Our Empowered Women Officers

Courageous, optimistic and passionate – five women officers share their personal stories!

By: Denise Luo

“We look good in uniform!” Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police (DAC) M Malathi said, laughing.

I couldn’t have agreed more, even if the remark was made in jest. Women officers not only look smart in their uniforms, they’re also decisive when they’re in the thick of action. Their determination allows them to rise to the occasion and overcome obstacles that stand in their way.

Policewomen have broken down barriers and are making their mark in their chosen occupation, taking up positions in almost every aspect of policing.

Of Progress and Parity

Gone are the days when women in the Singapore Police Force (SPF) were confined to administrative work or served as radio or telephone operators in the Operation Rooms – a common sight when the SPF began hiring women in 1949. An expansion of the roles and responsibilities of women officers came in the 1970s and 1980s, when women officers took on more field and investigative roles.

Since then, a new generation of women Police leaders has gone on to achieve numerous firsts. Many from the core group of leaders who entered the SPF in the 1980s and early 1990s continue to serve with distinction.

At present, there are more than 1,800 women police officers. They make up approximately 19% of the Force and can be found serving in practically every unit. Compared to a decade ago, we see a 21% increase in the number of women officers deployed in specialist units such as the Traffic Police, Police Coast Guard, Special Operations Command and Security Command.

High Standards

For Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Fionie Chan, a planning officer with the Traffic Police, gender equality manifests itself in the standards which she holds herself to, irrespective of the work she undertakes.

“I take it upon myself as a team leader to make sure that I meet – or even exceed – the standards of my officers,” explained ASP Chan, who was formerly a team leader with the pioneer batch of the Emergency Response Team of Central Division. “I’d go for runs with my team, train together in the gym and, even on days off, we’d walk the ground, to ensure our familiarity with the terrain.”

Just as Capable

The growing prominence of women in the SPF proves that policing is not all about physical strength. When responding to incidents and apprehending suspects, women Ground Response Force (GRF) officers are just as adept as their male counterparts.

“Some people may see me as the weakest link since I’m small in stature,” shared Sergeant (Sgt) Siti Nurdiana Binte Khairuddin, a GRF officer from Bukit Merah East Neighbourhood Police Centre. “But that doesn’t hinder me from carrying out my duties. I’m unafraid to react even when the situation turns violent or gets chaotic.”

Of Trust and Respect

Effective policing also requires building trust and mutual respect with the community. “Several years ago, I was on duty during Thaipusam when this guy started creating trouble, so I stepped in to defuse the situation,” recalled DAC Malathi. “Although he went on, his brother told him to relax on account that I was a woman. Women officers are often able to ‘soften’ a situation and stop it from escalating.”

DAC Malathi is currently the Deputy Commander of the Public Transport Security Command, where she has around 650 officers under her charge (70% of whom are Full-time Police National Service officers). She takes it in stride to bridge the generational gap with this group of young officers. “They come from very different backgrounds,” she explained. “We need to understand their behaviour, and guide them.”

An Equal World

Women officers now occupy 16% of the senior leadership positions in the SPF. This represents a 50% rise from 2011. These women serve in myriad positions ranging from the Commander of specialist units to Directors of staff departments.

As one of the officers who pioneered the use of robotics and unmanned systems capabilities in policing, DAC Malathi has demonstrated that women officers can excel. Formerly the Assistant Director of the Future Operations Division in the SPF’s Operations Department, she was tasked to work with her team to harness emerging technologies to aid frontline policing.

According to DAC Malathi, the first Multi-purpose All Terrain Autonomous Robot (MATAR) was essentially “an iPad on a robot” – a very basic model that only had rudimentary teleconferencing capabilities. Following several reiterations, MATAR 2.0 was further refined to include autonomous navigation and sensors that can pick up suspicious behaviours, and then unveiled at the Police Workplan Seminar in 2019.

“We wanted to develop capabilities that would allow our officers to be redeployed to do higher value work,” said DAC Malathi.

She continued to push the tech frontier when she led her team to experiment with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to augment Police operations. This led to the setting-up of a UAV unit in 2019, paving the way for bigger and bolder technologies that can be tapped on for smart policing.

Coping with the Second Shift

The contribution of women to the SPF mirrors their multi-faceted roles at home as daughters, sisters, wives and mothers. For DAC Tay Wee Li, an Assistant Director with the Police Intelligence Department, there’s no place for the segregation of gender roles in the family.

This is one of the factors that has enabled this mother of twins to continue making her mark at work. DAC Tay’s husband is an officer with the Central Narcotics Bureau and no stranger to operational demands at work. “We work as a team and manage together,” said DAC Tay. “There are times when he has to pitch in more at home, and the reverse applies to me when he’s busy at work.”

Having been involved in major events such as 2011 General Elections and the 2018 Trump-Kim Summit, DAC Tay is thankful for the strong support from her supervisors and fellow officers.

“I was about four months pregnant with twins when I planned and execute the deployments for the 2011 General Elections at Ang Mo Kio and Hougang,” she recalled. “Thankfully, my bosses had arranged for someone to help me with certain aspects of the operation. My colleagues were also very helpful. It’s our culture in the SPF – there’s genuine care and concern to make sure that everyone is well, regardless whether it’s about our work or personal lives.”

An Ever-Supportive Organisation

Clearly, the SPF’s organisational culture plays a vital role in empowering women officers and granting them equal opportunities. Among those who have benefitted from this is ASP Chan; she started her policing career as a Sergeant but when on to study for a part-time degree and later joined the ranks of graduate officers.

“My gratitude to SPF lies in having supportive officers and supervisors who took time to encourage me to chase my dreams,” she shared. “That’s why I hope to do the same for my fellow officers.”

As a relatively new GRF officer with less than five years of policing experience, Sgt Nurdiana looks up to fellow women officers as examples. “There are many opportunities for officers to pursue further education,” she said. “It also helps that our supervisors are always supportive and encourage us to pursue our studies.”

COP – Courageous, Optimistic and Passionate

2021 has been declared as the Year of Celebrating SG Women. The stories shared by DAC Malathi, ASP Chan, Sgt Nurdiana and DAC Tay demonstrate that women play a central role in keeping Singapore safe and secure. “It’s about being courageous, optimistic and passionate about what you do, and who you work with – be a COP!”

Let’s salute our women officers for their dedication in serving the SPF’s mission!