Home Team officers given scholarships, sponsorships to pursue further studies

SINGAPORE – More than 100 officers were rewarded with scholarships and sponsorships by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for their outstanding service and contributions to the Home Team on July 24.

Among the recipients, 74 officers will pursue their undergraduate studies, while 37 will take on their postgraduate studies.

Nine officers who are already on full-time degree studies received book prizes for outstanding academic achievements. This is awarded to the top MHA students pursuing a degree in public safety and security at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) in each cohort, and those with the best dissertation papers.

Five officers were also given the MHA study award, which provides up to 80 per cent reimbursement of compulsory course fees.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said MHA will continue to invest in the professional and personal growth of its officers.

“MHA’s workforce is an invaluable asset that determines the success of the Home Team. That is why we place great emphasis on and devote an inordinate amount of resources towards our officers’ development,” said Ms Sun.

Among the scholarship recipients was Mrs Liang Jiexin, senior assistant director of the joint operations group at MHA’s headquarters. She will pursue a Master of Science in Asian studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Mrs Liang, 36, started off in MHA as a media relations officer in 2011, and found herself in the trenches in 2013 when the ministry and its Home Team agencies had to respond to the Little India Riots.

“I remembered we had to organise almost daily press conferences to give updates of the situation on the ground, the follow-up with the rioters, and even the Committee of Inquiry thereafter.”

At the time, she said she was charged with translating policies into bite-sized information for the public.

“It was very fast-paced in the media team. But I saw how policy is more like a long-term process, where those working in policy need to really understand the problem before developing and formulating responses. It was something I thought I would enjoy.”

Mrs Liang passed on an earlier scholarship in 2019 to take on a posting at MHA, working on foreign interference and hybrid threats, which remain her scope today.

“I took up the offer as it was something I was interested in,” she said, adding that these were still emerging threats at the time.

Today, the mother of two young children helps to coordinate responses and policies to counter these threats in both the physical and digital realms.

These can include hostile information campaigns that “can spread disinformation either to polarise society or to manipulate public discourse or sentiment on sensitive issues”, she said.

She was part of the team that assessed and initiated action against a network of 95 accounts linked to self-exiled Chinese businessman and convicted fraudster Guo Wengui.

The accounts, which MHA on July 19 directed social media platforms to block, were found to have spread allegations that Singapore is being controlled by China, and that Beijing had been involved in the selection of Singapore’s fourth-generation leader.

“The use of social media and artificial intelligence has made the spread of disinformation much easier. That is a challenge that we are facing,” Mrs Liang added.

Another scholarship recipient was Mr Ahmad Tarmizi Mohamed Tahir from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

A deputy team leader at Tuas Checkpoint, Mr Tarmizi, 32, will enrol in SUSS’ public safety and security degree programme.

He credited his brother, who received the same scholarship in 2020, for helping him to strive for excellence.

“My family members were extremely proud of me when they learnt that I had got the scholarship, but my brother was the first one to congratulate me,” Mr Tarmizi said, adding that his brother, Inspector Amir Hamzah, 40, at ICA, has been his role model for as long as he can remember.

“I hope I can make my family proud – especially my brother, because he has a good reputation in ICA and I do not want to tarnish it. So I will always work hard to do my best.”

Mr Tarmizi said he wants to harness the new knowledge he will gain from his studies to eventually help train and mentor his younger colleagues.

“I want to be an inspiration to all budding officers in the ICA, or (those who) are keen to join the ICA, just as how my brother had inspired me back then,” he added.

Ms Dawn Ong, 30, a psychologist with the Singapore Prison Service, received the postgraduate scholarship to pursue a master’s in clinical psychology at the National University of Singapore.

She said she has always been interested in human behaviour and wants to help offenders reintegrate into society, as she strongly believes everyone is capable of change.

Her work experiences have also helped to shape her perspective, she said. In particular, she remembered spending two years working weekly with a drug offender in prison.

“Over the course of our work together, I witnessed both his growth and pitfalls as he battled with his mental health. While there are still challenging moments, he never stopped trying...

“Working with the drug offender has taught me that life is made of good and bad days, and both are necessary in helping us grow, as long as we keep pushing through,” she added.