The Prisons Act will be amended this year to introduce a Conditional Remission System (CRS) and Mandatory Aftercare Scheme (MAS) to help offenders before and after their release. A halfway house will also be built in the Selarang Park Complex, to provide a structured environment to supervise and rehabilitate those on the Scheme.

These announcements were made by the Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, in his Committee of Supply speech on Thursday.

Under the CRS, all inmates released at the two-third mark of their sentence will be subject to "certain conditions" during the remission period. "Those who breach these conditions will be taken to task," he said. Details on these conditions have yet to be released.

The implementation of the CRS will allow for high-risk ex-inmates to be placed on the MAS, This step-down approach will involve counselling, case management, and halfway house treatment.

As part of this strategy, a halfway house in the Selarang Park Complex will be developed. It will serve as a "structured environment to supervise and rehabilitate high-risk ex-inmates emplaced on the MAS", said Mr Masagos.