Singapore Prison Service

Year 1998	Directorship of Mr Chua Chin Kiat On 1 November, Mr Chua Chin Kiat took over office from Mr Poh Geok Ek who retired.
Year 1999	Housing Unit (HU) Management System HU Management System was implemented on 1 July to enable Prison Officers to perform the dual roles of effective safe custody and rehabilitation of inmates through teamwork and purposeful interaction. Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Redevelopment of Changi Prison Complex Mr Wong Kan Seng, Minister for Home Affairs was invited as the Guest-of-Honour for the groundbreaking ceremony on 31 December. Development of Current Vision and Revision of Mission Statement SPS organised a visioning exercise in January to collectively craft a shared Vision and review its Mission to better accommodate the changing needs and expectations of its customers and the public. The new Vision and revised Mission were unveiled by the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Wong Kan Seng on 31 December. SPS tagline, “Captain of Lives” (COL) was also unveiled.
Year 2000	Establishment of Kaki Bukit Centre (KBC) as a Prison School On 3 January, KBC was established as a Prison School for inmates’ education and skills learning. With this, teaching resources were centralised and more inmates were able to pursue further education. Prison Management System (PMS) The commissioning of the PMS on 10 January heralded a new era in SPS and was a significant start to the new millennium. The PMS is an integrated electronic database which supports prison operation, tracks all information of inmates and is the first amongst Prison and Correctional Services in the world to be equipped with digital imaging technology. Official Launch of Community Action for the Rehabilitation of Ex-offenders (CARE) Network The CARE Network, co-chaired by DP, and Chairman SCORE and its other members comprising MHA, SACA, SANA, ISCOS, and NCSS was launched in May to ensure seamless throughcare in the rehabilitation of ex-offenders by harnessing the resources and services of our community partners. Home Detention (HD) Scheme The Home Detention Scheme was introduced in May to enable first-time and minor offenders to return early to the community to be re-united with their families and be gainfully employed. This would facilitate the involvement of the family and the community in the offenders' rehabilitation. Women Deployment in Male Institutions On 21 June, the deployment of women officers in male institutions to perform operational work was introduced. Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) LSI-R assessment tool was adopted in October for the rehabilitation classification of inmates. This marked the beginning of an empirical approach towards rehabilitation classification and enabled SPS to provide tailored programmes to meet the rehabilitation needs of the different categories of inmates. Ethics Structure The Ethics Structure comprising ethics helpline and discussion forums, was launched to help officers handle the ethical issues that arose from carrying out their new role as COL.
Year 2001	Singapore Quality Class (SQC) SPS was awarded the Singapore Quality Class in March. Departmental Values A new set of Departmental Values - HEART was promulgated in May as a way to internalise the Values of COL. Balanced Scorecard SPS adopted the Balanced Scorecard as a tool to track the organisation’s performance and progress on 19 September. Televisit Televisit facilities were implemented in October. Rehab, Renew, Restart SPS’s corporate image “Rehab, Renew, Restart” was unveiled via the first series of TV commercials in November. This initiative raised public awareness of the transformation undertaken by SPS.
Year 2003	People Developer Standard (PDS) SPS attained the People Developer Standard on 18 February. ISO 9001:2000 SPS achieved ISO 9001:2000 for its Intake Rehabilitation Classification on 20 February. Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hong Kong Correctional Services Department (HKCSD) SPS signed MOU with the HKCSD on 23 July to enhance co-operation and mutual sharing. Public Service Award SPS was awarded the Public Service Award on 29 July for achieving the SQC, PDS and ISO 9001:2000. Recertification of SQC SPS was recertifiied with the SQC in July. National Day Awards 2003 SPS was awarded the President’s Certification of Commendation during the National Day Awards 2003 for its significant contribution in combating and containing SARS.
Year 2004	Singapore Innovation Class (SIC) SPS was awarded the SIC on 18 May. Revised Operations Philisophy A revised Operations Philosophy was adopted on 19 July to engender greater alignment to SPS’s organisational goals. Official Launch of Cluster A Operationalisation of Cluster A marked another milestone in SPS’s journey towards building an exemplary prison system. Singapore Prison Short Risk Scale (SPSRS) SPS successfully developed a modified scale named SPSRS using only nine factors from the original 54 items of the LSI-R assessment tool. SPSRS effectively increased the predictive accuracy of the assessment tool. Expansion of the Home Detention Scheme Following the success of the Home Detention scheme, SPS expanded the scheme in October to allow more inmates to benefit from it. Yellow Ribbon Project (YRP) The first YRP was launched in October to raise public awareness and acceptance of the community towards ex-offenders so as to garner community support for inmates’ re-integration into society. Asian & Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA) SPS hosted the 24th Asian & Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA) held in Singapore. Family Friendly Employer Award SPS was awarded the Family Friendly Employer Award.
Year 2005	e-Society Excellence Award SPS was awarded the inaugural e-Society Excellence Award on 23 March for its application of infocomm technology in internet home televisit. Singapore Service Class Award (SSC) SPS was awarded the Singapore Service Class on 9 May. The Public Administration Medal (Gold) Director of Prisons was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Gold) during the National Day Awards 2005. This is the strongest acknowledgement by the nation for the progress SPS has made in the rehabilitation of inmates. Distinguished Public Service Award SPS was awarded the Distinguished Public Service Award on 21 November for the attainment of key organistional excellence standards namely the SQC, SIC, PDS, SSC and ISO 9001:2000.
Year 2006	Recertification for the PDS SPS successfully obtained the recertification for the PDS in January. Recertification of ISO 9001:2000 SPS achieved the recertification of ISO 9001:2000 for Initial Rehabilitation Classification in February. The Singapore Quality Award 2006 The Singapore Quality Award (SQA) is the highest accolade given to organizations for business excellence in Singapore. The SQA trophy was presented to Mr Chua Chin Kiat, Director of Prisons by Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister in Prime Minister’s Office, at the Business Excellence Awards Presentation Ceremony held on 12th October 2006. Achieving the award is an affirmation that SPS has attained world-class standards of business excellence. Top Public Service Award for Organisational Excellence (PS Award) 2006 SPS was awarded the Top Public Service (PS) Award on 10 November 2006. The Top PS Award is the premier Organisational Excellence (OE) award given to public agencies which have attained the Singapore Quality Award (SQA) and 4 other PS21 OE qualifying standards; namely the People Developer Standard (PDS), ISO 9001:2000, the Service-Class and the Innovation-Class. In 2006, the Singapore Prison Service is honoured to become one of the three organisations (together with Singapore Police Force and Central Provident Fund Board) who have attained the award so far. The award, which is given out by the Head of Civil Service, serves as recognition for our relentless efforts in promoting organisational excellence. Expansion of the Home Detention Scheme Following the success of the Home Detention scheme, SPS expanded the scheme in October to allow more inmates to benefit from it. Asian & Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA) SPS hosted the 24th Asian & Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA) held in Singapore. Family Friendly Employer Award SPS was awarded the Family Friendly Employer Award.
Year 2007	Top 10 Best Employers 2007 SPS was named as the top 10 companies to work for in 2007. The survey conducted by global HR consultancy Hewitt Associates involved over 50 companies and evaluated shortlisted companies based on level of employee engagement, effectiveness of HR policies, effectiveness of HR policies and business results. Directorship of Mr Ng Joo Hee On 1 November, Mr Ng Joo Hee took over office from Mr Chua Chin Kiat who moved on to become the executive director of Aetos Security Management.
Year 2008	Recertification for the PDS, SIC and SSC SPS successfully obtained the recertification for the PDS, SIC and SSC in August.