[Singapore Police Force] Your Neighbourhood Police Post Of The Future

Have you ever been to your nearest neighbourhood police post?
Do you even know where it is, how it looks like?

I've been there a few times myself:

• to have the address of my i/c changed(that's twice),
• to report the lost of my donation card when I was in Primary School.
• Reported this harassment case back in secondary school where I was constantly harassed by several 'Ah Lians' who would make random phonecalls to me, challenging me to fights, threatened to chop off my legs should they see me in certain shopping centres. My contact number was given to them by school bullies. (Now that reminds me, I had wanted to share the story of bullies in my school! I MUST write about mine to support Yingzi, who courageously shared her story of her encounter with school bullies here.)
• to accompany mom make a police report of loan sharks coming to my doorstep & splash paint, throw flowerpots! (HATERS!)

Singapore NPPs are not opened 24/7. There will be one police officer at the front desk attending to you. If someone is already there before you do, you'll have to wait for your turn, which can sometimes take quite a while, especially when that person making the report is giving a recount of something which had happened... I remembered myself speaking to the officer about the harassment for at least 5minutes.

Besides NPPs, there are neighbourhood police centres(NPC) and police Headquarters too! The NPCs aim to be able to provide more services in a location with reduced time. More police officers and resources can be found at these NPCs. Each NPC officer is expected to handle front-line duties, basic investigation work and administrative duties.

After visiting the Police Heritage Centre (photos will be shared later), I got to know that there are NO part-time police officers in Singapore, only full-time or voluntary police officers. By the way, my buddy, Laren Goh, was a voluntary police officer! He was a dedicated police officer, attending courses, being on time for all his patrol duties etc.

*Proud of Buddy!*

The Judging Panel

In the Singapore Police Force(SPF), the Commissioner of Police is the top-ranking police officer of the Singapore Police force, assisted by the Deputy Commissioner of Police. It was my utmost honour and privilege to meet and speak with our Commissioner of Police, Mr Ng Joo Hee and our Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr T.Raja Kumar, at the "NPP Of The Future" Design Competition on 24th February 2012. On top of that, the Singapore Police Force gave me a golden opportunity to meet AC Zuraidah Binte Abdullah (Commander of Training Command ),Mr Tan Kian Hoon( Chairman of National Crime Prevention Council ), Mr Mark Wee (Director, Architect of Ong&Ong Pte Ltd ), Dr Dora Hoan (Vice-Chairman of Radin Mas CC ) and Mediacorp Artiste, Elvin Ng up-close and personal.


All of them were present as Judges that day.

Our guest-of-honour, The Minister in Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade & Industry, Mr S Iswaran was also present!

About NPP Of The Future Design Competition

Review the community policing strategies so that they can better enhance more strategic and targeted ways to fight crime and at the same time serve residents better, the SPF began looking into how technology advancement can be used. Exploring this idea and tapping on the young minds of tertiary students, SPF organised a creative design competition, known as the NPP of the Future Design Competition, where tertiary students can come forward with concepts and designs as to how they picture their NPP of the future should look and be like.

A total of 16 teams across 10 tertiary institutions in Singapore, including students from Polytechnics, ITEs and universities participated. Out of these 16 teams, 5 teams emerged and entered the finals which was held at the Police Headquarters, New Phoenix Park, to compete for 2 winning positions.

The 2 winning teams will win themselves a trophy and S$5,000 cash respectively. Also, they will be working with the SPF to build prototypes which will be exhibited at the Police Workplan Seminar 2012. Good concepts and designs, as well as from other entries, will be incorporated in trial NPP designs.

So who won?
Read on...








I was trying to ask for directions to the auditorium from this police mascot. The police officer escorting me must have thought I'm crazy. He waited for me patiently in the sun while I spoke to the mascot though. Sorry to scare you!

I'm normal, really.






YEAH, seating in the front row at the auditorium! Awesome view.

Watch this introductory video about the competition:


During the finals, the 5 top teams from Singapore Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Management University and Nanyang Technological University, will present their design concepts to the panel of judges. The presentation was also done in front of invited audience comprising students from tertiary schools, SPF Facebook Fans, members of Elvinology Fanclub and police officers were present in the auditorium. The judges were given limited time to enquire each team after their presentation.

There were 2 pages full of judging criteria which includes the aesthetic, safety, ease of usage of facilities and amentities, cost benefits, range of services available in the future NPP etc.



