Many of our leaders contribute their expertise and time beyond the workplace, reflecting a heart for the community.

Mr Chia Ngiang Hong, Group General Manager of City Developments Limited (CDL), recently received the National Day Award - The Public Service Star (Bar) for serving as the Chairman of the Home Detention Advisory Committee under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The National Day Awards recognise various forms of merit and services to Singapore. Mr Chia was previously awarded the Public Service Star in 2013 and the Public Service Medal in 2008.

Beyond being an industry veteran, he actively engages in community work and grassroots activities and had served as a Justice of the Peace.

We catch up with Mr Chia to learn more about his meaningful work as Chairman of the Home Detention Advisory Committee and what this National Day Award means to him.

Q: How did you begin your involvement with Singapore Prison Service and the Home Detention Advisory Committee?
After my appointment as Justice of the Peace in 2008, I volunteered to serve in the Board of Visitors (BOV) and Board of Visiting Justices (BOVJ) under Singapore Prison Service (SPS) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

We visit the various prison complexes and related facilities on regular basis and meet up with inmates to check on their welfare in prison, including the condition of their accommodation, meals, medical needs and the prison programmes. Sometimes, we also check on whether they require other assistance, such as for family-related concerns (especially for those with young children) or other aspects of their well-being.

After our visits, we provide relevant feedback to SPS to address the concerns brought up. SPS staff will then review the feedback seriously and report back to us with their recommendations or remedial actions, or any other assistance to be provided.

SPS also organises regular sharing and feedback sessions to keep us posted on latest developments. We learn a lot from these sessions and provide feedback and suggestions on how to improve the prison conditions and services and ways to make rehabilitation more progressive so the inmates can reintegrate back into society more effectively.

Along the way, I was invited to sit on the Home Detention Advisory Committee (HDAC) before becoming the Chairman subsequently.

Q: As Chairman of the Home Detention Advisory Committee, what are your responsibilities and what do you hope to achieve?
Prisoners who have served at least 14 days of a prison sentence longer than four weeks are eligible to serve a certain duration of the balance sentence under home detention, instead of in prison as part of an initiative to prioritise their rehabilitation. SPS officers will evaluate eligible cases and submit their recommendations to the HDAC for review.

As Chairman of the HDAC, together with the rest of the committee members, we will evaluate each case and provide our opinion and feedback. We will either accept, reject or modify the recommendations, ensuring that they comply with the existing laws and regulations and that there is consistency in the various cases.

Our objective is to give deserving inmates a chance to have an earlier release so that they can get on with their rehabilitation journey sooner rather than later. It is also important to ensure that they have the appropriate family or other support during the home detention period and suitable employment opportunities to facilitate their rehabilitation journey.

Q: What drives you to volunteer in this capacity despite your busy work schedule?
This function is meaningful and important as we are helping inmates to return to society as useful citizens as soon as practicable. Our objective is to prioritise their rehabilitation journey so that they can reconcile with their families and take on responsible roles in society. We hope this would reduce the recidivism rate and see more inmates reintegrating into society to lead normal lives.

Q: Are there any memorable encounters you have experienced in this role that you can share with us?
We had a case where an inmate was desperately seeking approval for early release to attend to some important and urgent family issues which required his presence. Though the application was granted, the date of release was moderated to a later date due to an earlier offence.

We reviewed the case and found that the earlier offence was committed some years back and under the prevailing rules should not adversely affect his release date. We then proceeded to rectify the recommendation and grant him early release so that he could settle his urgent family matters.

Q: What does receiving the Public Service Star (Bar) Award mean to you?
It is an honour to be awarded this prestigious National Day Award by the President of Singapore. I am humbled by the generous recognition accorded to me by SPS and MHA.

It has been a very meaningful and fruitful journey working with the SPS and MHA all these years to do my little bit to make some difference in the lives of the inmates, ex-offenders and their families, and hopefully promote a more humane, inclusive and kinder society.

Besides my involvement in the SPS and MHA, I am also active in the grassroots movement, serving as Honorary Chairman in the Bedok Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCC). I was recently appointed as a Grassroots Mentor and sit as Committee Member of the Grassroots Mentor Committee.

The Charity sector is also close to my heart and I am currently serving as the Chairman of the Arc Children’s Centre, an IPC registered charity supporting the growth and development of children with life-threatening illnesses, mainly cancer, and their siblings and families.