Singapore Police on UN Peacekeeping Missions
When you think of UN peacekeeping, you think of soldiers. But there is another side to it that gets much less attention. Police. Chapter 36 tells the story of Singapore police officers deployed to some of the most troubled places on earth.
This is part of my retelling of “50 Years of Singapore and the United Nations” (Tommy Koh, Li Lin Chang, Joanna Koh, 2015, ISBN: 978-9814713030).
This chapter is written by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) itself. Like the previous chapter about the SAF, it is an institutional piece. It is shorter than many chapters in the book, but it tells an important and often overlooked story. Since 1989, the SPF has sent 484 personnel (including repeat deployments) across 10 UN missions. That is a lot of police officers operating far from home in very unfamiliar places.
Why Police Officers in Peacekeeping?
Here is the thing most people do not realize. When a country comes out of severe internal conflict, the fighting may stop but the problems do not. Crime goes up. Organized crime moves in. The local police are often destroyed or nonexistent. Someone has to keep order.
That is where UN police officers come in. They perform what the chapter calls “executive policing.” That means patrolling. Responding to fights, riots, and demonstrations. Handling criminal cases. Restoring the rule of law. Sometimes they also monitor elections.
But there is a second job that is just as important. Training the local police from scratch. In most host countries, the national police force is newly set up and poorly trained. The SPF officers teach them everything: patrolling, operations, investigation, intelligence, traffic, maritime policing, community policing. The goal is to build a police force that can stand on its own.
The First Mission: Namibia, 1989
The SPF’s first peacekeeping mission was in May 1989, when a 40-strong contingent joined the UN Transitional Assistance Group (UNTAG) in Namibia. This was part of the civilian component of the mission. Since then, the SPF has participated in missions across the globe: South Africa, Cambodia, East Timor, Nepal, and more.
The chapter does not go into much detail about the early missions. It saves its best stories for Timor-Leste.
East Timor: Building a Police Force from Nothing
In March 2000, 40 SPF officers were deployed to East Timor as part of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). They were given executive powers to provide security, maintain law and order, and help establish a system of governance as East Timor moved toward independence.
The contingent was led by Acting Superintendent Heng Sou Kaw, described as a veteran peacekeeper. For the first time, female officers were also deployed.
The chapter says the SPF officers were highly regarded by everyone for their discipline, professionalism, and competence across a wide range of policing work. Command and control. Investigations. Operations. Training. Frontline policing. Staff work.
One story stands out. Sergeant Steven Tay was attached to an investigation team probing killings from a particularly violent period between April and September 1999. His job included accompanying the team to exhume bodies of victims killed by the militias. That is grim, difficult work. Over time, he won the trust of the Timorese people and earned the respect and friendship of officers from other countries.
The chapter notes that whatever their experiences, the officers learned about professionalism but also about compassion. And about not being judgmental.
Training the Timor-Leste Police
One of the most interesting stories is about Acting Superintendent Sng May Yen. In October 2007, she became the first woman to lead an SPF contingent as Contingent Commander. She took 21 officers to the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT). She was 36 at the time and already a veteran, having served in UNTAET back in 2001.
During her one-year stint, she was put in charge of training local police officers and planning traffic arrangements for East Timor’s Independence Day celebrations. What she remembered most fondly was watching the newly formed local police grow from amateurs to professionals. By the end of training, they could perform VIP escorts for the week-long celebrations.
She said what motivated her as a leader was knowing they could make a difference to as many individuals as possible. Through the police officers they trained, they could change the lives of ordinary people in Timor-Leste.
That is a powerful idea. You train 20 local officers. Those 20 officers go on to serve a community of thousands. The ripple effect of good training is enormous.
Community Work Beyond Policing
The SPF officers did not just enforce the law. They also reached out to local communities. The chapter describes this as essential to earning trust and cooperation. If people trust the police, they cooperate. If they cooperate, crime goes down.
Senior Staff Sergeant Tan Buck Song tells a story about being personally involved in the return of internally displaced persons from Dili to the Mauk sub-village of Maleuwana. Working with the International Organisation of Migration, the Ministry of Social Solidarity, and various UN and NGO agencies, they sorted out basic problems like electricity and water so the displaced people could resettle and reintegrate peacefully.
The chapter makes a nice observation here. The multiracial and multicultural composition of the Singapore contingent served as a welcome example for a country torn apart by conflict. Singapore’s diversity, which it manages at home through careful policies, became an asset abroad.
The Challenges
The chapter is honest about the difficulties. Hostile surroundings. Different values and cultures. People who do not accept police authority, especially in countries where the criminal justice system does not work. Lack of government support for basic infrastructure and logistics. And the personal toll of being separated from family for extended periods.
What got the officers through was commitment, training, preparation, and strong teamwork. The chapter does not dress it up. It is hard work in hard places.
What the SPF Gained
At the organizational level, the SPF says it has benefited tremendously from peacekeeping experience. Working in unfamiliar environments, interacting with international police from many countries, and engaging with local communities all enhanced the SPF’s professionalism and standing in international policing.
The SPF set up a dedicated UN Peacekeeping Force (UNPKF) under its Special Operations Command to manage recruitment, selection, and training for overseas missions. At the time of writing, the UNPKF had 79 officers, including 17 women.
The full list of SPF missions includes UNTAG (Namibia), UNTAC (Cambodia), IPSO, UNOMSA (South Africa), JIOG, UNTAET (East Timor), UNMISET (East Timor), PNAM, UNMIN (Nepal), and UNMIT (Timor-Leste). Ten missions total.
My Take
This chapter is shorter than some others in the book, but it covers ground that rarely gets attention. When we talk about peacekeeping, we almost always focus on soldiers. But the police work is arguably more important for long-term stability. Wars end. The soldiers leave. But a country still needs functioning law enforcement to survive.
The work of training local police forces is especially valuable. It is not glamorous. Exhuming bodies and investigating atrocities is horrific work. Teaching new officers how to manage traffic for a national celebration is unglamorous work. But both are necessary for a country trying to rebuild from violence.
I like that the chapter highlights the women in these missions. Sng May Yen leading a contingent as the first female commander. Female officers deployed to East Timor for the first time. These are small details that matter.
The number 484 personnel across 10 missions might not sound huge. But Singapore is a small country. And these are police officers, not soldiers. Every one of them had to leave their regular policing duties at home to serve abroad. The fact that the SPF created a permanent unit just for peacekeeping shows how seriously they take this commitment.
About the Author
This chapter is written by the Singapore Police Force (SPF). The SPF has contributed to UN peacekeeping missions since 1989, participating in 10 missions across Namibia, South Africa, Cambodia, East Timor/Timor-Leste, and Nepal. The SPF established a dedicated UN Peacekeeping Force (UNPKF) under the Special Operations Command to centrally manage recruitment, selection, and training for overseas peacekeeping deployments.