A celebration of teamwork and the “One Home Team” spirit

Dozens of Xponents were recognised for their efforts in helping keep Singapore safe and secure, as they took to the stage amid rapturous applause at the Minister’s Awards Presentation Ceremony, held at the Home Team Academy on 29 Oct 2025.

This year, HTX was involved in nearly 20 winning projects, among which was the Traffic Priority System, which reduces the time it takes to convey critical patients to hospitals. Another was the Building Ops Centre at Woodlands Checkpoint, which plays a critical role in capability sustainment efforts.

Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs Mr K Shanmugam was the guest of honour for the event.

There are three kinds of Minister’s Awards:

Minister for Home Affairs Home Team Achievement Award (HTAA)
This award recognises teams that have achieved exceptional outcomes through inter-agency collaborations, contributing significantly towards keeping Singapore safe and secure.

Minister for Home Affairs Operational Excellence (OE) Award
This award recognises teams for outstanding competency and operational excellence in major operations and cases.

Home Team Innovation Award (InnovA)
This award recognises exceptional Home Team officers in the area of innovation.

An affirmation of blood, sweat and tears

Teo Hao Yang, an engineer at HTX’s Immigration & Checkpoints Programme Management Centre (ICPMC) who contributed to the Transformation of Immigration Services Delivery project that was led by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), said that the achievement was a resounding affirmation of the hard work the team had put in.

The project was the recipient of the HTAA.

“I’m immensely appreciative of the great teamwork I have with not just my colleagues but my counterparts from the ICA as well. This award is a testament to the fact that when we work as One Home Team, anything is possible. Winning this award has certainly motivated me to push forward and do more to help enhance Singapore’s safety and security,” said Hao Yang.

Muhammad Anwar Bin Jalil, an engineer at HTX’s Platform Systems Sustainment Centre who took home the MHA Operational Excellence Award for his work on SafeX, expressed gratitude to his team as well.

“I’m truly honoured and grateful to receive this award, which is a meaningful recognition of the teamwork, effort and commitment that went into making SafeX a success,” he said.

Developed by HTX’s Platform Systems Capability Sustainment and Q Team Centre of Expertise, SafeX is an AI-powered system that uses an AI Vision model to analyse CCTV footage and detect unsafe acts and conditions in real time. First piloted at the Police Coast Guard’s marine workshop at Pulau Brani, SafeX is now being considered for wider operational implementation across the Home Team.

Ng Zhen Hao, a senior data scientist at xData, was among the few Xponents who walked away with the InnovA award, which he won for his efforts in training a deep learning model capable of tackling issues faced during the unmanned biometrics self-enrolment process for ICA.

Perhaps what is more impressive is that Zhen Hao volunteered to take on this challenge.

“I love solving problems as it gives me a sense of satisfaction. I love it even more when I get to make a difference along the way! And as someone who is passionate about technology, I guess it’s only natural I use tech to solve problems,” he quipped.

Outside of work, Zhen Hao is just as eager to leverage his tech skills to create useful innovations improvements. For example, he has developed a guitar tablature transcription software to aid his quest to master the instrument. 

“I don’t play the guitar all that well yet, but perhaps I would one day be able to with the help of technology.”