They may have long completed their full-time national service (NS) commitments, but Colonel Syed Abdul Malik Aljunied, 49, and Deputy Assistant Commissioner Darric Teo, 44, have chosen to go the extra mile.
The duo are among a group of NSmen who have taken on additional responsibilities in the Home Team.
Col Malik, for one, signed up to be involved in overseas missions with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in 2004, and still continues to be rotated on standby.
"Having been trained as a rescuer all these years, you have achieved competence... The next thing is the willingness to come forward to serve," said the father of two sons and two daughters.
In 2005, he was among the third batch of NSmen deployed for Operation Lionheart, SCDF's overseas contingent which mostly consists of regulars and helps disaster-hit countries. He was sent to Muzaffarabad for a search-and-rescue operation after an earthquake in Pakistan. Around 80,000 people were killed and many children were hurt.
Hearing how his father rescued schoolchildren inspired special constable Syed Isa Aljunied, 20, Col Malik's younger son. He joined the National Civil Defence Cadet Corps in secondary school, and is now doing NS with the police force. His elder brother, aged 22, served with the SCDF's marine command.
Like Col Malik, fellow NSman DAC Teo considers NS a meaningful journey. He recalled spending 14-hour days for more than two weeks as part of a team at Bedok police division helping to lead security operations during the 2009 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economic leaders meeting.
But there was some personal cost. "Income at my logistics company was down by half at the time and my family life was non-existent," said the father of one. "But my family has grown used to it. NS has been a very big part of my life. After all, this is our country."
DAC Teo now prepares NSmen for duties under the police's Protective Security Command unit, which handles location and events security.
Yesterday, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen launched a year-long series of events to mark 50 years of NS. The Singapore Police Force started full-time NS in 1975, while the SCDF, then the Singapore Fire Brigade, started it a year later.
In a letter, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam thanked Home Team NSmen for their contributions. In a media statement, he said NS "has been and will continue to be an important pillar in the Home Team's mission", adding that police and SCDF NSmen are deployed at the front line every day to ensure a safe and secure Singapore.
