Slide
Wilbur Sim

Director SGSecure Programme Office
Joint Operations Group

Ministry of Home Affairs Singapore

Wilbur is a Police Officer by profession, having previously served as the Commanding Officer of Toa Payoh Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC), and the Head of Operations and Security with the Police Coast Guard (PCG).

During his stints with the Police, Wilbur worked closely with government agencies, community leaders and voluntary welfare organisations to tackle prevailing crime trends in the area and deal
with cross-cutting issues. Some notable projects and collaborations spearheaded by Wilbur included a local initiative – “Elderly Citizens Helping Others Against Scams” (E.C.H.O. Against Scams) – which reaches out to the elderly population in the neighbourhood, to protect themselves from falling victim to scams, as well as working with various stakeholders to co--create solutions to safeguard Singapore’s coastline such as the installation of physical barriers to deter and delay those who attempt to enter Singapore illegally by sea.

Currently seconded to the Ministry of Home Affairs as the Director of the SGSecure Programme Office, Wilbur continues to leverage his experience in community partnership and engagement, by playing a pivotal role in driving the SGSecure movement which aims to sensitise, train and mobilise the community against terror attacks. Since the launch of the SGSecure movement in September 2016, significant progress has been made in raising public awareness of, as well as institutional and individual preparedness against the threat of terrorism. However, the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant that Wilbur and his team had to work doubly hard to partner various stakeholders, including government agencies, community partners, businesses, and the public, to regain mindshare and continue fostering a whole-of-society approach towards keeping Singapore safe and secure.

Notable examples include working with the People’s Association to restart and expand the island-wide Community Response Roundtable as part of efforts to strengthen local community-level emergency preparedness and crisis response, as well as working with a creative agency to launch a new series of personas films and SGSecure roadshows, containing interactive elements targeted at youths and young adults. SSPO also collaborated with the Ministry of Defence on an immersive social deduction game, and with the Ministry of Education on a series of counter-radicalisation workshops for junior college students, to engage and educate youths on how they can play a part in the fight against terrorism and self-radicalisation.

Session:

20 November, Thursday
10:30 - 12:00 (GMT +8)
Emergency Preparedness & Response - Empowering and Protecting through Community-Centric Emergency Readiness

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