Hubby and I were invited to the Police Day Parade 2007 at Singapore Indoor Stadium. We reached the stadium at 2pm but waited until 4.15pm for PM Lee's arrival to start the parade. The Commissioner of Police Khoo Boon Hui only arrived 20 minutes before PM Lee. The invite says 3.30pm. And I don't understand why all the guests were made to stand when he arrived.Police Chiefs from the ASEAN regions were present at the event. They are meeting in Singapore for the ASEANAPOL Annual Conference from 2 to 7 June, where they will discuss new developments in law enforcement and trans-national issues.
This is the Mission of our Singapore Police Force and its pledge:
The Mission of the Singapore Police Force is to uphold the law, maintain order and keep the peace in the Republic of Singapore.
Police Pledge
We pledge to be loyal and true
to the Police Service
and the Republic of Singapore.
We pledge to uphold the law,
to protect life and property,
to prevent and detect crime.
We pledge to discharge our responsibilities
without fear of favour
regardless of race, language or religion.
We pledge to strive for excellence,
to be proactive
and to exercise initiative in our duties.
We pledge to serve our community and our country
and to be courteous and humane
in our dealings with every fellowman.
I'm keeping this Police Pledge with me always and I'm going to show it to those Singaporean police officers who seemed to have forgotten their pledge. I have my own police stories to share with my readers.
to be proactive and to exercise initiative in our duties???
ReplyDeleteHahahaha.... This is so funny. How many done that?
hahaha... that's true! That's why I have to publish this and tell my stories later.
ReplyDeleteECL, why would you get invited for such event?
ReplyDeleteYou some VIP gar? haha.
yenjai,
ReplyDeleteHaving read some of the posts in my blog, you still have no idea who I am? tsk tsk tsk...
:)
It reminds me of the show by Jack Neo's "Just Follow Law".
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you just got tagged.
Hi Ernest,
ReplyDeleteYes, it's just like what Jack Neo was trying to portray our civil service. All the wayang! I'm rewlly sick of these events actually.
er... I have done the tag before leh.
Although I am not guilty, the mere presence of policemen makes me shudder with guilty feelings! Why is that? Was that something from a 'perceived' deprieved childhood, posing too many times as Robber?
ReplyDeletelb,
ReplyDeleteYou are a great rob-ber even until this day! You rob my heart. Oh!
ECL, haha. Yeah lor. I still dunno wor.
ReplyDeleteNvm. I will jing gai gai email you to ji ji jum sikit sikit
Ei... I thought only in Malaysia people attend functions late? LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteAre you a police too?
ReplyDeleteAnd like Day-dreamer, I also thought only Malaysians are not punctual. My Singaporean housemate was surprised how come everyone turned out late for the badminton meeting. Now I think he is blending in the Malaysian style!
yenjai,
ReplyDeletehehehe... I'll let you know more when you come to Singapore or when I go to KL. ok?
day-dreamer,
ReplyDeleteThere will be some people, not only Singapore or Malaysia but all over the world, who will arrive late for functions. Not only the VIPs but the guests too. hmmmm....
lynnx01
ReplyDeleteHello lynn! Thanks for dropping in.
So next time when I get invited to a function in Malayisa, I should show up an hour late? hehehe....
I shall be visiting regularly to hear your stories and see what I can learn from them.
ReplyDeleteoceanskies,
ReplyDeleteDon't just hear my stories, learn to protect and stand up for yourself.
Too tired to... at least not now.
ReplyDeleteI try and keep my distance from the police..! By the way, I want you to know that you have been tagged
ReplyDeleteheya ECL...
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those fortunate ones, or rather should I say unfortunate ones to be the guard of honour for the PDP 4-5 years ago. We went thru rehersal after rehersal, and stand down there waiting and waiting for the VVIPs to arrive.. argh... can't they just be puntual!!
Anyway, I must say, the police have been doing a good job as well, so credit must be given to them too k? Just that cock up do occur! LOL...
Tom,
ReplyDeleteOh no! Another tag! I'm owing frenz too many tags. hehehe...
kev,
ReplyDeleteoh you poor boy. I pity those poor guys standing at the Parade for hours.
I'm not saying the police is not doing a good job, just some of them. But there is too much wayang at such events. tsk tsk tsk....
The amount of officers who live by that pledge is pathetic. There are, but these are gems hidden in classified units and not divisions. I always believe for an officer to possess that righteousness, he would always improve himself striving for the best, hence ending up in classfied units handling special tasks. In that sense, public won't know these small group of fellows. That's how it works.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, there's also abusive members of public who goes "you're a public servant, I'm a public and that makes you my servant". I think these are things that goes unreported or ignored. One ugly thing just brings out another ugly individual, but do we only focus on one party and not the other?