The final score of the teams comprises of 20% audience votes, where each audience is allowed only one vote for their favourite design, and 80% from the score by the panel of judges.


The first team: the SP team(AXIS) giving their presentation.


Presentation from RP students.


Presentation from the NTU team.

The team from NTU was so innovative! They tickled the judges and audience by flashing up a proposed Q&A slide to 'give the judges an idea of what we can ask the team'. In addition,every judge was given a poster each as the team avidly promote their proposed NPP of the future concept! \

There is a saying for this, Win Liao Lor~!


No really, it was extremely well prepared.
What a surprise!





Photo Courtesy of the Singapore Police Force

The judges were invited to the judging room for another round of discussion over refreshments.









The judges from left to right:
Mr Tan Kian Hoon(Chairman of National Crime Prevention Council)
Mr Mark Wee (Director, Architect of Ong&Ong Pte Ltd )
Mr T.Raja Kumar (Deputy Commissioner of Police)
Me
Mr Ng Joo Hee (Commissioner of Police )
Dr Dora Hoan (Vice-Chairman of Radin Mas CC )
AC Zuraidah Binte Abdullah (Commander of Training Command)

The 16 entries were on display outside the auditorium and I particularly took interest in one that this Temasek Polytechnic student had done.

His name is Zibin and he is a final year TP student who specialises in product design. This competition was his final year project. His NPP concept is a mobile room which can be placed anywhere. There is a touch screen monitor placed outside the room for general enquiries. To file a police report, you can walk into the room, lock the door and conduct live video conference with a police officer on duty.

Interesting, isn't it?

He told me that he will be working on improving his concept.
Way to go!

Success is never about winning but the process of never giving up in order to succeed.




Booths belonging to the Top 5 teams. I've managed to find their team presentation videos too! You'll be surprise by the amount of research the students have done and concepts which you might not even have thought of . Most importantly, majority of them are ORDINARY youths with no architectural background.

Sometimes, all we need is this fume of passion to hold on to this faith and really do what we want to do. With this passion, anything can be accomplished.

Guess who won!
Remember to guess 2!



























Back in the auditorium, Mr S Iswaran was invited to give a speech.





This was the speech that day:

Commissioner of Police

Mr Ng Joo Hee,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Afternoon.

I am very happy to join you today at this competition for the design of the Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP) of the future. NPPs have been an important part of our community landscape since the 1980s, but this is the first time we have launched a contest to design them. I am glad to see so much enthusiasm and energy among our youth who have contributed their ideas to shape this important institution in our community.

2. We embarked on this redesign of the NPP for several reasons. One factor is the developments in technology and greater acceptance of automated service machines in society. It gives us an opportunity to re-think how the Neighbourhood Police Post can better serve its customers.

3. The benefits from using technology to enhance our NPPs could be substantial. Residents could have round-the-clock access to automated services at the NPPs. Police officers could be re-deployed from desk-bound duties to patrol the streets, fight crime, interact with residents or respond to emergencies.

4. Our NPPS must also respond to key demographic trends in our communities. It is therefore essential that the NPP of the future is elderly and disabled-friendly yet have the ability to serve specific local needs.

5. For this re-design to work, we also need to know what Singaporeans seek in the NPP. Therefore, we wanted to canvas widely for design ideas. This is why Police invited you, our tertiary students, to participate in this design contest. As the next generation of users, and future Police officers, your views are important to us.

6. I want to congratulate all the teams for your impressive work. You have come up with a wide range of innovative and creative designs. For instance, the NTU team proposed an L-shaped door to prevent an assailant from tailgating a user into the safe room. An ITE College Central team had a similar concept, where a carousel door entrance would not only prevent tailgating, but could also trap the tailgating assailant. A Singapore Polytechnic team proposed a modular tent-like NPP which can be easily deployed to a wide range of locations without requiring significant infrastructure set-up.

7. Although there can only be two winners in today’s competition, the Police will study all the designs carefully, and incorporate the best features into the final design. You might therefore see something familiar when you visit the NPP in a few years’ time, and draw satisfaction from the knowledge that you were part of a team that created something used by tens of thousands of Singaporeans every year.

