At the Home Team National Day Observance Ceremony on 30 Jul 2021, four HTX officers received the Minister for Home Affairs National Day Award (Individual). Presented by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, the award recognises Home Team officers who have distinguished themselves through outstanding efficiency and competency in their respective areas of work. 101 other Home Team officers received the Individual Award, and 87 members of the public, 15 Home Team volunteers and 12 organisations were also honoured for their significant contributions to the Home Team.
Minister for Home Affairs Mr K. Shanmugam commended Home Team officers for stepping up to the plate at crucial junctures and being shiny beacons of teamwork and resilience. He said, “It has been a challenging year and more. As we celebrate National Day, we can say to ourselves, we have come this far because of the unity and resilience of our people. We also recognise the exemplary contributions of our officers, volunteers, partners, and members of public who worked with us. They have stepped forward to be counted, when it mattered. They exemplify a spirit of unity – knowing that together, we can achieve more.”
Read on to find out more about our award winners – Anna Lim, Teo Tiong Ngee, Pang Chia Chiat and Muhamad Amir Bin Muhamad Hassim!
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Anna Lim – Blazing new trails in Forensics
Photo: Anna Lim, photo credit: MHA
You may have seen forensic officers help investigators crack cases and solve crimes on television dramas. But what you may not have heard about is how forensic officers go to great lengths to sharpen their forensic edge through applied research and development. As crimes evolve and criminals become more innovative, Deputy Director (Research) of Forensics CoE, Anna Lim, persistently seeks out opportunities to collaborate with the Home Team Departments and help them stay ahead of the curve.
To help Home Team Departments enhance their operational capabilities, Anna works closely with her counterparts across the Home Team. She said, “Forensics is fascinating because of the unknowns it sparks. As someone who has always been intrigued by fictional televised accounts, the 5Ws and 1H – Who, What, When, Where, Why and How – have been my interest to pursue the questions further. My interest in forensics stems from the biology classes in my secondary school days where I learned to uncover the mysteries of biology. My favourite part of the job is to be part of the team where I get to learn about the challenges in the Home Team Departments, work hand-in-hand with them and operationalising our research on the grounds. It’s very heartening when fellow officers tell us that our results helped them in their investigations.”
Anna was pivotal in setting up the Home Team Investigation Laboratory (HTIL) in 2016, which provides in-house DNA forensics support to help with criminal investigations and enabled Home Team officers to submit case exhibits 24/7. This enabled Home Team officers to receive accurate DNA forensics results faster. “I never expected that I’d be involved in criminal investigations when I started my career, but the operational-based research and development at the Forensics CoE excites me,” she added.
Another key project Anna helmed was in developing a DNA Phenotyping Lab-On-Chip technology to overcome the current limitation of DNA analysis such as when the DNA is too degraded or when met with an unknown suspect. The capability amplifies DNA and identifies unique forensic markers to provide quick and key information to support crime scene investigations.
Teo Tiong Ngee – Enhancing safety, security and welfare
Photo: Teo Tiong Ngee
“Amid this pandemic, I felt fortunate to have a job and wanted to give back to society.” This was what inspired Teo Tiong Ngee, Deputy Director (Weapons & Armament Systems) of Land Systems CoE to rally his team to volunteer at the Willing Heart’s soup kitchen during COVID-19, to help the less fortunate especially amid this difficult period. The welfare of others is something he truly cares about, as evident from his contributions as part of the pioneer batch of HTX’s Staff Welfare Committee, where he sought out corporate passes and discounts to benefit his colleagues.
As the lead for the Weapons & Armament Systems domain of HTX’s Land Systems Centre of Expertise, Tiong Ngee has the responsibility to look after the welfare of others in a rather unique way – by driving the strategic planning and development of cutting-edge weapon systems to equip our Home Team officers, so as to offer them better protection and enable them to deal with threats in the best way.
He works closely with the Home Team Departments to understand their operations and unique requirements to design and deliver capabilities that serve their imminent operational needs. Tiong Ngee said, “As an Armament trained engineer, I am honoured to be able to contribute to the weapon capability development for our homeland security community.”
Throughout his ten years of service with SPF and HTX, he has delivered numerous capabilities from Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Systems to Weapon Systems to support police operations to safeguard the security of Singapore. His stint with SPF managing Police Coast Guards projects provided valuable experiences in acquiring ICT technology which complement his current work in developing advanced weapon systems for the Home Team Departments.
Amir Hassim – Securing borders 24/7
Photo: Amir Hassim
Various systems are deployed at Singapore’s land, air and sea checkpoints to support the secure clearance of travellers and cargo. These include the clearance counters systems and automated clearance gates, which will be a common sight to travellers (in the not-so-distant past), and other systems such as screening systems and scanners that are not as visible to the general public.
While the unprecedented global travel restrictions and border closures have resulted in a decline in travellers going through the borders, Amir Hassim, Deputy Director (Immigration & Checkpoints Border Security) of the Ops Systems Sustainment Centre, continues to ensure that all these systems are running smoothly and can be ramped-up for full capacity in anticipation for the glorious day that borders open again.
Sharing about the nature of his work, Amir remarked, “No two days are ever alike. This is both a blessing and a challenge as the nature of the work is so varied. Every day seems to bring something new and unexpected.”
Amir leads the team in Border Security to uphold the availability and resiliency of ICT systems at all the land, air and sea checkpoints so that immigration clearance of travellers, conveyances and cargoes can be carried out expeditiously. This is no easy feat as it includes everything ranging from scheduled preventive maintenance, incident recovery, data analysis to pre-empt system issues, supporting new system initiatives, carrying out system upgrades and regular security tests, ensuring the systems are protected from evolving global security threats undergoing security, and more.
On receiving the Minister for Home Affairs National Day Awards, he said, “I am very proud to receive the award as it is a validation of my team’s efforts in supporting the border security systems around the clock, all day, every day. Most of the hard work done by the team goes unseen to ensure that the systems that we oversee run like clockwork.”
Pang Chia Chiat – Shaping policies to support COVID frontline
Photo: Pang Chia Chiat
While some of his colleagues served in the frontline during the pandemic, Pang Chia Chiat, Deputy Director (Financial Accounting) of Corporate & Finance, dedicated his effort to supporting his co-workers from the back end by taking care of their well-being. Having to respond quickly to support HTX officers who play a crucial role in various COVID-19 operations, he led his team to study and implement the enhanced transport and meal allowance policies within a week.
Wanting to provide frontliners the best welfare, he saw that the redesign of policy was key to unlocking this. He worked fast to expediently get these benefits out for them, as this, to him, was his way of contributing to the nation’s COVID-19 battle. “I feel privileged to be able to propose or enhance the policies and processes that will help our colleagues in their course of work while ensuring HTX is still able to fulfil its various obligations in terms of governance and accountability to the public,” Chia Chiat explained.
Overseeing the Financial Accounting section of Corporate & Finance, Chia Chiat ensures that HTX complies with the relevant reporting standards and requirements, prepares financial statements and statutory reporting and provides technical accounting advice to stakeholders. This was particularly challenging in the face of the pandemic, as the tightened COVID-19 measures meant he had to work around the restrictions and improvise some processes to complete the audits for reporting.
Appreciating the recognition received, he said, “I am grateful to be the recipient of the award. This is a testament of my belief of having strong teamwork, just as Henry Ford says, ‘Working together is success’. My humble achievements are very much attributed to the support from the Financial Accounting team, fellow colleagues and bosses.”