SINGAPORE: Family visits can be joyful moments for prisoners, or filled with tension. How a visit turns out, however, may not always be so obvious to the officers supervising the inmates.

That could change, as the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) is now exploring the use of facial recognition technology to help its officers be more aware of inmates’ behaviours.

If the technology works accurately, the SPS envisions using it to improve the management of inmates throughout the Changi Prison Complex.

It would be the most comprehensive use of facial recognition technology in the prison since the SPS set out in 2017 to transform its operations through technological initiatives.

This comes as Singapore goes into facial recognition technology in a big way, with a project lined up to fit cameras and sensors on more than 100,000 lamp-posts, to help authorities “perform crowd analytics” and support anti-terror operations.

READ: ‘Smart lamp posts’ in Singapore won’t shine light into people’s lives

READ: ICA to introduce multi-biometrics screening at checkpoints from April 2019

In prison, the technology could play a similar analytics role, Deputy Superintendent of Prisons 2 (DSP 2) Neo Ming Feng disclosed to the programme Why It Matters in a web exclusive.

“With more data coming in through sensors, through biometrics, through closed-circuit television, we can fuse the data and analyse it, and assist our officers through a better ground situation awareness of what’s going on,” said the 32-year-old.

PICKING UP ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR

For example, one of the things officers look out for is “the way inmates respond to how their families are doing”.

“Let’s say, after a visit and the inmates come back slightly depressed or looking unhappy, that’s when we can pick up signs of … the inmates behaving abnormally,” said DSP 2 Neo, the SPS’ assistant director of transformational projects.

“Our officers can intervene to understand what’s happening or what the inmate is going through, and that can better help inmates.”

Facial recognition could help prison officers to better understand how inmates behave in general, for example in their cell or in the day room, which is the area right outside their cells.

“Once we know the normal behaviour of the inmate, when the inmate behaves abnormally, we could then pick up the difference,” explained DSP 2 Neo.

The information could alert officers that they “probably need to pay more attention to the inmate, to pre-empt incidents that could happen”.

The technology could also identify more accurately whom an inmate communicates with usually. “With that, we can learn more about the dynamics of the inmates’ interactions … (and) the dynamics of the whole prison,” said DSP 2 Neo.

Deploying facial recognition cameras would also assist officers in the control centre in identifying whether any inmates are going to an area of the prison where they are not supposed to be.

The prison staff are “generally very supportive of this project”, as they understand how it will help them, added DSP 2 Neo.

Although the vision is clear, the SPS has not implemented this system just yet.

So far, Changi Prison has been doing trials on facial recognition to determine whether an automated system can replace the muster checks done manually by officers to account for inmates.

Using the technology, cameras in the cells capture the inmates’ facial images and verify them with the database. This allows the checks, which must be repeated a few times daily, to be done faster.

DETECTING FIGHTS

Besides that, a human behaviour detection system called Avatar is being tested. It uses video analytics to detect abnormal activities – such as fights – in the cells and to alert the officers.

READ: Changi Prison raises tech bar with automated checks, surveillance system that detects fights

To do this, the system must be taught to recognise aggression, explained Mr Benjamin Lee, the assistant director of human performance at the Home Affairs Ministry’s Office of the Chief Science and Technology Officer.

“From a human perspective, we kind of understand what aggression is. So there’s motion … it’s chaotic, it has a high number of interaction points. So we try to translate that into what we think a computer should understand,” he said.

Avatar is being tested in one prison cell, and it was reported in June that it has detected actual fights.  But there have also been false positives.

“That’s one of the challenges that we see. So, for example, if an inmate’s doing jumping jacks in the cell, we see that being classified as … an act of aggression,” said Mr Lee.

“What we can do is to take all these false positives and feed them back to the system, and teach it to recognise that these aren’t real acts of aggression.”

Videos of fights are also fed into the system, and brawls are simulated, “to continually train the system to become more and more intelligent” and to test its accuracy.

“We’re still in the process of fine-tuning the algorithm,” added Mr Lee, who admitted that there are still times when the computer does not pick up acts of aggression.

When it is “accurate enough”, it will be put into full operation, said DSP 2 Neo, who highlighted that it will serve the SPS’ mission to ensure the “secure custody of the inmates” – besides rehabilitating them – “for a safer Singapore”.

Watch the Why It Matters episode on facial recognition technology here. And read about how China is powering up on facial recognition, from dispensing toilet paper to shaming jaywalkers.

SINGAPORE: Two taxis were involved in an accident along Orchard Road on Sunday (Feb 24) morning.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said: “On Feb 24 2019 at 6.46am, the Police were alerted to an accident involving two taxis along Orchard Road towards Bras Basah Road.”

A taxi passenger declined to be taken to hospital, according to police.

Photos of the scene sent to Channel NewsAsia showed a Silvercab having mounted the pavement along Orchard Road near Wheelock place.

The taxi appeared to have crashed through plants along the pavement and into a bench. 

Police said investigations are ongoing.

SINGAPORE: What will Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat’s leadership style look like as Prime Minister?

Since rumours he may take over the top job in the country swirled a few years back, many have been looking for signs of his cast of mind and how he would govern a Singapore facing complex challenges.

A longtime economic czar, with deep experience in the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Trade and Industry Ministry before his move to politics, Mr Heng’s knack for collaboration has been evident in his strategy to grow the economy over the last few Budgets, including this year’s announced on Monday (Feb 18).

While most companies typically look for additional aid from the Government amid global business uncertainties in each Budget, Mr Heng focuses instead on giving the private sector more skin in the game in transforming the economy. 

In Mr Heng’s track record since taking over the Finance Ministry in October 2015, a shift away from a top-down model of government to one that seeks to develop stronger partnerships to position Singapore for the future has been evident.

SKIN IN THE GAME OF COMPANIES’ GROWTH FOR THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Several initiatives were announced at Budget 2019, which aimed to give the larger business community a bigger stake in the growth of Singapore companies.

