SINGAPORE – When Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Abdul Rahman Mohamad Karim and his team of six Police Coast Guard (PCG) officers arrived at a fish farm on Jan 21, they were greeted with a massive fire – one that he said was raging “beyond control”.

       Eight of the 13 workers at the offshore farm off Pulau Tekong were trying to extinguish 3m-tall flames with a water pump, while the rest were hurriedly moving equipment away from the fire, which started at about 11.50pm.

       Despite the chaos and darkness, ASP Rahman’s team was able to evacuate all 13 foreign workers safely while ensuring the officers’ safety.

       For their quick rescue effort, ASP Rahman and another patrol officer from his team were awarded the Minister for Home Affairs Operational Excellence Award on Oct 22 at the Home Team Academy.

       Overall, 135 awards were presented to recognise outstanding officers, teams and agencies that had demonstrated efficiency and competency in major operations, cases and projects, or displayed high standards of innovation and service excellence in the course of their work, said the Ministry of Home Affairs.

       There were four categories for the awards: Minister for Home Affairs Home Team Achievement Award, Minister for Home Affairs Operational Excellence Award, Star Service Award and Home Team Innovation Award.

       Recounting the January fire and rescue, ASP Rahman, 52, said things could have turned out badly.

       By signing up, I accept SPH Media's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy as amended from time to time.

       “The farm’s wooden structure was flammable... I was worried that the wooden platform would give way and that the fire would spread quickly,” the team leader said.

       The PCG officers began to contain the blaze with their fire extinguishers only after all 13 workers were accounted for. The workers were evacuated into two PCG patrol craft just around the time that the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s Rapid Response Fire Vessel arrived to extinguish the fire.

       Another Home Team officer who was commended was Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Lim Kok Ghee from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

       He and his team helped foil an attempt to smuggle 58,776 assorted vaporiser pods into Singapore.

       DSP Lim, 48, who received the Operational Excellence Award, said he and his team were inspecting containers at Tuas Port on Jan 26, 2023, when they noticed anomalies while looking at scanned images of a 40-foot container.

       The image analysis showed suspicious small items hidden inside consignments of home appliances, mattresses and furniture. As it turned out, nearly 60,000 assorted vaporiser pods were hidden.

       It took about nine hours to manually inspect the suspicious container, cut open 19,592 boxes in an unstuffing operation and account for the seized vape items, which were eventually investigated by the Health Sciences Authority.

       DSP Lim, who is Assistant Commander, Ports Command, said intercepting smugglers’ contraband is a team effort, and his role is to nurture subordinates to excel and be confident in discharging their duties.

       “This award is a good example of how we can motivate and encourage our teams to work better because this is definitely a form of recognition for their efforts,” he added.

       Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, who presented some of the awards, said it has become a norm for Home Team officers to work together, adopting new technologies and collaborating with other government partners across agencies and across different ministries.

       Mr Shanmugam said: “In fact, more than half of today’s Operational Excellence Awards involve cross-agency cooperation. And that indicates... that this identity of a single Home Team is now deeply rooted.”

       Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim also presented awards.

       In 2024, four Distinguished Star Service Award were presented.

       One of the recipients was Rehabilitation Officer (RO) Kenny Seah, who demonstrated exceptional dedication to gang renunciation and innovation within Institution B2 of the Singapore Prison Service (SPS).

       In 2009, the Gang Renunciation Programme was implemented in SPS to motivate inmates to challenge the gang subculture and provide a platform for them to renounce their gang affiliations. As at September 2024, more than 1,600 inmates have taken part in the programme.

       RO Seah actively engages inmates by offering alternatives to gang affiliation. He also introduced the Community Building Circle, which aims to foster a cohesive community by bringing together inmates who have renounced their gang affiliations, those awaiting renunciation at the gang renunciation ceremony, and those hesitant to renounce.

       The success of the circle led to Institution B2 achieving the highest number of renunciations among all institutions in the SPS.

       Said RO Seah: “I believe in second chances, and I want to help inmates restart their lives for a better future. By encouraging inmates to renounce their gang affiliations, we can foster personal transformation, prevent reoffending and ultimately help create a safer Singapore.”