''Crimewatch'' is a Singaporean television programme produced by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) in collaboration with the

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; human, wea ...

(SPF). It is aired on

Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd., doing business as Mediacorp and stylised as mediacorp, is a media conglomerate in Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the holding company of the Government of Singapore—it owns television, radio, and digital media prope ...

's Channel 5, Channel 8, Suria and Vasantham. Presented by actual serving regular

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s, it showcases the work of the

including the

re-enactment Reenactment or re-enactment may refer to: Legislation * Consolidation bill, a bill that consolidates several Acts of Parliament into a single Act in the United Kingdom * Repeal with reenactment, where a law is replaced with one more suitable Oth ...

s of major solved cases, appeals for unsolved cases, as well as general crime prevention advice in a Singaporean context. The series first premiered on the English-language Channel 5 on 30 November 1986. Subsequent dubbings of Singapore's other official languages began with

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

(''绳之以法'') on 7 December on Channel 8 that year. The series later implemented Malay dubs for Suria (''Jejak Jenayah'') starting in 2000, followed by Tamil's Vasantham (''Kutra Kannkaanippu'') in 2001.

History

''Crimewatch'' first premiered on 30 November 1986 with the first case featuring an unsolved murder of a 19-year-old national serviceman and a public appeal from the victim's parents. Less than two weeks after the episode was broadcast, police were able to identify and arrest the suspects based on information provided by viewers responding to the appeal. The episode also contained a police appeal for information regarding the case of two missing boys Toh Hong Huat and Keh Chin Ann and another murder case. The series was met with positive reception and it has since aired on a monthly basis starting on 1993 with six episodes, before extending to ten episodes the following year. The series airs with only the Mandarin

dubbing Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...

during the start, but it has since been extended to Malay in 1993, followed by Tamil in 1994. The 2012 season was preceded by a retrospective special titled ''Crimewatch 25th Anniversary Special'' airing 19 February 2012 revisiting the series most memorable moments and interviews by the cast. The special was hosted by television actor

Tay Ping Hui Tay Ping Hui (born 10 November 1970) is a Singaporean actor and director. In 2014, Tay made his directorial debut with the basketball film ''Meeting the Giant''. Early life Tay attended Catholic High School (Primary and Secondary) and Catho ...

, which he also performed numerous crime television series such as ''

C.L.I.F. ''C.L.I.F.'' (''Courage, Loyalty, Integrity, Fairness'', or 警徽天职, commonly pronounced as cliff) is a police procedural series produced by Mediacorp Singapore in 2011 in collaboration with the Singapore Police Force. It was aired from 31 M ...

''. The 2012 season was also the first season to not feature narration which was implemented since the series' start. Episodes in English and Mandarin after 1993 and episodes in Malay and Tamil after 2013 can be found on

meWATCH meWATCH is a Singaporean digital video on demand service brand owned by Mediacorp. It was launched on 1 February 2013 as an over-the-top media service and an entertainment and lifestyle website Toggle. On 1 April 2015, xinmsn, an internet port ...

and on the Singapore Police Force's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. Production for the 2020 season was postponed for two months from May to June due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

; reruns of selected episodes took the place of the affected episodes. Due to this postponement, the 2020 season marked the first time the show aired episodes in the months of January and February. The 2021 season premiered on 25 April 2021, making it the first season to not premiere in March. Production for the 2021 season was also postponed for a month in July due to the

and no new episodes were aired. The 2022 season premiered on 25 April 2022, the second season to not premiere in March.

Format

Each season of ''Crimewatch'' consists of ten episodes (twelve episodes for 1989 and six episodes for 1993) usually aired near the end of every month between March and December every year. The English version is aired on the third or fourth Sunday, and the Mandarin version is aired on the last Friday of the same month. The Malay and Tamil versions are aired on the first Monday and Thursday of the following month respectively. Most episodes feature a reenactment of crimes that occurred in Singapore that plays for the entirety of the episode, followed by a short segment on other advisories (such as the annual

Great Singapore Sale The Great Singapore Sale (often abbreviated as GSS or Malay: Jualan Raksasa Singapura, Chinese: 新加坡热卖会, Tamil: மாபெரும் சிங்கப்பூர் விற்பனை) is a shopping event that happens annually ...

). The segment ends with the presenter narrating the sentences given to the featured criminals, and offering advice to the public for their own protection and safety related to that particular segment. Recent episodes also feature information on scams, including mechanisms, statistics and advice from various government agencies and

non-governmental organisations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

, such as those from the Singapore Police Force's

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

and the National Crime Prevention Council.

Hosts

As of 2022, the current presenters for the English version of the series include Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) James Goh, DSP Joshua Jesudason, DSP Jonathan Au Yong and DSP Azfer Ali Khan. The presenters for the Mandarin version is presented by DSP Madeline Low and DSP Koh Chao Rong, the Malay version by ASP Muhamad Omar Shariff and the Tamil version by ASP Kalaichelvan Daniel. Previous presenters include: *SUPT Jargit Singh (1986–89) *INSP M.F Pardesh (1986–87) *SUPT Tan Ngoh Chew (1987–89) *DSP Philip Mah (1992–95, 2004) *ASP Loy Chye Meng (1993) (Mandarin version) *INSP Tan Chong Kuan (1994–96) (Mandarin version) *DSP Aubeck Kam (1995–98) *ASP Tan Chye Hee (1997–99) (Mandarin version) *ASP Adrian Quek (1998) *ASP Tristan Sim (1999) *ASP Lau Peet Meng (2000) *SUPT Koh Wei Keong (2000–06, 2008, 2020) (Mandarin version) *DSP Audrey Ang (2000–06) *ASP Gail Wong (2007–09) *ASP Lim Tung Li (2007–08) (Mandarin version) *ASP Justin Wong (2009–10) (Mandarin version) *SUPT Jessica Ang (2010–?) (English and Mandarin version) *SUPT Rachel Soh (2012–?) (Mandarin version) *DAC Zed Teo Zi-Ming (2011–14) *DAC Julius Lim (2011–17, 2020) *INSP Nur Baizurah Abu Baker (2012–16) (Malay version) *ASP Azlinda Aziz (2017–19) (Malay version) *INSP Roslinah Rahmat (2017–19) (Malay version) *DSP Zeya Lwin Tun (2017–18) *DSP Jonathan Lim (2020–21)

References

External links

Crimewatch
{{Singapore Police Force Singaporean documentary television series Singapore Police Force Crime in Singapore Singaporean crime television series

History

Format

Hosts

See also

References

External links