One example was the injection to the Co-Investment Programme (CIP), which has almost reached its goal of catalysing S$1.5 billion over 10 years to nurture Singapore-based globally competitive companies since its launch. Mr Heng said he will set aside another S$100 million.

It is not new, nor is the amount particularly large. And tax incentives and business grants, like the expanded SME Go Digital, still make up the mainstay of the more-than-S$1 billion government measures this fiscal year to help businesses build deep capabilities.

But the enhanced CIP builds on a concert of schemes rolled out in recent Budgets to catalyse private sector resources to help Singapore companies reach the next stage of their development, including the S$500 million of government support for the Aviation and Maritime Transformation Programmes, with matching investments from industry partners announced at Budget 2018.

Budget 2017 saw the launch of a S$600 million International Partnership Fund (IPF), which applies the principle of co-investment to help firms break into overseas markets.

At Budget 2016, Mr Heng introduced a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Working Capital Loan scheme, to co-share half of the default risk with participating financial institutions to encourage lending to SMEs.

In this context, the enhanced CIP is a reaffirmation of the co-investment approach, which brings to bear the know-how and commercial discipline of the private sector to public sector programmes to support businesses, as one worth pursuing.

Notably, the CIP and previously announced IPF are managed by Heliconia, whose parent company Temasek’s strong reputation in taking smart investment bets will benefit backed companies, giving them a better chance of securing good investors.

This co-investment approach has so far reaped multiplier effects in nurturing a vibrant business environment. Singapore has seen over 220 venture capital deals of close to US$4.2 billion each year, a surge from the 80 worth US$136 million in 2012.

Other initiatives announced this Budget also reflect this preference for partnerships to encourage various actors to contribute to Singapore companies’ growth.

The freshly announced Innovation Agents Programme, which seeks to provide local firms access to experienced industry champions, gives the business community a larger part in their growth.

While trade associations and chambers (TACs) have long been recognised to play a leading role, this role has been strengthened after Mr Heng’s announcement that Enterprise Singapore will work on five-year roadmaps with TACs that have demonstrated strong leadership and shown ambition to do more for businesses.

SKIN IN THE GAME OF RESTRUCTURING FOR COMPANIES AND WORKERS

A second shift is the bigger stake the Budget has given to companies and workers in the economy

Mr Heng spoke frankly on Monday to outline the sacrifices they must make and talked about restructuring, a word conspicuously missing last Budget.

Indeed, efforts over the past year to upskill workers and help companies develop capabilities have been positioned as “transformation”, shying away from restructuring – a word seemingly avoided for fear of causing uncertainty, when it implies growth will be slowed and jobs endangered.

But a forthright conversation about what is needed from companies and workers has been recently underway. PM Lee Hsien Loong just last month spoke of Singapore’s restructuring journey and highlighted that this march to achieve greater productivity and jobs growth must not let up.

Still, the Government will give stronger support for retraining, redesign and automation through enhancements to the Productivity Solutions Grant and Enterprise Development Grants, both rolled out at Budget 2018.

Detailed planning to undertake restructuring in recent years has in fact been underway over many years, taking the form of Industry Transformation Maps, the brainchild of Mr Heng, launched in Budget 2016 and applying a sector-specific approach to deepen partnerships between the Government and the industry to identify challenges and develop solutions.

That strategy was given muscle with a S$400 million Automation Support Package at Budget 2016, and a SMEs Go Digital Programme at Budget 2017, to help firms embark on automation projects and digitalise.

Workers too must own their pathway in this journey; schemes to help them take on new jobs in sectors with good growth prospects through the Adapt and Grow and Adapt and Train initiatives have been bolstered over the last few years, with a new Professional Conversation Programmes in blockchain, embedded software and prefab announced on Monday.

With these blocks in place, what the next phase of restructuring entails is for firms to undertake potentially difficult action needed to retune the economy for long-term growth.

Mr Heng’s Budget Speech was explicit on this point. He targetted an issue close to the hearts of many businesses – reliance on foreign labour.

For firms that have long lamented tight restrictions, Mr Heng has asked they bite a long-awaited bullet to address this unsustainable driver of growth.

So the foreign worker ratio for the services sector and S Pass ratio will be cut, even as the Government defers foreign worker levy raises in the fragile marine shipyard and process sectors where recovery has just begun – a deferment of four years now.

But the suite of initiatives have positioned companies and workers well to undertake this challenging restructuring task.

SKIN IN THE GAME OF INNOVATION FOR HIGHER INSTITUTES OF LEARNING

A third shift gives research partners a stronger role in enterprise development.

At Budget 2019, Mr Heng announced the creation of two Centres of Innovation in Aquaculture and Energy at Temasek Polytechnic and NTU respectively, and highlighted how closer collaboration between companies and institutes of higher learning is needed to marry “the spirit of entrepreneurship” with the rigour of research.

It might seem like a minor move but these centres are potentially backed by huge pots of money and a supporting ecosystem put in place over the years at past Budgets.

A total of S$19 billion in the Research, Innovation and Enterprise fund (RIE2020) had set aside by the Government to boost the generation of enterprise solutions by research institutes – a fund which Mr Heng topped up at Budget 2016.

New entities like SG-Innovate and agencies like A*STAR have been given bigger roles to help start-ups access talent in research institutes and aid companies to map out their operations and technology needs at Budget 2016 and Budget 2017 respectively.

A Jurong Innovation District was launched to house entrepreneurs, researchers and students testbedding new innovations at Budget 2016.

R&D can be a lifeline for companies to find innovative ways of doing old things, solve complex challenges and break into new sectors – giving them the edge in an age of disruption.

Local company Wavelength Opto-Electronic developed a patented, automated inspection system for contact lenses, reducing time taken by 10-fold, with aid from scientists at the Institute of Manufacturing Technology. Its revenue has jumped by almost 80 per cent last year.