8. The close of this contest does not mean the end of your involvement with the NPPs. Tucked within various neighbourhood estates in Singapore, the “friendly neighbourhood police post” has helped foster a close partnership between the Police and community. All of you have taken an interest in the re-design of the hardware – the NPP of the future - to ensure that it remains relevant and continues to serve our community’s needs. I urge you to also continue to play an active role in developing the software of the NPP of the future, by partnering the Police to keep our neighbourhoods safe and secure. Together, we can make the NPP of the Future the nucleus of a safe and secure community.

Thank you.

Content Source : http://www.mha.gov.sg/news_details.aspx?nid=MjM3Ng%3D%3D-NWLp83eo1yA%3D

Prize Presentation Ceremony

Mr S Iswaran was also invited to give away the trophies to all the top 5 teams and trophies of appreciation for all participating schools.




Me trying to camwhore with the panel of judges. I got Mark, who sat next to me, to smile! :)

And the winners are... .....
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Your Neighbourhood Police Hub from NTU!


Photo Courtesy of the Singapore Police Force

Comprehensive concept, an all ready prototype which I'm totally convinced!









A group photo with the winning team:

Photo Courtesy of the Singapore Police Force

The 2nd winning team goes to Team Nexus from SMU!





Group photo with the SMU students.

Photo Courtesy of the Singapore Police Force

It's really amazing how this 2-men team emerged as one of the winning teams despite the lack of manpower. I reckon it's not about the number of team mates you have in your team. It's about who you work with ~ your team member.

RP won the most popular concept award with the most number of online votes. Congratulations!




Congratulations to all winners and participants!

Read more articles:
HomeTeamSG here.
StraitsTimes here.
TODAYonline here.

On top of all the excitement, it was my first visit to the police heritage centre! I shall not disclose too much information, shall leave you with more surprise during your visit there like I did.





If you have a chance to feel this mascot, the mannequin here is wearing real police uniform! Both the mannequin and the uniform were then sprayed and treated to preserve. You'll be able to feel the cloth texture.



This board is filled with the names of police officers who were killed in the line of duty. Using the touch screen machine, you'll be able to find out how they died while on duty.







One of the more famous story to share is about Inspector Allan Lim Kim Sai, who died on 5th August 1965. He was shot in the head by a wanted man, Morgan Teo, when his police party was attempting an ambush. Of course, Morgan Teo was also shot and his skull is preserved in the centre.

At the Police Heritage Centre, many of the exhibits and displays belong to real police officers themselves, uniforms, police accessories, notepads, even pens.

Psst, there is a section about secret societies too.

The outside of the heritage centre, where you'll find out more about all our commissioners, their possessions, some street names which are named after these police officers, ranks, uniforms etc.



This is only ONE of the ranks-collection display. There is a display of more rank collections.



As I meticulously digest the context of each exhibit, I spotted the close-up portrait of our present Commissioner of Police, Mr Ng Joo Hee!





Walking to the next part of the Heritage centre:


Greeting us at the door to the 2nd part of the exhibit is the Singapore Police Force Historical Crest Collection, 5 different SPF historical crest from the past to the present. I get to keep one of these sets presented by Mr Ng Joo Hee earlier at the auditorium-- extremely precious crests which I will keep for the rest of my life.







In this part of the heritage exhibits, you will discover more about Singapore's first traffic police, police officers who were still wearing shorts back then, the weapons they use, more special police possessions, case studies of how past crimes were solved etc.



Do you know that a distinctive feature about the Traffic Police Officers in Singapore is that they have wings? There is a real demonstration of how these wings are used in the past to facilitate traffic. *beep-beep*

My mum was saying the other day about how Traffic Police look so suave(even Madams) as they are the ones who can openly walk in the middle if cross junctions.





Spotted me yet? !
Look again.




Saw me yet?
Good!




A video about the SPF towards the end of the heritage tour.




Print screen of contacting information of Police Heritage Centre taken from here.

My involvement in the filming process of Crimewatch:

There is one more episode featuring me as a victim, a cashier being conned by a man, which can't be found yet. That was my first Crimewatch filming.





If someone ever tells you that he/she was featured in Crimewatch as a police officer, it is a LIE. Police officers in Crimewatch are REAL police officers, our heroes who have really solved these crimes. We should give them our utmost support for taking the step to re-enact the cases all over again.

Here's a big 'THANK YOU' to the Singapore Police Force.

Oh yes, one more thing, do you know that the Singapore Police Force Facebook Page is one of the most interactive social media platform between a police force and its people?

Now you do! :)