Bright and multi-talented, Engineer Ong Si Ci is among many young and aspiring officers who are enjoying the immersive and stretch experience in Science & Tech (S&T) at HTX.
She was drawn to join HTX, upon obtaining her Master of Engineering (Materials Science & Engineering) at Imperial College London in 2019, as a Public Service Commission (PSC) scholar. What appealed to her was HTX’s mission in applying S&T to strengthen the Home Team’s capabilities in keeping Singapore safe and secure.
Si Ci said, “I have always been excited by the plethora of options and opportunities that S&T offers.” Since her secondary school days, she has participated in various science or research programmes and projects with science agencies, including a research placement in MIT. She has also won A*STAR Science Awards and the 3M Young Scientist Award.
I have always been excited by the plethora of options and opportunities that S&T offers.
At HTX now, she continues to extend herself and embrace the breath of opportunities here to expand and apply her S&T knowledge and skills. She plays multiple roles as part of the team in three HTX units – its Sense-making & Surveillance (S&S) Centre of Expertise (CoE), Data Science & AI (DSAI) CoE, and Plans & Strategy division under HTX’s Capability Planning pillar. As such, her daily work involves a lot of multi-tasking and switching between domains.
Si Ci at HTX (Photo: HTX)
About the job, she said, “I like it that what I do can have a direct impact on the ground, be it operationally or in shaping the organisation.
For example, she played a key role as an S&S CoE officer in a cross-departmental project, which gave her the opportunity to collaborate with team-mates from HTX’s Immigration & Checkpoints Programme Management Centres (ICPMC) and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
The team were looking to provide an effective solution to ensure compliance of incoming travellers on the Stay-Home Notice (SHN) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This solution, implemented on 10 August 2020, is needful and timely, especially as travel restrictions are expected to be lifted progressively in the coming months.
“We had multiple technical and practical considerations and weighed what would be most beneficial and useful for ICA’s purposes. The result was an electronic wristband monitoring solution customised to meet our needs in supporting the frontline operations, to enhance public safety,” said Si Ci.
Components of ICA-HTX’s solution for SHN monitoring: (from right) electronic wristband, IoT gateway device, StayHome@SG mobile application
(From left) Si Ci, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Tan Hoe Koon from ICA, Engineer Jiang Zhengjie from HTX’s ICPMC at the media briefing in early August (Photo: HTX)
Another project with real-life impact that she has worked on, involves identifying patterns and characteristics of people profiles, to help a Home Team Department make informed decisions in resource targeting and policy implementation. This is part of her work at DSAI, which includes making use of c and visualisation dashboards to gain predictive insights from large and varied droves of data sources.
Besides applying S&T expertise to augment Home Team operations, many young officers at HTX like Si Ci, were also entrusted with significant roles in helping to shape culture and map out directions of the organisation. At Plans & Strategy, Si Ci had the opportunity to assist in the development of HTX’s workplan and priorities review. As desk head for collaborations with DSO, she also has a hand in steering and shaping partnerships and long-term plans between both agencies.
Si Ci (last row, 4th from right) and fellow young officers who had helped out and played different roles at HTX’s launch (Photo: HTX)
Si Ci (front row, 3rd from right) and officers from the HTX Associates Programme at the launch party at Orchid Country Club (Photo: HTX)
Si Ci (back row, in red in the middle) with S&S and HTX RAUS colleagues after a game of archery at a team bonding retreat early this year (Photo: HTX Robotics, Automation & Unmanned Systems Centre of Expertise)
Given her varied portfolio, Si Ci is keenly aware of the need for continuous development. She said, “Lack of technical skills and knowledge is the biggest challenge that I face. With DSAI and S&S, I had to take time to learn skills out of my domain, in order to apply them effectively at work. With Plans & Strategy, I had to develop my soft skills.”
Sharing what motivates her to keep learning and improving, she cited her favourite quote, “Excellence is not an act, but a habit.”
Incredibly, Si Ci also finds time to hone her skills in other areas of interest, such as Ultimate Frisbee. She had represented Great Britain in July 2019 at the World Under 24 Ultimate Championships for Ultimate Frisbee. She was also selected to be part of the Singapore National Team at The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) World Ultimate & Guts Championships, which has been postponed till next year due to the COVID-19 situation.
Si Ci (forefront, in blue, catching the Frisbee) at the UKU University Women’s Outdoor Nationals 2018 in Nottingham where she was captain of her university team in that year (Photo: Show Game UK)
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Si Ci (in black, holding the Frisbee) at the Vienna Spring Break tournament where her team had played against women’ teams across Europe (including Germany, Poland and Italy). She was then playing for Iceni, one of the top women’s clubs in the UK. In this photo, they were up against a Czech team (Photo: Vienna Spring Break, Markus Frühmann)
Determined to stay equipped and in top form, whether at work or at play, she said, “On the field, I have to make sure that I’m physically and mentally prepared for the game. At work, I need to keep abreast of the ever-changing science and technology developments in the industry. In both areas, I want to be prepared to play my role, and play it well.”
Such are the winning attitudes of our young engineers and scientists – a positive learning spirit, active participation and unstinting efforts. With these, they are well-poised to run along with senior and specialist counterparts in the force multiplier community at HTX, in taking great leaps and making significant contributions towards the safety and security of Singapore.
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