SMRT is also partnering NTU to develop a new sensor system to detect MRT train door faults, with support from NRF, while NTU’s and NUS’ collaboration with the private sector is fueling Singapore’s space dream with the development of locally-built satellites.

READ: How Singapore can be a space power, with small satellites, a commentary

A STORY OF GROWTH, A NATIONAL CONVERSATION

All in all, if we focus on the Budget’s thrust of growing the economy, Mr Heng’s collaborative approach to rally others towards common goals, evident in his leading of Our Singapore Conversation years ago, comes through in his approach to boost growth through the Singapore Budget.

The signal Mr Heng has sent of the increasingly important role that companies, research centres and the larger business community will play over these years has set the tone for how the Government intends to work with the private sector in Singapore’s future economy.

He has placed Singapore businesses on a stronger footing and focused them on mustering support from other actors instead of relying on the Government for handouts.

Lin Suling is executive editor at Channel NewsAsia Digital News where she oversees the Commentary section.

JOHOR BAHRU: Almost every step the crown prince of Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim takes outside his palace, Singaporean Mr Prem Singh strides close by.

Mr Singh is a towering figure – 1.87m tall – with bulging biceps and puffed pecs. Alongside the prince, he is ever-present but low profile. 

He wears a stern expression, alert and focused. But he keeps a respectful distance to not interfere with the royal member’s interaction with foreign dignitaries, government official and the people of Johor.  

For the last nine years, this 40-year-old who grew up in Hougang has become a key member of the security detail for one of Malaysia’s most influential figures.

During a recent interview with Channel NewsAsia, Mr Singh recalled how his professional journey started as a police officer with the Singapore Police Force during his national service.

After his basic training in 1999, Mr Singh was deployed to Hougang Neighbourhood Police Centre doing patrol duties and guarding rooms where accused criminals are charged. 

The Singapore Polytechnic graduate enjoyed serving with the SPF, and signed on as a regular in 2001. 

SERVING SENIOR SINGAPORE POLITICIANS

But soon after, Mr Singh felt his skills could be better served elsewhere, and he signed up to be part of SPF’s Security Branch in 2005, which has now been renamed the Police Security Command.

The unit is tasked with ensuring the personal safety of all of Singapore’s cabinet ministers and visiting foreign dignitaries.

After four months of intense training, he says he was deployed to protect a number of senior politicians. 

READ: I hope that Singapore and Malaysia can find a ‘win-win situation’: Johor crown prince

From his time with the Security Branch, Mr Singh said he was taught to be professional and disciplined, and this later made his job across the Causeway “much easier”.

But Mr Singh preferred to serve in a “one man operation” (OMO) and he was given a chance to escort foreign dignitaries, such as former US president Bill Clinton and former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd when they visited Singapore. 

It was during one of these duties when Mr Singh came across Tunku Ismail, who was attending a dinner event in Singapore. 

After settling the crown prince’s security and seating arrangements for the event, Mr Singh was approached by Tunku Ismail’s personal aide who informed him that the crown prince wanted to hire him to be part of his security detail.

“It did not take much thought and I said yes. Who in their right mind would turn down such an offer? Escorting a member of the Johor royal family – and that member being the crown prince – is a dream for anybody,” said Mr Singh.

His decision was affirmed when he went for his interview, where Tunku Ismail greeted him in his Royal Johor Military Force uniform.

“It assured me I made the right choice. His aura surpasses anything I have come across thus far,” he said.

Since then, Mr Singh has become an important part of Tunku Ismail’s daily schedule.

He joins the crown prince for his daily morning workout, meetings with government officials and accompanies him when he works with his football club Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT). 

Mr Singh has also accompanied Tunku Ismail on overseas trips to countries including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Spain.

CROWN PRINCE ‘STANDS IN THE LINE OF FIRE’

In a recent post on Facebook, Tunku Ismail cited how he, Mr Singh and Leftenan Kolonel Samsyawal Muhamad from the Malaysian Special Forces are able to work effectively together as a team.

He cited this as an example of how Singaporeans and Malaysians work well in the same organisation and expressed hope that both countries find a  “win-win situation”, as they continued to tussle in ongoing maritime and airspace disputes.

Mr Singh regards Tunku Ismail forthright manner as a show of courage, and this is something he can learn from his “role model”. 

“He speaks from his heart and sometimes this is very difficult for people to accept, but that’s the way he is. He stands in the line of fire when it comes to his dear ones, his family, his state and his people.” 

READ: Johor crown prince thanks Singapore for help during drought seasons

Work aside, Mr Singh explained how he has learned “valuable life lessons” from the prince, who has a military background with the 61st Calvary in India and the Johor Military Force. 

“One lesson that he taught me has become an ethos I live by – that our greatest weapon in life is our attitude,” said Mr Singh. “(Tunku Ismail) is very disciplined and expects the people around him to be the same. I have matured after working with him.

“He is not only my boss, but someone I look up to as a human being,” said Mr Singh. 

PROTECTING THE ROYAL FAMILY ‘WITH MY LIFE’

Even though he is a Singaporean, Mr Singh considers it “an honour” to protect the crown prince and his family, but he acknowledges that his task is “no easy feat” and has little room for error.

His job scope includes protecting the lives of Tunku Ismail, his wife Che Puan Khaleeda as well as their two infant children Tunku Khalsom Aminah Sofiah and Tunku Iskandar Abdul Jalil Abu Bakar Ibrahim. 

“I am sure a lot of people envy my job, but the responsibility is great. Now that (Tunku Ismail) has two children, my responsibilities have expanded. Ensuring their safety and security is also my duty. 

“But that’s what I have sworn to do from the start. I am dedicated to protect the royal family of Johor with my life,” said Mr Singh. 

READ: Johor crown prince says will keep speaking up, even if it means being ‘public enemy No 1’ 

Despite his preference of working individually, Mr Singh acknowledged that protecting the Johor royal family is a task that requires teamwork. 