Having said that, it's a pity that public service has ended up like this. Being a whistle-blower in any industry, it can only mean one will lose all grounds in that industry. If anything is to change, it has to start from the very top people. My point is, are the top people going to change and set a good example?
Police also got pledge wan meh? I dunno leh! Fire-fighters got pledge or not?
ReplyDeleteEd,
ReplyDeleteYou were from the civil service, so you know how people do things in there. There are the good people but majority are just there doing a job. No sense of pride in that they are serving their country and fellow countrymen.
I do observe the public getting uglier these days too. The civil service do receive lots of flak from them.
Whatever it is, the rulers need to address these problems before it gets out of hand.
tigerfish,
ReplyDeleteI think every civil service department must have their mission and a pledge lah. Doctors have wor.
What do you get when you put NS boys that deals with real life situations? It is something I can never comprehend - many of them are unable to handle simple incidents like Domestic Dispute etc. To my time, I have never seen a single peer over my end taking the effort to visit Attorney General's website to study and improve their law knowledge. The desire to improve is not even there, much least to perform their job well.
ReplyDeleteahhh Ed,
ReplyDeleteSo you noticed. Some of our police officers do not posses the required knowledge to perform their job well. Actually they can't be bothered to read up lah.
Many citizens have their doubts on certain police procedures, but are not voicing their concerns until their children become the victims.
I am puzzled and concerned about some cases where the police cannot do anything. I read up on our Singapore Law.
at first, the police pledge seems hard to believe, true, how many do that? but there are things in the force, laws that tie our hands real tight, almost never allowing us to do what we should be doing. not all our officers are what you think they are. day in, day out were trying to do our best without crossing one too many lines, keeping it quiet. but how do we work efficiently when the public sometimes make things immensely difficult? years ago, i too would have laughed at the police values, ive had my fair share of ridiculous officers that were hardcore party poopers. trust me, there are tons of people round spore that hate the polie force. why, just cause of how they deal with you and me.
ReplyDeletei wouldnt point fingers, laugh or ridicule our spore police force. we are serving you, and we try our hardest to do our utmost best to make everyone feel at home. to the public, co-operate with us officers, we care and look out for you everyday with our livs on the line. putting aside our normal daily lives, were on the front line serving you. do put more faith in us.
for the parade, iwas in there and it was something to be proud of. police fellas have tons of 'gustto' as we are one of the leaders in the world for our policng.
overall, eastcoast! great blog!
regards, JD
Hi JD!
ReplyDeleteI salute the police officers who constantly have to risk their lives to protect the people of Singapore.
If I compare the police in Singapore to those in the many countries that I have visited, our Singapore force still stands out.
Well, JD, you may be one of the good cops in Singapore. Thanks for sharing. I'm sure my readers do feel enlightened and pleased that there are police officers whom we can rely on. :)
I have personally met quite a number of police officers whom I consider softies and taiqi kings. I shall write about my encounters and let the readers decide for themselves.
Take it this way. If the ppl at the top of civil service get it wrong by developing policies which the public deem to be out-of-touch with the reality on the ground, it will set the precedent for those at the bottom of the "food chain" who have to follow such policies(and the first to incur the wrath of the public). I'm sure this does not only occur in the Force.
ReplyDeleteSince the Force has adopted a more service-oriented mindset, some members of public do take advantage of this esp. when things doesnt seem to go their way. It is a common occurrence for officers to have the public say this to their faces, "I pay income tax and Police cannot do anything!" As if the officers do not pay income tax!!! What irony... Good service is a two-way process.
I pity my friends who are in the Force. The kind of insult that they have to endure. *sigh* You have to have friends or family in the Force before you can understand the full extent of their workload, responsibilities and sacrifices.
P/S: ECL, I agree about the few black sheeps in the FORCE. Shame on them.
Thank you lusciousdelight for sharing. I shall try to understand the police more and be more compassionate toward them.
ReplyDeleteActually, the ppl in the Divisions are also the unsung heroes on many occasions.I believe "JD" are one of those officers.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if all the motivated and gd-performing officers go to these specialists units/depts,what will happen to the Divisions,then? Like any other working environment, there will be the outstanding performers and the few blacksheeps.
So,I guess, it's not a matter of which dept, div or units. It's all up to the individual officers.I'm sure, these officers are spread-out all across the board.
As for the top mgt at the Ministries, the small-fries are at their mercy. Only hope is that either they get it right with the policies on their own accord or the PUBLIC can help to do this by giving continuous "feedback". Hee3..