota Hilux - Pickup truck
Less-lethal options
- FN 303
- FN 303-P
- Pepperball TAC700
- Pepperball TAC-SF
In popular culture
Fictional television programs
| Behind Bars (铁狱雷霆), 1991 | Filmed in partnership with the Singapore Prison Service, the local Singaporean drama serial follows the lives of prison officers and the challenges they face in their line of work.
The role of prison officer, Yu Zhen Fei, is played by Chen Hanwei. |
| Kinship (手足), 2007 | Jesseca Liu plays the character of Zheng Yusheng, the lively and optimistic female protagonist of the show. Zheng Yusheng is a prison warden who happened to be born in jail. |
| The Homecoming (十三鞭), 2007 | Four friends convicted of arson were sentenced to imprisonment and three strokes of the cane each. The Singaporean television series was noted for briefly showing the caning scene. |
| On the Fringe 2011 (边缘父子), 2011 | A former juvenile delinquent, Tian Yi Bang, spent most of his youth in a rehabilitation centre. Subsequently, he committed robbery and was sentenced to jail. After his release, he decided to turn over a new leaf and tries to encourage his son from going the same way as he did.
Tian Yi Bang is played by Li Nanxing. |
| C.L.I.F. 2 (警徽天职2), 2013 | Jiang Yongzhe (Aloysius Pang), who is the son of a superintendent in a police division, joined the gang 356 in the series. He is involved in beating up a member from a rival gang and was even framed by his leader for raping his classmate. He was cleared of rape charges when his leader was arrested, but was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for the attack. In the series, he took part in the gang renunciation ceremony where he swore not to join gangs anymore and turn in a new leaf. |
Movies
| One More Chance (三个好人)，2005 | A 2005 Singaporean film by Jack Neo about the lives of three ex-offenders facing difficulties and rejection from the community after release from prison. The movie showcased the various challenges and social stigma the ex-offenders face in their reintegration journey. The movie was produced in association with the CARE Network and premiered at the start of YRP’s 2005 campaign. |
| Apprentice 2016 | Directed by Singaporean director Boo Junfeng, the film stars Firdaus Rahman and Wan Hanafi Su as a young prisons officer and the chief executioner of the state prisons respectively. The film touches on the controversial death penalty from an executioner's point of view. The film features a fictionalized version of the Singapore Prisons Service. |
Current affairs programmes
| Tuesday Report (星期二特写) | A pastry workshop set up in Changi Prison, by 717 Trading, was featured in MediaCorp’s long-running Chinese documentary programme, Tuesday Report on 18 September 2012. The workshop employs about 40 inmates to meet its business needs in refrigerating the flesh of the fruit as well as producing desserts with it. |
See also
References
- "MHA announces appointment of new Commissioner of Prisons from Oct 1". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
- "Not Available". Facebook. Captains of Lives. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- "Eye of a Tiger", The Guardian, London, 20 May 1995
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