The Coordinating Secretariat

Summary

The CEP Secretariat in the Ministry of Home Affairs, the coordinating ministry for the CEP, conducts programmes to develop the capability of members of the CEP community. The CEP Secretariat/MHA co-partners the Home Team Academy, the Civil Defence Academy and the Internal Security Department Heritage Centre on running the Community Engagement Executive Development (CEED) Programme and the Train-the-CEP Trainer Programme. In addition, CEP community leaders and partners visit the Home Team establishments to learn about security and emergency preparedness.

The CEED Programme was initiated in response to feedback from community leaders that they needed to be equipped with skills to help calm and manage the ground during times of communal tension. The programme, which equips the leaders and practitioners with the knowledge and practical counselling skills necessary to do this, is carried out on a modular basis over three Saturdays. The first run was held in January 2008.

The Train-the-CEP Trainer Programme is a follow-up to a suggestion from the pioneer participants of the CEED Programme. It invites graduates of the CEED Programme, those who wish to be trained further. The aim is for these trainers to go back to their clusters to train other community leaders. The inaugural programme was held in February 2009.

As of May 2011, 238 people had graduated from the CEED Programme and 92 had gone on to be trained as CEP Trainers. The programmes are marked by the tangible feeling of camaraderie that develops quickly among participants although they are drawn from different socio-economic groups, belong to different generations and are as likely to be Chinese-speaking as English-speaking. Camaraderie leads to friendships that are sustained outside the formal training settings. It is this spontaneous creation of relationships, facilitated but not directed by the Secretariat, that will be crucial if Singapore comes under strain.