Tag Archives: NG JOO HEE

When I joined the police force in 1983 with full A level qualification, I had to start off as a police constable. After 7 years, I got my corporal rank. Another 3 years of hell in investigation before I was given the Sgt rank. Today, the ranks are given freely as if it’s lelong sale in a pasar malam. When I had my recent encounter with the young police Sgt and a corporal, I had a hard time telling them that I could write a better statement rather than him recording my statement. But they refused and accused me of interfering in their police investigation! What a langgar situation. My respect for those newly minted police officers is lost.

Police arrested two teens, aged 15 and 16, for posing as police officers and demanding their victims surrender their mobile phones and ez-link cards to them. The duo were caught after the victims, who are two students, made a police report on April 1 saying that they were approached and checked by two persons who identified themselves as police officers. They were told to surrender their mobile phones and ez-link cards and wait while the two "officers" returned to their vehicle.

Please have these Policemen clear up those street hookers in Geylang instead of being party spoilers in a soccer match.

Beyond this, the SPF also ensures that recruited officers are able to carry out their duties effectively through a robust six-month training programme for police officers and nine months for senior officers. We will continue to recruit good candidates from various talent pools, such as graduating students from the polytechnics and junior colleges, and mid-career job switchers, to meet our manpower requirements.

Just as predictably, NGOs spoke up on behalf of foreign workers, citing the lack of amenities that cater for them. Then there were those who spoke about Geylang’s colourful and flavourful atmosphere, so different from the rest of sterile Singapore I suppose. If you don’t look for trouble, you don’t get into trouble. Unsavoury characters leave you alone, say the Geylang lobby. That got me thinking of Joo Chiat. Remember the fuss that was being made over how the area was turning into sleaze street? The community, mainly residents, got involved and the area appeared to have been cleaned up.

So thanks to the COI, we now know that the Little India riot wasn't the first of its kind, post independence. Commissioner Ng Joo Hee mentioned a little known riot that broke out back in 1985 while he was on the stand. Apparently that riot broke out due to a conflict between Korean and Thai workers at a construction site. It's also a coincidence that Mr. Tee. was the top cop on site back then when the police intervened to quell that incident. This little tidbit alone should explain to the uninitiated why Mr. Tee was selected by the G to be a part of the Little India COI. In case you're wondering why this is probably the first time you are hearing about the riot of 1985, CP Ng said it was because there wasn't an internet and social media to proliferate news about it back then. And it was thankfully confined to a construction site.

A new law to keep the peace in Little India will take effect from Tuesday, replacing existing measures invoked on a weekly basis since the Dec 8 riot last year. The Public Order (Additional Temporary Measures) Act (POATM) passed in Parliament on Feb 18 provides for a focused set of powers, far more limited than the extensive powers available under the Public Order (Preservation) Act, which has been invoked weekly since the riot to maintain order in Little India.

When CP says that we need an extra of 1,000 police officers to boost the police force, I wonder what sort of police officers he is referring to? Definitely not those auxiliary police officers outsourced to desperate cheap labourers from neighboring countries when they simply came here for the better wages and using the law as a pretext in its high handed approach to tekan locals. 1,000 new recruits in the Special Ops Command (SOC) or in the Land Divisions or simply just manning those police posts in HDB estates? What sort of extra 1,000 police officers? All with diplomas or university degrees and wearing the Sgt rank on the first day of police work? Veterans always opined that ranks have to be earned the hard way and never given freely losing its intrinsic value.

The Commissioner of Police's response to the Little India riot debacle was predictable: blame everybody except the guy in charge. We have read about their requisition for a souped up police car, and more CCTV - including new fangled wearable ones, which could be a subtle suggestion for expensive Google glasses - but effective police work depends on the quality of men on the ground.