EMPLOYMENT IN THE CIVIL SERVICE (Applications by former incarcerated individuals)

Dr Mohamad Maliki bin Osman asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many formerly incarcerated individuals have applied for civil service jobs and how many were successful in their applications; (b) what were the factors that limited their opportunities to gain employment with the civil service; and (c) whether there are plans to "declassify" some formerly incarcerated individuals to enhance their employment potential by the civil service.

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, previously, persons with criminal records would only be employed in the Civil Service with the approval of the Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Division of the Prime Minister's Office. The Ministry of Home Affairs persuaded PSD to give, since August 2000, Ministries the discretion to selectively employ them, initially for two years on a temporary basis, and thereafter permanently if they perform to expectations like everybody else. For such jobs where the specific criminal record is not a veto factor, it however should neither tilt the balance in favour nor against the candidate.

Sir, the Ministry of Home Affairs, through the Prisons Department, has been working with various Government agencies to promote the employment of ex-prisoners through referrals. As recruitment is devolved to individual Ministries and statutory boards, I do not have information on the number of candidates with criminal records who have been employed in the Public Service. But I believe the numbers are increasing.

My Ministry is considering amendments to the Registration of Criminals Act so that those convicted of minor offences will have their criminal records rendered spent or expunged after a certain period if they do not re-offend. This will further help ex-offenders find jobs in both the public and private sectors, as the record would no longer feature in the assessment of an individual's suitability for the job.

Dr Mohamad Maliki bin Osman (Sembawang): Sir, the Minister does not have the figure for the other Ministries, but what about the figure for the Home Affairs Ministry itself? How many ex-offenders have been employed by the Ministry of Home Affairs?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: The suggestion here is that the Ministry of Home Affairs must lead by example. All the Ministries must play their part, but certainly because we have a stake in helping ex-offenders rehabilitate, both the Prisons Department and the Home Affairs Ministry take an interest in this. For example, the Ministry of Home Affairs has employed 60 ex-inmates as part of the community-based programme in one of the statutory boards, SCORE. You may know that SCORE also secures offers for jobs for ex-inmates. But, here they have directly employed these 60 ex-inmates. The Prisons Department has employed two ex-offenders, and I hear that they have done very well.

Dr Mohamad Maliki bin Osman: Sir, the Minister mentioned the plan to reclassify some of the ex-offenders if they do not re-offend. May I know when this plan will be implemented and what is the period of non-re-offending that will be considered before the person's records will be relooked at?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, in fact, this is something we have been studying for some time. Those of you in the House last year, in the Committee of Supply debate, will know that several MPs raised this point. So we have studied the matter very seriously. We have almost completed the study. Within the next 1-2 months, we will come up with certain plans.