By: Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports
30 NOVEMBER 2006, 10.30 AM AT THE PAN PACIFIC HOTEL
Chairman, Inter-Ministry Committee on Youth Crime,
Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee,
Dr Maliki,
Distinguished Guests,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.
I am very pleased to join you today in celebrating the 10th anniversary of Community Service Order in Singapore. It is good to see so many of you taking the time to be here.
DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICE ORDER IN SINGAPORE
Community Service Order, or CSO, started in 1996 as a condition of probation for juvenile offenders in Singapore. It was introduced not to punish young offenders, but to help them change for the better and pay back to the society. This sentencing option was made possible by the then Inter-Ministry Committee on Juvenile Delinquency. The chairman of that Committee, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, is here with us today.
Over the years, the CSO initiative has evolved and grown. In 1997, the scheme was extended to include adult offenders. In 2001, with the changes to the Children and Young Persons Act, CSO became available as a sentencing option for juvenile offenders above 14 years of age. From ten agencies providing CSO placements in 1996, we have 128 agencies actively taking part today. Each and every agency has opened its doors to our offenders voluntarily. Thank you for supporting us in shaping young lives.
Not only do we have more agencies participating in CSO today, the quality of the programmes has also improved significantly. While offenders were asked to perform hard-labour work ten years ago, our close partnerships with CSO agencies today allow us to provide community service opportunities that impart useful life skills to offenders and increase their self-confidence. We believe that this will help them to become more resilient and stay on the right path. Allow me to share with you evidence of CSO's success in rehabilitating offenders. Generally about 85% of probationers complete their programme successfully. About 9 out of 10 of them remain crime-free. When we asked the young people, they said that the CSO experience is what they remembered most in their probation journey.
Let me share an example of how some young persons have benefited from the CSO programme. In April this year, some probationers adopted elderly residents at Peacehaven Nursing Home for the Aged as their CSO project. Every Saturday, they would spend time with these elderly residents, playing games or singing karaoke together. Their presence at the nursing home brought joy and warmth to the residents. At the same time, these probationers also developed empathy for the needy, and picked up some basic healthcare skills and knowledge. This is an excellent example of how the CSO can be a meaningful and life-changing experience.
FROM COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP TO COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP
The theme for today's celebration is 'From Community Partnership to Community Ownership'. The theme is apt as we celebrate our milestone today. It reminds all of us that we can go beyond participating to become an owner. The community must give offenders a second chance by taking on the ownership of helping our youths to become socially responsible and contributing citizens.
I urge more agencies to come on board the CSO Experience. I understand that 10 new agencies have joined us today to learn more about CSO. We hope you will open your doors and give our offenders the chance to serve.
As we celebrate ten years of the CSO programme in Singapore, I would like to thank all agencies for your strong support for the past ten years. Your contributions have been most crucial in the success of CSO. The launch of the CSO Experience (Singapore) book today represents ten years of your collective effort and wisdom. I am confident that the book will serve as a record of our achievements and encourage us to continue our strong support for the CSO programme in the years to come.
On this note, I wish all participants a fruitful day ahead.
MCYS SPEECH NO: 43/2006
DATE OF ISSUE: 30/11/2006