The crown prince’s security detail includes officers from the Johor Military Elite Forces, the Malaysian Commandos as well as the Malaysian police’s Special Operations Command.

“It is very interesting to work with these units to see how differently we function. But in the end we all have only one duty – to protect the crown prince of Johor and his family,” said Mr Singh.

Even with many years of experience, Mr Singh is open to learning from his Malaysian teammates.

“We all share our different working experience with each other and we learn from one another. There is an ethos I live by – ‘There is no perfect bodyguard. Every day is a learning lesson.’”

SINGAPORE: During his budget speech, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat acknowledged the economic impact of caregiving on women when he announced that the 300,000 Singaporeans, aged 50 to 64 in 2019, to benefit from the CPF top-up of up to S$1,000 will mostly be women.

Many, he said, “left the workforce early, and took up important roles as mothers, caregivers or housewives.”

In a similar vein, last week the Government announced a monthly Home Caregiving Grant (HCG) of S$200 to replace the monthly Foreign Domestic Work Grant of S$120. This would allow care recipients to choose their preferred care options.

One of these options is paying their family caregivers, who more often than not are their female spouses or unmarried daughters. HCG and other similar measures, like more respite care options and increased budget for Flexible Work Arrangements, are part of the government’s new initiative to beef up support for family caregivers.  

READ: 7 things you need to know about Budget 2019, a commentary

A SUBTLE SHIFT THAT MISSES THE MARK

The CPF top-up and HCG are significant because they are indicative of a subtle shift in policy thinking.

They recognise the financial cost of family caregiving by providing a CPF top-up for low-income individuals who have less than S$60,000 in their retirement savings, and for the first time, a financial payment to family caregivers of seniors to defray costs associated with long-term care.

But a one-off S$1,000 top-up and a grant of S$200 aren’t enough to compensate caregivers for foregone earnings. Nor do they cover out-of-pocket care-related expenses, such as salary payments to foreign domestic workers (FDW).

AWARE has advocated for CPF top-ups and a caregivers’ allowance through its annual Budget submissions, not only as a measure to acknowledge the economic burden of caregiving – which is substantial – but also to offer societal recognition of the valuable work done by family caregivers.

CPF top-ups and HCG are crucial first steps. Yet countries that offer caregiver payments, allowances and supplements show Singapore how far we have to go.

These countries, such as Australia and Ireland, comprehensively recognise that payment for family care must take a serious view of the economic consequences of family caregiving, and provide easy linkages to formal care services so that caregiving responsibilities can be shared between home and community.

LISTEN: What life in your 60s should look like, an episode on The Pulse podcast

ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF FAMILY CAREGIVING

1. Decreased labour force participation. Unlike the emotional and physical burdens of family caregiving, which are relatively well documented, caregiving’s economic consequences have not received as much attention from policy makers.

These consequences include loss of income and retirement savings (because of reduced, delayed or interrupted labour force participation); out-of-pocket expenditure of co-payments for formal services to complement family care; and additional expenses incurred in the consumption of care-related goods and services.

These are significant costs for all family caregivers regardless of income, but more so for the low- to middle-income persons that the CPF top-up is targeted at.

An analysis of the Labour Force Survey from 2016 to 2018 shows a marked increase – from 39,300 to 75,800 – in the number of women who cited caregiving for relatives and older persons (and not children) as their main reason for being out of the labour force.

We see a similar increase in the numbers of men citing caregiving for relatives and older persons over the same time period – from 8,200 in 2016 to 13,000 in 2018.

READ: The unequal, unnoticed life of a female worker, a commentary

2. Cost of hiring help at home. According to MOM, there are 250,000 FDWs in Singapore today. Although there is no publicly available data on how many of these care for older persons, the last national survey on informal caregivers conducted in 2011 pointed out that Singaporean families care for their old members with a heavy reliance on FDWs.

Given shrinking family sizes, the reliance on FDWs is only set to increase, as are the associated expenses for paying them.

A forthcoming study from AWARE that interviewed 23 family caregivers (between the ages of 45 and 65) of seniors shows that salary payments to FDWs are the single largest recurring out-of-pocket expense for families, even after subsidies.

On average, caregivers spent S$655 per month per FDW. The HCG payout, which is S$80 more than the FDW Grant, would bring this cost down but not substantially.

FINANCIAL PAYMENTS FOR CAREGIVERS – TWO APPROACHES

Many experts acknowledge that financial payments for caregivers cannot fully compensate for foregone earnings, for the full value of the care work performed costed to the level of payment for full-time salaried care workers, or even for the largest out-of-pocket expenses.

But policies can be designed to be effective even while offering low sums. 

They can provide automatic access to formal care services so that caregivers do not have to incur the time cost of applying for these services separately, and provide insurance cover for temporary periods of unemployment, to ensure that family care does not completely impoverish caregivers.

Financial compensation policies can be targeted at either care recipients to allow them greater flexibility in choosing their preferred care options, including payment to a family caregiver – although this might impose an administrative burden on care recipients who require care support precisely because they are unable to perform Activities of Daily Living by themselves. Or they can be targeted at caregivers.

Both approaches have implications for how we conceptualise the relationship between care recipients and caregivers, the transaction costs involved in accessing financial payments, and what impact, if any, providing cash for care has on the caregivers’ ability to participate in the labour force.

READ: If more work in old age, how relevant is the retirement age? A commentary

FINANCIAL PAYMENTS TO CARE RECIPIENTS

Countries such as Austria, France and Germany have adopted this approach to offer financial payment to care recipients without any formal requirements for how it should be used. Singapore too has firmly gone in the direction of this approach.

However, Singapore’s approach departs from Germany’s policy design by being government sponsored, and by keeping financial payments transferable to caregivers separate from their eligibility to access community- and home-based care.

