March 5, 2025
SINGAPORE – Expanding hair testing for drugs to all supervisees and strengthening partnerships with Malay/Muslim and Indian community partners are among the steps the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is taking to enhance rehabilitation and strengthen reintegration of offenders and former offenders.
During the debate on MHA’s budget on March 4, Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said that while the drug situation in Singapore was under control, there were areas of concern, including the rise in the number of young drug abusers.
Here are some highlights of how MHA intends to tackle the problem and enhance rehabilitation and reintegration efforts:
1. All supervisees to undergo hair testing by 2026
To better curb long-term relapse, MHA announced in 2024 that it will enhance its approach under a new Supervision 2.0 regime to better support the supervisees’ reintegration journey through more efficient monitoring.
Under this pilot, hair analysis tests are used as the default monitoring mechanism.
Associate Professor Faishal said these tests can detect drug abuse over a longer period compared with urine tests, allowing supervisees to report less frequently and reducing disruption to their daily lives.
Providing an update on March 4, he said the preliminary findings from the pilot were positive.
“CNB (Central Narcotics Bureau) was able to swiftly detect more supervisees who had relapsed via hair tests as compared with under the urine supervision regime, due to the longer detection window for hair tests,” he said.
He said about two-thirds of the supervisees rated the scheme as “very helpful” in their reintegration.
He added that CNB will fully operationalise Supervision 2.0 in phases, with the aim of placing all supervisees on this regime by 2026.
2. Strengthening partnerships
Prof Faishal said MHA will be enhancing its engagement with Indian community partners to support the rehabilitation and reintegration journey of Indian inmates, former offenders and their families.
He said the ministry will improve recruitment of volunteers by engaging organisations with extensive networks, such as the Singapore Indian Development Association, and work with community partners to streamline training for new volunteers involved in providing faith-based counselling.
He added that prisons will develop a directory of rehabilitation programmes and services to enhance awareness of resources available in the Indian community.
“This will facilitate inter-agency coordination to enable agencies to better meet the beneficiaries’ needs,” said Prof Faishal.
When asked about the reasons for the enhancement, a Singapore Prison Service (SPS) spokeswoman told The Straits Times that it is to better support the rehabilitation and reintegration of Indian inmates, former offenders and their families.
She said: “This is part of our broader effort to engage the wider community to address issues faced by different racial segments of our prison inmate population.”
She said that strengthening community-based support systems is important in reducing recidivism and facilitating reintegration. By working with the community, SPS can develop culturally nuanced interventions and strengthen the wider ecosystem of support for the Indian community.
These enhancements are not limited to any specific group of offenders or former offenders, but are designed to support inmates and former offenders regardless of their offence, age and gender, she said.
Speaking in Malay, Prof Faishal also said MHA will continue to work with Malay/Muslim organisations to strengthen support for those in need in the community, including offenders and former offenders who lack family support.
3. Preventive drug education
Prof Faishal said the Ministry of Education will work with CNB to invite parent support group leaders to participate in sessions on drug-related topics while continuing to make preventive drug education resources available for all parents on the Parents Gateway portal.
All schools will continue to conduct at least one preventive drug education programme annually, he added.
In the debate on MHA’s budget in 2024, Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said Singapore would designate every third Friday of May as Drug Victims Remembrance Day.
This is to remember drug abusers, their families and loved ones, who are victims of drug traffickers and the lucrative drug trade.
Prof Faishal said Drug Victims Remembrance Day 2025 will be held on May 16 and commemorated with a main observance event and exhibition.