Ministry Of Home Affairs Committee Of Supply Debate 2010 – Speech By Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Home Affairs – Recidivism, Road Safety, Safe Cycling and CEP

05 March 2010

Speaker, I will now touch on recidivism, road safety and safe cycling and the Community Engagement Programme.

Recidivism

2 Dr Maliki asked about the recidivism rate in Singapore, defined as the percentage of local inmates who are imprisoned again for a new offence within 2 years of their release.

3 Singapore’s recidivism rate has declined over the years from about 44.4% for the cohort released in 1998 to an all time low of about 23.7% for the cohort released in 2004. Although the recidivism rate has since increased slightly to about 26.5% for the cohort released in 2007, this is still low by international standards.

What has been done to reduce the recidivism rate

4 The general decline in recidivism over the last decade is the result of concerted efforts by Prisons, the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE) and community partners.

5 Within the institutions, Prisons has a classification framework which assesses offenders’ risk of re-offending and rehabilitation needs. Specialised Treatment Programmes also address specific risk factors such as substance abuse, criminal thinking and sexual offending behaviour.

6 In parallel, SCORE has various activities to enhance inmates’ employability. This, as Dr Maliki has emphasised, is an important protective factor for ex-offenders. SCORE conducts training in workplace literacy and numeracy skills and offers certified courses in Retail, Electronics and IT skills. Potential employers are also invited into Prisons to help offenders secure jobs even before their release.

7 In 2009, SCORE offered employment assistance to a total of 1,344 inmates and ex-offenders. Of this number, employment was secured for almost 85% (1,142). If an ex-offender is sincere and does not have unrealistic expectations, SCORE will be able to find him a job. It may not be the best paying job but it will be a fair wage based on his skills and competencies. More importantly, he will have a stable income until a better job offer comes along.

8 The final and arguably most critical part of the equation is ensuring that offenders can successfully re-integrate into the community after their release. Prisons partnered with the Singapore Aftercare Association (SACA) and the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA) in 2001 to provide offenders with aftercare assistance to adjust to life outside prison.

9 In order for re-integration to succeed the community must be willing to support and accept ex-offenders who want to change for the better. The Yellow Ribbon Project, which started in 2004, has achieved progress on this front. Many volunteers have since stepped forward to help by providing religious counselling for inmates, assisting their families and employing ex-offenders.

What more can be done

10 It took us almost a decade to build up our structured rehabilitation and reintegration regime, and to achieve our low recidivism rates, we have to garner the support of dedicated volunteers and partners. We note Mr Alvin Yeo’s concern on the rising trend of recidivism, and will continue to monitor this and endeavour to keep it low. However it is not realistic to expect our recidivism rates to continue to fall indefinitely and there will be fluctuations from time to time.

11 Notwithstanding the relatively low recividism rate, we continue to explore how our programmes can be improved and whether they can be refined to better reach specific target groups such as youths. Likewise, while the recidivism rate for Malay and Indian offenders has decreased over the years, it is still higher than the general recidivism rate. This is something we have recently been studying together with various relevant agencies.

Cycling

Education on Road Safety and Safe Cycling

12 Now on cycling, Mr Michael Palmer asked about educating cyclists on cycling regulations and safe cycling behaviour. The Traffic Police (TP) has already been doing this through road safety talks and exhibitions in schools, workplaces and neighbourhoods. The talks cover a pre-riding checklist, safe cycling tips and case studies of accidents involving cyclists.

13 Through these platforms, cyclists are reminded about safe cycling behaviour as well as the need to abide by all road traffic rules, including the Road Traffic (Bicycles) Rules. These rules include hand signals showing the intention to stop, riding close to the left hand edge of the road, riding in an orderly manner, and carrying a lamp with white light at the front of the bicycle during hours of darkness.

Why cyclists are not required by law to wear helmets

14 Mr Palmer asked why cyclists are not required by law to wear helmets. The practice of mandating the use of bicycle helmets varies from country to country. The experience of other countries has been that education and community-based programmes, as opposed to legislation, have been more effective in promoting the use of helmets.

15 TP will continue to work with organisations such as the Singapore Amateur Cycling Association and the Safe Cycling Task Force, to promote the wearing of protective cycling gear. TP will monitor the situation and assess if there is a need to mandate the use of helmets in future.

16 In addition to public education efforts, TP also takes enforcement action against errant cyclists who flout the rules by cycling on footways of roads. In 2009, more than 600 summonses were issued to such cyclists compared to 115 issued in 2008. The current penalties are usually a composition fine of $20. We are reviewing whether to increase the composition amount for greater deterrence.

17 In addition, most Town Councils have by-laws prohibiting cycling on HDB common property such as pavements, and open spaces such as void decks. Action can be taken against cyclists who disregard these laws.

18 In 2009, there were 583 accidents involving cyclists resulting in fatalities or injuries compared to 604 for 2008. This is a decrease of 21 cases, or 3.5%. The number of fatalities involving cyclists who died in accidents also went down by 22.7% from 22 to 17.

19 Notwithstanding this modest improvement, cyclists have been identified as a key target group in TP’s educational efforts in 2010. We will continue to work with MOT and LTA to raise safety awareness through public education programmes, and create a safer environment for cyclists by providing adequate infrastructure and facilities.

Community Engagement Programme (CEP)

20 Let me touch on Viswa’s speech and cut on Community Engagement Programme. Mr Viswa Sadasivan suggested that the Community Engagement Programme, or CEP, engage youth leaders, both within the school system and outside, as well as PRs and new citizens. These are important constituencies that we have reached out to under the CEP.

Engaging Youths

21 We have adopted a multi-pronged youth engagement approach to engage not just youth leaders but youths in different sectors.

22 Within the school system, we work with the Ministry of Education to engage principals and teachers in workshops where they are equipped with CEP related skills such as mediation, which may come in useful in a school environment.

23 Beyond this, we have been building awareness of CEP through talks and interactive projects at youth camps. The recent SG United Jamboree held in Jan 2010 provided students with an opportunity to interact with peers of other races and increase their understanding of terrorism, emergency preparedness and safety and security issues. Most of the helpers and participants in the Jamboree had also previously participated in Home Team-related camps which included a CEP dimension.

24 Another approach is to tap on existing youth-based structures and their activities. For example, students from the National Civil Defence Cadet Corps (NCDCC) are engaged through the CEP Badge, which they can earn by performing CEP-related activities. We have also started working with partners such as the National Youth Achievement Award (NYAA) Gold Award Holders’ Alumni to organise a NYAA-SG United Forum in June this year.

25 The more mature or student leader groups are engaged through discussions at workshops or forums via the SG United Journey for Student Leaders (Tertiary) programme. The inaugural session for this was held recently with student leaders from NUS religious groups and clubs.

26 SCDF has also piloted a Civil Defence Lionhearters Club in Singapore Polytechnic where students are trained in basic emergency preparedness skills, exposed to the CEP concept and given the chance to do humanitarian relief work overseas. We will continue to engage them with future sessions on mediation and understanding ethnicity.

Engaging PRs and New Citizens

27 Mr Viswa mentioned that we should extend the CEP to reach out to PRs and new citizens. The CEP does not cater specifically to this group, but rather looks at the community in Singapore as a whole. Nonetheless, we will explore ways on how to develop this further with the National Integration Council under MCYS.

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