First in, last out: At the frontlines of GE2025

Singapore witnessed one of its biggest national events of the year as citizens took to the polls in the Singapore General Election 2025 (GE2025) on 3 May.

But it wasn’t just the party candidates and their volunteers who were busy during this period. Xponents from several divisions within HTX — alongside their counterparts from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) — toiled behind the scenes to ensure that public safety was never compromised.

Over 150 Xponents supported GE2025 operations across at least eight domains of expertise, ranging from infrastructure to communications, command, and control.

Setting Up Infrastructure

As with every major event, getting the venue ready was a foundational step. From tentages and watch towers to crowd barricades and security command posts, HTX’s Building & Infrastructure (B&I) team had it all covered.

Working closely with the SPF, a dedicated team of 10 oversaw the end-to-end planning, implementation, and safety compliance of all infrastructure and equipment. Their efforts spanned dozens of election meeting sites, nomination centres, and assembly centres across the country.

According to Goh See Wee, Deputy Director of Building & Infrastructure (B&I), the biggest challenges his team faced were uneven terrains and tight turnarounds — as many of the venues were public or school facilities that were still in operation.

“You could say we were the first in, last out. It’s very hard work, but the results of our dedication showed itself,” said See Wee.

To help manage the large crowds expected at these venues, members of HTX’s Q Team Centre of Expertise (CoE) also deployed the Q Crowd Counter — an AI-powered tool that estimates crowd sizes from photographs taken by officers on the ground. The data helped monitor crowd densities and kept attendees safe.

“We worked hard to improve the accessibility of the Q Crowd Counter to support the SPF in their crowd control measures,” explained Yeo Kiat Nern, an engineer from the Q Team.

Getting Connected

Beyond physical infrastructure like stages and fences, numerous systems and networks were also running in the background to support SPF operations and keep venues secure. These included walkie-talkies used by officers on the ground, security cameras, crisis management systems, backend transmissions, and both WAN and LAN networks.

Providing and maintaining these vital systems were over 100 Xponents from HTX’s Enterprise Communications & Digital Infrastructure (xCDI), ICT Infrastructure, Operations Systems (Ops Systems), and Policing Programme Management Centre (PPMC) teams.

Just like their B&I colleagues, these Xponents were constantly rushing to set up and tear down the networks needed by command posts. In fact, the teams were on standby around the clock — always ready to respond to issues related to connectivity, cyber concerns, power supply, or communication equipment.

They worked in shifts directly from command posts at nomination centres, election meeting sites, assembly centres, polling stations, as well as data and sustainment centres — ensuring that any issues could be resolved immediately on the ground.

Lim Jee Yen, Deputy Director of the Joint ICT Infrastructure team, shared that his team didn’t only spring into action when GE2025 started — they had to assess and ensure that “ground communications across potential sites were able to support SPF’s operations” long before the election was called.

In areas with large crowds, such as election meeting sites, network congestion can affect connectivity and, consequently, SPF’s ability to maintain comprehensive ground communications and situational awareness. To tackle this challenge, xCDI worked closely with technology partners to develop a robust solution.

Together with SPF and these partners, the team also facilitated in-depth user training to ensure smooth operations during the election period.

“We worked 10am–10pm shifts to support SPF both on-site and remotely. Everything had to happen quickly — once activated, we had to respond to different locations to help users rectify any connectivity issues,” said Eddie Tan, Engineer, Wireless Access and Sensor Deployment, xCDI.

Meanwhile, another team from PPMC was tasked with ensuring that core systems, such as emergency call operations, remained available and effective.

A total of 18 Xponents from PPMC assisted with operations related to the General Elections.