Germany’s approach – insurance-based integrated financial payment and access to services – automatically activates when care recipients who are able exercise the choice to transfer payments to caregivers. 

Upon receiving payments, caregivers are entitled to four weeks of respite care and contributions to their pension and accident insurance.

The integrated approach seems more comprehensive because it provides care recipients greater flexibility in choosing their preferred care options through individual consultations with care advisors and minimises the transaction costs for caregivers to access home- and community-based services (because they are automatically enrolled).

The Government in Singapore has announced more respite care options, which will definitely help with the caregiving burden. However, from the details available in the public domain so far, it does not seem that the Government will adopt the mixed-model approach of Germany. 

FINANCIAL PAYMENTS TO CAREGIVERS

Some consider the second approach, adopted by countries such as Australia, to be more radical because it recognises that caregivers have a right to a source of income independent of the rights, entitlements or wishes of care recipients. 

This approach is arguably the more expensive option, but the Government could finance it by considering progressive taxation measures, like increasing personal income tax for the wealthy, or introducing a wealth tax (e.g. capital gains tax, inheritance tax).

This approach encompasses at least two different policy designs: Providing payment to low-income caregivers for providing full-time care, and providing employment insurance during temporary absences from employment because of caregiving responsibilities.

Australia costs these to provide substantial financial relief to caregivers.

Family care has been undervalued for far too long. HCG and other measures to support caregivers are welcome, but Singapore can and must do more to recognise the unsung heroes of our time.

We must carefully consider how financial payments for family care can address the real economic consequences of family caregiving, and how we can maximise their impact by providing linkages to other policy domains such as employment and formal care. Our caregivers deserve to be cared for too.

Shailey Hingorani is head of advocacy and research for the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE).

SINGAPORE: Speaking in Parliament on Feb 12, Senior Minister of State for Law Edwin Tong opened a second front on Singapore’s war on foreign influence.

With legislation already on the cards for deliberate online falsehoods (DOFs), the Government’s attention has shifted in parallel to specific foreign and state actors, intent on interfering in Singapore’s domestic politics via other means.

Quite apart from dealing with lies and disinformation campaigns, which were well documented via hearings of the Select Committee on DOFs last year, Mr Tong stressed that “in the physical world, foreign actors may also interfere in our domestic politics through the use of proxies, by funding or donating to politically-involved individuals and organisations, or by taking on key leadership roles in their organisations”.

Substantiating his point, Mr Tong used the examples of foreign interference in the politics of Australia and New Zealand, channelled through political donations.

As the Government develops its position over the coming year, it will be important that threats be clearly defined, and sharper focus could be placed on three key areas.

DEALING WITH ‘AGENTS OF INFLUENCE’

In his speech, Mr Tong raised the case of Professor Huang Jing.

In August 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced the explosive news of its intention to expel Huang, then an academic at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP). He was called an “agent of influence of a foreign country”.

Huang was said to have “deliberately and covertly” advanced the agenda of a foreign country at Singapore’s expense. He did this in collaboration with foreign intelligence agents, and this amounted to “subversion and foreign interference” in Singapore’s domestic politics, MHA said. The Ministry has till now not identified this foreign country.

And what tools did the Ministry have at its disposal to deal with Huang?

As it so transpired, action came via his residency status and the Immigration Act.

Huang was designated an “undesirable immigrant” under Section 8(3)(k), which ultimately led to his residency in Singapore being cancelled.

No criminal charges have been levelled at Huang.

Going forward, the question is whether the Government should develop new tools to deal with the likes of Huang, and others, specifically as foreign agents.

READ: Digital Defence pillar added to Singapore’s Total Defence framework to strengthen cybersecurity

In his speech in Parliament, Mr Tong also spoke of proxies, the suggestion being that Singaporeans acting at the behest of foreign actors will also have to be addressed.

This perhaps is where guidance can be taken from other jurisdictions.

One of the more long-standing tools often referred to is the United States’ Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

FARA requires individuals who act as agents of foreign principals in a “political or quasi-political capacity” to “make public disclosure (emphasis added) of their relationship with the principal, as well as detail activities, payment or funding associated with those activities, according to the Department of Justice.

In recent months, Australia has also put in place the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme (FITS), aimed similarly at mandating self-reporting of activities by foreign agents, establishing a public registry of agents, and providing for enforcement and criminal prosecution against failure to register.

At the heart of such legislation are two things: The clear definition of what constitutes a foreign agent and his activities, and the importance of transparency in providing for full public scrutiny of the activities of all individuals and organisations which have registered as foreign agents. 

DEALING WITH MONEY

Besides dealing with the acts of people, jurisdictions are increasingly looking into the influence of money. For example, in parallel with its move to tighten controls over foreign influence via FITS, Australia is also mulling enhanced regulation of foreign political donations.

In Singapore, the possibility of direct foreign influence via political donations is already precluded via the Political Donations Act (PDA), which at the outset was crafted as legislation to “prohibit foreign donations”.

That said, as authorities mull new or updated legislation, it will be timely to review the entire framework on political funding, precisely to address not just direct foreign intervention, but to mitigate the potential use of proxies.

As it stands, the PDA mandates that designated political associations submit annual reports to the Registrar of Political Donations detailing all recordable donations. 

It may be time for such annual reports, together with the register of all donations under the Registrar, to be made public and readily searchable.

Greater transparency over political funding can provide guidance and set the stage for systemic change in other areas where the influence of money should be better scrutinised.

READ:  Would you know if you’ve been fed a deliberate online falsehood? Probably not, a commentary

For example, in recent months, foreign influence in the work of research institutes has come under scrutiny in the United States.

In August last year, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said it had become “aware that some foreign entities have mounted systematic programs to influence NIH (National Institutes of Health) researchers and peer reviewers and to take advantage of the long tradition of trust, fairness, and excellence of NIH supported research activities”.

Further, it noted the failure by some researchers working at US-funded institution to “to disclose substantial resources from other organizations, including foreign governments, which threatens to distort decisions about the appropriate use of NIH funds”.

