Newsroom

ACHIEVING GOOD INVESTIGATION OUTCOMES WITH SERVICE EXCELLENCE

One would typically associate service excellence with frontline jobs like customer service. Certainly not Ms Alicia Chua, who has had more than 17 years of experience as an investigations officer and had recently won the MHA Commendation Star Service Award 2023 for her outstanding contributions and service excellence.

When Alicia first joined the Casino Regulatory Authority (“CRA”) in 2013 as a senior executive with the Investigations Division, her background as a former investigations officer in the Singapore Police Force was instrumental in the setting up of the newly formed Enforcement Branch. It was in this branch where Alicia and her teammates took on frontline roles to increase regulatory presence at the casinos – conducting compliance checks on the operators, as well as dealing with incidents of entry into the casinos by excluded persons or minors. All these required her to be strict and firm yet delivering excellent services at the same time. “To me, service excellence is about understanding the perspectives of the individuals whom I interact with, and taking a genuine interest in what they tell me.”   

Today, following the reconstitution of CRA to the Gambling Regulatory Authority (“GRA”) in August 2022, Alicia continues to discharge her responsibilities as Manager of the Investigations and Prohibitions Division where she investigates into regulatory offences and breaches by gambling operators. As part of her job, Alicia also investigates excluded persons who enter gambling premises and forfeits their winnings. If there are no winnings, any seized monies would be returned to the patron. “Even after we inform them that the seized monies can be returned to them, patrons may be unhappy with us for various reasons, such as the length of time that GRA took for the investigations.” 

Despite having to deal with unhappy patrons, Alicia continues to put herself in the shoes of the patrons by going the extra mile to ensure that the seized monies are promptly returned to the patrons. In one such case, Alicia encountered a patron who faced challenges in travelling to GRA to collect the seized monies as she was unable to take time off her job. Understanding the patron’s difficult financial situation and job demands, Alicia went beyond the scope of her duty by travelling to the patron’s workplace after Alicia’s office hours to return her the seized monies. 

“Law enforcement is not just about enforcing the rules. It is also about going beyond SOPs to do what is required to achieve a win-win outcome for everyone whom we interact with.” 

For this and many other acts of service to the public and her colleagues, Alicia was recently awarded the MHA Commendation Star Service Award 2023, the highest accolade for service excellence in the Home Team. 

“I am deeply humbled to receive this award. This award also serves as a tribute to the compassion and dedication of every officer, including my teammates, who display empathy, recognising its potential to create positive change for individuals and, in turn, for our society.”

In the course of her work, Alicia also works with other stakeholders such as the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Singapore Police Force. As an experienced investigations officer, Alicia is also trained to look out for indicators of problem gambling and regularly works with agencies such as the Ministry of Social and Family Development to provide assistance to patrons. 

Alicia recalled her interactions with a patron who had exceeded the number of casino visits allowed under her Visit Limit order. During her interview with the patron, she told Alicia that she would be engrossed in gambling and would lose track of her visits. Alicia was concerned that the patron showed at-risk behaviour and thus encouraged her to apply for self-exclusion. The patron later expressed her appreciation to Alicia for her assistance. 

“I find immense fulfilment in my role as an investigations officer with GRA. Beyond bringing errant offenders to task, we have the opportunity to make tangible differences like changing their behaviour, helping those in need and providing early intervention. Taking a proactive approach and reaching out to patrons to address their concerns can help to ensure that these problems don't escalate into larger issues and become a threat to society. To me, this is the most rewarding aspect of my job.”