What's a police officer doing in an Army camp? Meet Military Expert (ME) 1 Prakash Subramanian, an assistant engineer in the 6th Army Maintenance Base (6 AMB), who is also a volunteer police officer.
"Do you have a twin brother?"
This question has been posed to ME1 Prakash several times. "When people who have worked with me in the SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) bump into me wearing blue (uniform), they get confused. So the first thing they do when they see me back at work is to ask if I have a brother in the police force," he said with a laugh.
As someone who craves action, he explained that his decision to join the Army in 2010 was in part influenced by the war movies he grew up watching. One of those was Tears of the Sun, a movie about a United States Navy SEAL team's rescue mission in Nigeria.
He said: "In the movies, I enjoyed learning about war strategies andwatching how the military does war planning, so I've always had this fascination with the military."
Added ME1 Prakash, an electronics technician by vocation in the 63rd Forward Maintenance Depot of 6 AMB: "Since I have a background in electrical and electronics engineering, I wanted to apply what I'd studied, so I left my job in the petrochemical field and joined the Army to do technical work, which is more my cup of tea."
Becoming a boy in blue
When asked what motivated him to volunteer in the Singapore Police Force's (SPF's) Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) four years ago, he replied: "I was interested in knowing how the Police deals with crime and solves cases, so I became a volunteer."
Since then, the 30-year-old, who now holds the rank of Corporal (V) in the VSC, has been dedicating his weekends to upholding law and order in the vicinity of the Marina Bay Neighbourhood Police Centre, which he is attached to.
For him, a typical shift lasts 14 hours, beginning on a Friday night. During that time, he patrols areas that include Boat Quay, Bugis and Marina Bay Sands, and attends to cases that arise. He can also be called upon to provide security during events such as National Day Parades and Formula One races.
While he may be a volunteer, he is not relegated to clerical work and light duties. In fact, having gone through nine months of training at the Home Team Academy, he is as well-equipped as regular police officers in carrying out policing work.
In the twice-weekly evening classes he attended, he learnt about police defence tactics, shooting with a revolver, penal codes, criminal procedures and how to interact with the public.
"When we don the uniform, there's no difference between the regular and volunteer police officers; everyone is the same. So when I encounter crime, I don't wait for the regulars to respond because I've been trained to deal with such scenarios," he said, listing cases such as snatch theft, rioting, family disputes and unlicensed money-lending.
Balancing act
As a volunteer junior police officer, ME1 Prakash is required to perform at least 16 hours of duties a month, but he stressed that the schedule is flexible.
"Sometimes it's hard to commit on weekends when my job requires me to be at an Army exercise. But being a volunteer, no one forces you to comply," he elaborated.
"When I show up for (police) duty, the people in SPF appreciate it, and when I can't be there, they don't complain, because they know I have work commitments."
For ME1 Prakash, however, commitment is hardly an issue, given that he devotes more than 24 hours of his weekends in a month as a volunteer cop. While he concedes that this leaves him with less personal time, he shrugged it off, saying: "I don't have many activities on weekends, and since most of my friends are also busy on weekends, volunteering keeps me occupied."
He continued: "In the VSC, I've made many friends who come from different backgrounds. Some are taxi drivers, businessmen and bankers, so it's good that I know people from different walks of life."
Asked how others view his service in both the SAF and VSC, the bachelor only said that his family is proud of what he does.
His Army colleague Corporal (CPL) Ng Wei Shee, who was present at the interview, had more to add: "I remember some time back when he (ME1 Prakash) was preparing to go for his police duties on a Friday evening, some of us guys got a shock seeing him in the police uniform."
He said: "I think what he does is very cool. Besides, he looks very professional in both the army and police uniforms."