There are no doubt lessons for Singapore’s vibrant academic and research community on the need for due process and transparency in dealing with foreign influence.

Another positive spillover that a mindset shift over funding can provide is in corporate funding.

In a January speech outlining the Government’s cautious approach on e-cigarettes, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health Amrin Amin pointed to the nexus between the tobacco and the e-cigarette industries, and the role lobbyists and “experts” play in championing the cause of liberalisation. He said:

When you hear so-called experts sharing their views — do ask whether they are being funded or influenced by tobacco lobbyists. 

Therein lies the crux. Setting aside the ins and outs of the debate being proffered by both sides, the key data point needed for all citizens is funding. 

If Singaporeans are to follow the money, whether foreign or corporate, the data must be made available for them to do so.

READ: To tackle deliberate online falsehoods, look also to non-legislative efforts, a commentary

DEALING WITH HACKS AND LEAKS

Foreign influence through the strategic use of information does not just reside in the creation of lies.

The truth can also be weaponised as a tool of foreign influence.

The hacking into, and release of emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in July 2016 has been characterised as a clear attempt to influence the 2016 US Presidential campaign.

This week (Feb 18), Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that an unnamed “state actor” had hacked into the networks of main political parties, and the Australian parliament.

Hacks in Singapore have happened and will continue to happen, but the protection of democratic processes – especially at the level of the political party – presents a unique opportunity for the Government to play a crucial non-partisan role.

In recent years, both the Australian and Dutch governments have spoken to the role that their governments would play in helping all political parties secure their networks.

This is a crucial point. While any government must itself be expected to maintain the highest levels of cybersecurity, political parties can be a glaring weak spot. Any party – big or small, in government or in opposition – that is compromised weakens trust, creates uncertainty and harms the overall democratic system. There are no winners in such scenarios.

Initiatives aimed at bolstering cybersecurity across the political spectrum would of course be predicated on trust and openness between all parties involved, based on the understanding that foreign influence is a fundamentally non-partisan issue.

Besides taking steps at prevention, greater focus must also be placed on the “what next” scenarios, once privileged information is leaked with hostile intent.

While the Government may look into strengthening legislative and regulatory frameworks, it has already been shown that tools such as the Official Secrets Act (OSA) provide little respite once information has been released.

Tech and social media companies may step in. But again, action is rarely immediate, and these companies will continue to maintain independent thresholds to determine in what circumstances and how access to information can be restricted.

Where then does the answer lie?

To finally go back to a point also made by Mr Tong: Singaporeans are the “first line of defence”. They would do well to take reference from French reactions to the so-called “Macron leaks” that were, like the DNC leaks, aimed at turning voters away from then-candidate Emmanuel Macron in the lead-up to the French presidential elections in 2017.

Having seen what had happened in the US, and later in the UK referendum on Brexit, it has been argued that the French electorate simply didn’t want to get into that game.

The onus will similarly lie on Singaporeans to learn to identify the presence of and fingerprints behind foreign influence. 

The best tools to help citizens do so are to strengthen access to information through greater transparency, which will bolster their ability to discern the benign from the malign, and be sophisticated enough to make the right decisions as and when the malicious political leak lands in Singapore.

Jaime Ho is Chief Editor at Channel NewsAsia Digital News.

SINGAPORE: She’d just come out of what she calls the lowest point in her life – her upper secondary school years, when she was bullied and isolated to the point that she had to drag herself out of bed in the mornings.

In her first year at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Ng Pei Ying wanted a change for the better.

She even did a web search on “how do you find a purpose”. “If you don’t have a purpose, you wake up not knowing what to do for the day,” said the 17-year-old digital animation student.

“Desperate” to get out of her rut, she attended an introductory talk on a pilot programme called ELEVATE – a service-learning project for ITE students to give back to the community – and decided to give it a try “because all my friends were in it”.

It turned out to be the thing that might well have transformed her life.

The once-withdrawn, insecure teenager who sought solace in her art, is today looking to spend her life helping others – all because of an opportunity that showed her the difference she could make in the lives of the disadvantaged.

A LONELY, SHY GIRL

Pei Ying grew up a solitary, shy girl. Drawing was her avenue to express herself. And it was to art she turned, when she became a victim of bullying in secondary school.

“They wrote some nasty things on a wall, and it went around the school,” she shared. The scribbles were erased – but then were rewritten by the unknown culprits. The harassment left the Normal (Technical) student “emotionally tired”. 

I just wanted to stay in bed.

But home was not a refuge either. “My home life … could be quite rowdy at times,” she said of the clashes that took place.

Drawing centred her somewhat. But eventually, she was driven to distraction. She started skipping her track and field training and was kicked out of the co-curricular activity.

She also began hanging out with an older group outside school. “Most of the time, we just met and went to abandoned buildings,” she said. “I wasn’t focusing on my studies. All I wanted to do was go out.”

Some of her friends would drink, some would buy her things, and it was easy to be lulled into thinking that she finally belonged. But one day, she realised this was a lifestyle she couldn’t afford – and a path she didn’t want to go down.

“Money was one of the obstacles. Secondly, I knew that I didn’t want to do this in the future. I’m pretty sure my friends aren’t going to pay my bills then.”

‘NEW YEAR, NEW ME’

Pei Ying’s desire for “something different” came as she settled into life at ITE College Central in 2018, where her love of drawing drew her to the digital animation course. She tried to convince herself to “be more cheerful”.

“People don’t know about your past and everything, so why not?” she reasoned. “New year, new me.”

And new opportunities came by way of ELEVATE. It is a project by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) for ITE students to use the vocational skills they learn in class to meet the community’s needs.

In Pei Ying’s case, she and six friends were assigned to teach drawing and animation to children at Care Corner Student Care Centre, which provides after-school support for children aged seven to 14 who are mostly from low-income families.

