Ministerial Statement on Prison Conditions and Rehabilitation

On 4th July 2022, the Minister for Home Affairs Mr K Shanmugam delivered a ministerial statement on prison conditions and rehabilitation in Parliament. In his speech, the Minister laid out the approach the Government takes for our prison regime, and the reasons for the approach.

Amongst other things, the Minister noted that our prison regime and prison environment are intentionally austere.

“…our whole approach is very different and I would say much more focused on trying to make sure that the prisoners are safe and that, when they come out, they are, hopefully, in a better position than when they went in. That is the aim. We do not always succeed, but that is the aim.” – Minister K Shanmugam

At the end of his speech, Workers’ Party MP Sylvia Lim sought 2 clarifications from the Minister. The first related to the access that prisoners who are serving long term sentences have to rehabilitation and reskilling programs. The second was about the age of the oldest person currently in Singapore’s Prison.

Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Two clarifications for the Minister.

The first concerns rehabilitation and this is in relation to those who are serving long jail terms – let us say 20 years or more. Can he confirm whether there is any guideline that the rehabilitation programmes or the reskilling programmes will only be available to these long-term prisoners, perhaps, much closer to their release date, maybe in the one or two years before release, or would they be available to these long-term prisoners even earlier than that?

My second question is, earlier on, the Minister showed a picture of some cells for assisted living, which I believe are for prisoners who are ageing. May I ask if him if he is able to tell us what is the age of the oldest person currently in our prisons?

Mr K Shanmugam: I am taking the second question: as with the rest of society, the general prison population is also ageing. So, we find more people who need more help. But I cannot give her the precise answer. Perhaps can I ask Ms Lim to file a Parliamentary Question on both those questions that she has raised and we can deal with them in detail?

The Minister, who noted that the general prison population is also ageing along with the rest of society, asked the Member for Aljunied GRC to file a parliamentary question as he did not have the precise answer to her question.

Parliamentary Question filed by WP’s Sylvia Lim

In the August 2022 sitting of Parliament, Ms Lim followed up by filing a parliamentary question which expanded upon the clarifications she sought in July 2022:

Question:

Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) over the last five years, how many prisoners have passed away due to natural causes related to old age; (b) of these prisoners who have passed away, what are the offences committed for their imprisonment; and (c) what is the age of the oldest prisoner currently incarcerated.

14 prisoners aged 65 and above have passed away from 2017 to 2021

In a written reply to Ms Lim’s question, the Minister revealed that from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021, 14 prisoners, aged 65 and above, passed away due to their underlying medical conditions. These medical conditions included cancer, heart disease, and pneumonia.

As seen in the table below, more than half of these 14 inmates were incarcerated for drug-related offences.

The Assisted Living Correctional Unit (ALCU) in Prison

During the Ministerial Statement in July 2022, the Minister noted that although mattresses are not provided to inmates because of hygiene issues and security risks, beds are provided for inmates who require additional care or have mobility issues.

Such beds may be found in medical wards and the the correctional units for assisted living (ALCU). As seen in the picture, these correctional units for assisted living also have other features like seated toilets, handrails, grab-bars, and anti-slip flooring.

90-year-old Prisoner was imprisoned when he was 82

Returning to the final limb of Ms Lim’s question, as of 30 June 2022, the oldest prisoner in Prison is aged 90. On 30 April 2014, when he was aged 82, he was to 20 years’ imprisonment for the offence of unauthorised import or export of a controlled drug.

Assuming that there is a one-third remission of sentence on account of good behaviour, the man would have approximately 5 years more to serve in prison.

The Minister’s reply added that the man currently housed the ALCU to mitigate his risk of falling. He has been observed to be fairly independent and does not require any assistance for his daily activities, nor does he display any sign of mental deterioration.

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