Prime Minister's Office (National Security Coordination Secretariat)

The Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security (Mr Teo Chee Hean): Singapore is facing new and complex challenges to our national security. Changes in the external geopolitical landscape are creating new tensions and uncertainty in the global security environment that we must respond to. At the same time, persistent threats – terrorism, cybersecurity risks, and other traditional security challenges – continue to pose significant risks to citizens and our way of life. Our ability to respond to the multivariate threats is critical to ensure that we maintain our stability, cohesion and resilience.

Dealing with such challenges requires a coordinated response. The National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS) works with other Government agencies to anticipate threats and develop responses in a timely manner to ensure that the Government as a whole is well-coordinated to deal effectively with present and future risks.

NSCS is working to enhance the Government’s ability to identify emergent risks to national security. These could range from new disruptive technologies to unintended consequences of existing developments. The work will draw from a wide range of experts in relevant fields, including academia. The identification of risks will guide the Government’s prioritisation of response measures, including resource allocation.

lnter-dependencies and cross-cutting risks which affect multiple domains and agencies are not easily discernible but may affect our national security. For instance, our critical infrastructure depends on different networks of utilities, information and people. Vulnerabilities in any one of these networks could have a far-reaching impact across sectors in the economy. This applies to many domains, such as energy, water, health, infocomm, banking and finance, and transport. NSCS is working with relevant stakeholders in the different domains to identify and mitigate cross-cutting risks. The identification of these risks will also allow the Government to factor in such risks upfront in its long-term planning.

To keep public officers up to date with the changing security environment, NSCS develops and conducts national security education programmes. We want to ensure that our officers in different Government agencies are aware of and sensitive to national security considerations and are able to translate these considerations into appropriate responses in their own policy domains.

The terrorism threat is at a high, and the Government needs to anticipate and deal with the threat upstream. NSCS works with agencies and research institutes to understand trends and research related to violent extremism and shares these insights with a wide range of partners. These efforts have been useful, for example, in equipping frontline officers in non-security domains with the knowledge and skills to safeguard more vulnerable groups, like youths, against extremist messaging.

National security is critical for the survival and prosperity of Singapore. The challenges in the coming years are complex. The Government must stay agile and alert. NSCS will continue to work with agencies and stakeholders to identify risks, sensitise our officers, build capabilities and develop coordinated responses to national security issues.