“These children might (otherwise) not have the opportunity to go for digital animation courses or even high-level drawing workshops,” said social work associate Lim Hui Ying from AWWA, the organisation coordinating with the ITE and the student care centre.

But first, Pei Ying had her own hurdle – a lack of self-assurance – to overcome.

“When I first saw her in the programme, she was very quiet,” recalled student care officer Jonathan Toh, who provides counselling services for ITE students. “She didn’t have that much confidence to complete certain tasks that were given.”

She also didn’t make the best first impression on Ms Lim at the orientation briefing for the ELEVATE students. “She came with coloured hair, and she had coloured contact lenses on, so it wasn’t really following the school rules,” recounted Ms Lim.  

I was thinking to myself, ‘Hmm, is she one of the more difficult students?’

STEPPING UP TO LEAD

One thing Pei Ying had going for her, however, was her desire to learn and give of her best.

She studiously brushed up on the animation she’d been taught. “I didn’t want to go there and teach them something I didn’t understand myself,” she said of the four students under her direct charge.

The once-introverted, impatient teenager was shaping up to be a caring and encouraging mentor under ELEVATE. “She’d also really look out for her friends,” said Ms Lim. 

If she felt that they were being left out, she’d try again and again to interact with and engage (them).

 “She wasn’t what you’d think of a 17-year-old student. She was very mature, very responsible.”

In fact, added Mr Toh, “during the whole process, she rose to become the group leader”.

WATCH: How Pei Ying’s life changed (6:48)

Then, there were the excitable children to test Pei Ying’s mettle. “They were very active and kept roaming around,” the teenager recounted.

“They forced me to be patient because I couldn’t flare up at them no matter what … I had to accommodate them because they wanted to learn.”

The children got to draw and animate Pac-Man, Spiderman and other things they liked. Aleeya Humairah Thong described Pei Ying’s instructions as “very clear”. Inspired, the 12-year-old declared: “I want to become a drawing and animation artist.”

One achievement Pei Ying remembers, was getting one particularly shy girl to open up to her. The girl didn’t know what to draw, and “I just kept asking her questions”, said Pei Ying.

“In the end, she drew a hospital – because she wanted to be a nurse – and little cats at the bottom.”

‘IT REACHES DEEP INTO YOUR HEART’

For Pei Ying, the experience may well have altered the course of her life. She has now set her sights on becoming a social worker.

That fire was lit when the ITE students got to do community service as part of an ELEVATE camp – in her case, singing for the elderly, which she “genuinely enjoyed”. “It just felt right,” she said.

Having a goal to work towards has made her a better student – one who now sits in front of the teacher, instead of at the back of the class as she used to.

Her friend Erman Tan says she’s more vocal as well. “In Year One, she was very lost in (her) studies. When she didn’t know how to do stuff, she wouldn’t ask questions. Now, she opens up to ask.”

Indeed, Pei Ying overcome one of her biggest fears – public speaking – when she had to share her ELEVATE story at the programme’s graduation ceremony after its June-to-November run. She delivered it in front of some 180 students across the three ITE colleges, as well as VIPs, beneficiaries, and the programme’s funders – Temasek Foundation Cares, Lorinet Foundation, Quantedge Foundation and Trafigura Foundation.

Though her stint in ELEVATE is over, Pei Ying continues to do volunteer work through balloon sculpting, one of ITE College Central’s co-curricular activities. She recently visited a kidney dialysis centre and an old folks’ home, sparking smiles and laughter from beneficiaries with her balloon creations.

“I’d describe (charity work) in one word: Fulfilling,” she said. 

It reaches deep inside your heart.

A PLATFORM TO SHINE

To Mr Toh, the change in the quiet girl he first saw has been impressive. “She might have had the potential, but it’s just that she hadn’t had the platform to shine,” he said.

 “I always tell students, ‘What you learn in the ITE, you can bring out and showcase to the community. 

It isn’t just something for earning a living, but something (with which) you can make an impact.

That is the idea behind ELEVATE, which started in 2017 and was conceived to “nurture compassion in students to serve the community”, said NCSS director (Service Planning and Standards) Chan Whee Peng.

For example, ITE College West worked with YMCA, and ITE College East with Touch Community Services, to have students volunteer their skills to the elderly – such as by repairing and servicing wheelchairs, or doing simple home-fixes for them. The students were paired with groups such as the Lions Befrienders and Kampong Senang.

Ricky Saputra Ng, a student in mechanical technology, said that meeting old folks who kept a positive attitude despite living alone inspired him. “Usually, I view life negatively. I’ve been failing academically, and ever since my grandma passed away, I’ve felt even more depressed,” he said.

He now tries to be more responsible by showing up on time for class. “Last time I wouldn’t even show up,” he chuckled.

A FUTURE WITH MORE CHOICES

Mr Chan added that if the programme’s “good progress” continues, “we hope to see ELEVATE replicated as an established model in the ITE colleges and made available to more students”.

Its impact may well extend beyond the ITE students. Care Corner senior teacher Quaraisha Roslan shared that her charges were “fascinated” and “impressed” by the ITE College Central campus and the classes they attended.

“They even told me, ‘When I grow up, and I can go to the ITE, I’d want to go, and I’d want to join this digital animation course,’” said the ITE alumna.

That was quite satisfying for Pei Ying to hear. “Other than skills, I think we’re passing them hope. It’s like we’re giving them more choices for what they want to do in future.”

There is every reason for them – and her – to aim high, believes Mr Toh, who graduated from ITE with a certificate in office skills nearly two decades ago.

“Maybe 10 years down the road, she could be my colleague (or) fellow practitioner in the field,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

This story by CNA Insider was done in partnership with Gov.sg.

SINGAPORE: Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools continue to have a place in the education system, said Education Minister Ong Ye Kung on Saturday (Feb 23), despite questions about the relevance of such schools in multi-cultural, multi-racial Singapore.

