For 400 offenders from 2011 to 2016, confinement behind bars was avoided.
They were free to lead their lives, though they had to appear at a prison reporting centre once a week for about 10 to 45 minutes.
These low-risk offenders, whose crimes would have put them in jail for three years at the most, were part of a prison scheme that aims to rehabilitate them in the real world.
Since the Day Reporting Order scheme started in 2011, at least 90 per cent of each year's cohort completed their sentences, according to the latest prison statistics released yesterday.
The high completion rates show that the scheme is a viable alternative sentencing option, said a spokesman for the Singapore Prison Service (SPS).
Furthermore, offenders' records are considered spent when they complete their court order, so that they will not be stigmatised when they apply for jobs, said the prison service.
To qualify for the scheme, offenders have to be at least 16 years old, be first-time offenders, and have committed crimes that are considered minor - for example, theft, traffic offences and mischief.
The prison service will assess offenders before coming up with tailored rehabilitation plans. Each plan lasts three to 12 months.
Offenders have to work with a correctional rehabilitation specialist, who will provide counselling and help with employment matters.
Some offenders may have to wear electronic tags to ensure that they keep to their curfews.
Offenders have to go to the Prison Link Centre in Geylang Bahru once a week to meet their reporting officer.
For the rest of their time, they can go about their lives, as long as they stick to the court order and do not commit crimes.
In 2013, Ms Samantha Lo, who had stencilled "My Grandfather Road" on several roads and pasted stickers bearing captions such as "Press Once Can Already" on traffic light buttons, was served a three-month Day Reporting Order.
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90%
Percentage of each year's cohort who completed their sentences under the Day Reporting Order scheme, which started in 2011. Low-risk offenders, whose crimes would have put them in jail for a maximum of three years, are free to live their lives in the real world but must meet their reporting officer once a week. Offenders' records are also considered spent when they complete their court order, so that they will not be stigmatised when they apply for jobs.
If offenders breach their Day Reporting Order, the courts will conduct a review and decide if rehabilitation has been effective.
"We want to work with the offenders to ensure compliance and to ensure that they get back on their feet," said Assistant Commissioner Rockey Francisco Jr, SPS' director of Community Corrections Command.
Allowing offenders to rehabilitate in a real-world setting is one way for them to learn how to battle their demons, he added, noting that prison may not offer the same temptations as the outside world.
As a result, offenders may commit crimes again if they are not integrated well into society, he said.
The SPS spokesman said employment is another way to keep them from reoffending.
Last year, there were 5,520 employers registered with Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (Score) to provide job opportunities for offenders, up from 5,093 employers in 2016 and 4,745 in 2015.
Last year, Score secured 2,143 jobs for offenders while they were still serving their sentences, an increase from the 2,061 in 2016.
Latest figures show that recidivism has hovered around 26 per cent for cohorts released between 2013 and 2015.
For the cohort released in 2012, close to three in 10 offenders went back to jail, the highest rate in at least nine years.