SAP schools were established in 1979 against the backdrop of falling enrolment in Chinese-medium schools. The aim was to preserve the best of these schools, to promote the learning of Chinese language and culture.

There are 26 SAP schools – 15 primary and 11 secondary schools.

Speaking at an event to mark 40 years of SAP schools, Mr Ong acknowledged that some SAP school students have lamented the lack of opportunities to interact with students from other racial communities.

This, however, should not have to lead to a “drastic change” to the SAP system, he said.

With Asia being the fastest growing region in the world and China being Singapore’s largest trading partner, Mr Ong said the learning of language and culture has become “more important than ever”.

Even though bilingualism has been a “unique advantage” here, people in other countries are catching up and even surpassing Singaporeans, he added, noting that it is increasing common to meet Europeans and Americans who are fluent in Mandarin.

 “The right thing to do is to preserve the programmes and institutions that promote the learning of our Mother Tongues, and improve them where we can,” said Mr Ong in a speech at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre.

“We should be very careful not to undo any of these efforts as that would be bucking the strategic trend at a time when it matters the most.”

On a national level, Mr Ong said Singapore’s identity draws from the cultures of different communities.

“Our nation-building journey is far from over. A nation’s identity takes centuries to develop and mature, and it has to draw from the cultural richness of individual communities,” he said.

Over the years, some have criticised the SAP programme for creating greater ethnic segregation by reinforcing Chinese culture in a multiracial society.

Addressing this issue, Mr Ong acknowledged that a key area for improvement is to expand and deepen opportunities for SAP students to make friends from other communities.

“There is definitely room to do better,” he said.

“Because the objective is not just getting students to interact occasionally with students of other races, but having the experiences of growing up together with friends from all ethnic backgrounds, developing mutual trust, understanding our multi-cultural society and appreciating the adjustments we have to make in order to maintain our social cohesion and racial harmony.”

At the same time, it has become increasingly challenging to run an SAP school, said the minister, because more students come from English speaking families and English has become the more commonly spoken language in schools.

“Given Singapore’s language environment today, it will be an uphill task to make all our students effectively bilingual and bicultural,” he noted.

“But with SAP schools, we will have a good chance to develop a core group in every cohort, with an intuitive understanding of Chinese culture, history and thinking, and with standards of Chinese close to those in China, Taiwan or Hong Kong.”

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) will contest the same constituencies as it did in the last general election, said secretary-general Chee Soon Juan as he launched the party’s election campaign on Saturday (Feb 23).

“In terms of the constituencies that we are looking at, it’s no different from the ones we contested in 2015 – subject of course to the redrawing of the boundaries which we won’t know until closer to the election,” Dr Chee told reporters at a Mandarin Orchard ballroom.

“But as it stands right now, it will be those same few constituencies that we contested in 2015.”

SDP had fielded 11 candidates in the 2015 General Election but failed to gain a seat. The party contested three Single Member Constituencies – Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang and Yuhua – and two Group Representation Constituencies – Holland-Bukit Timah and Marsiling-Yew Tee.

The next general election must be held by April 2021.

The SDP’s new campaign slogan is “#SDPNOW, The Way Forward”, which Dr Chee said was based on the party’s “vision” and “alternative policies” for the future.

He added that the SDP has stuck to its beliefs and values.

“We’re still continuing to fight the same things, because the PAP (People’s Action Party) refuses to change,” he said.

“And in the interim, what they have done is that they have hit us, thrown the kitchen sink at us, but we’ve stuck to our message, we’ve never wavered in our belief that rights come before riches, people before profit, wisdom before wealth.”

He also explained why the SDP is kickstarting its campaign early.

“The fight, the contest, is won or lost way before those nine days (of campaigning). So for us, it’s making sure we start early, we get people who are new here, coming to this event early enough … Call us kiasu, I don’t know, but it’s important for us because we don’t know when elections are going to be held. By the time it’s held, it’s going to be too late,” Dr Chee said.

Several SDP members took to the stage at the launch, including chairman Paul Tambyah and vice chairman John Tan.

Dr Tambyah talked about the “relentless rise in the cost of living”, as well as a “series of leaks and tragedies” that he said have caused people to question whether the PAP is up to the task of leading Singapore.

“I don’t think mistakes are going to go away,” he added. “I know they will happen, that malicious individuals will commit crimes that hurt many people and accidents also will happen, but what I’m concerned about is that nobody takes responsibility, or ownership of these disasters.”

A “CONSOLIDATED” OPPOSITION NEEDED: DR CHEE

In his speech, Dr Chee touched on the importance of having a “consolidated” opposition effort in local politics.

The SDP was among seven opposition parties which came together last year to explore the possibility of working closer together at the next general election. 

Present at that meeting was political veteran Tan Cheng Bock, who recently filed an application to form a new political party called Progress Singapore Party.

“The first step is to get everybody to sit at the same table and ask the question – what are we trying to achieve?” Dr Chee said on Saturday. “I want to encourage our opposition friends to think of what we are fighting for and work towards that end where we have that common value, that goal we want to achieve.”

Mr Benjamin Pwee, who recently applied to join SDP after his resignation from the Democratic Progressive Party, was at the campaign launch.

“The launch was very good because it features public policy which is at the very heart and it is very much beliefs and values based rather than personality based,” Mr Pwee told Channel NewsAsia. “There are very few political parties who have the wherewithal to actually come up with good solid policy formulations.”

READ: Benjamin Pwee quits DPP for ‘bigger’ party with ‘recognisable and credible senior leader

The SDP’s Central Executive Committee will meet in early March to consider the application of Mr Pwee, who contested in Bishan-Toa Payoh in the last two general elections.

According to SDP vice chairman John Tan, the party will progressively roll out a series of revised policies in the months to come, with their cost of living policy and housing policy to be unveiled in March.

The party is also planning to hold a pre-election rally at Hong Lim Park in September.