By SGN | 8 Aug 2025
Mdm Zuraidah Abdullah had just returned from a press conference with national, community, and corporate partners to announce the programme for Raikan Ilmu – the flagship movement of the Malay/Muslim Community to celebrate knowledge and embrace life-long learning.
The campaign is marked annually throughout the month of July to reach a varied audience of professionals, community and youth leaders, tertiary students and their parents, families and workers in the neighbourhoods, as well as social workers and researchers.
The planning process involving her executive team had started as early as October. Mdm Zuraidah had walked through all the venues, seen through the plans, and ensured all the invitations and administrative programmes, that ran into the hundreds, were out.
As Chief Executive Officer of Yayasan MENDAKI, she is not one who will leave any stone unturned in making sure the activities make an impact in rallying, navigating and empowering the community – a significant proportion of which are families from humble backgrounds – to be inspired to do well in life through the many opportunities the Singapore system offers for good education and meaningful careers.
She wants parents to ensure their children get a good start with pre-school education supported by KelasMateMatika – a parent-child programme that helps parents understand their children’s learning style through play and be their first teacher to introduce them to numbers.
She then wants the children to go to school and do well in school. Beyond that, she wants teens to be mentored to build big dreams, and workers to aim to be professionals through life-long learning.
As we prompt her to share her past, it slowly becomes apparent where Mdm Zuraidah’s desire, discipline and determination for social progress come from.
She was the only Malay among a handful of female graduates to join the Singapore Police Force in 1986. And having taken on command appointments in Investigations, and in Operations and in Training, she was the first female officer to be appointed a Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police in 2013.
While at Yayasan MENDAKI, on secondment from the Singapore Police Force, she was the first female Council member of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. She returned to Yayasan MENDAKI after her retirement from the Singapore Police Force and a stint at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, to cheer on the next generation.
This is her story.
Growing up in a kampong at Lapan Tiga Suku
Even today, Mdm Zuraidah can retrace the path to her old home by counting the miles backwards.
“I stayed at the eight and three-quarter mile mark, counted from the former General Post Office at Fullerton Building (the zero-mile mark). If you travel along Clementi West Street, you’d arrive at a private residence, Jalan Mas Kuning. Back then, I used to live in the kampong just opposite, located at Lapan Tiga Suku (eight and three-quarter mile mark).”
A short distance down her kampong was a kelong (offshore wooden platform), a signifier that the open seas were just nearby.
Not many of us can boast of a childhood where one can simply walk into the open seas, but that was the case for Mdm Zuraidah, who grew up in the unstructured, unpolished ambience of Sixties Singapore.
Some of her fondest childhood memories are from the December school holidays, when tides ran high. She and her siblings would jump off a bridge straight into the big river leading to the open sea, shrieking in delight.
School holidays weren’t for enrichment classes. They were for climbing up mangrove trees, collecting rubber bands to create makeshift slings, catching spiders to make them compete with one another, collecting eels and grasshoppers to sell for profit, making makeshift lanterns out of cans of condensed milk, and carving out rifles from wood, with cherries serving as “bullets”.
“In those days, there were no phones, and no distractions. The children were free to do what we liked,” she reminisces. “Our parents never told us that we were too young to be playing a certain way.”
Of course, not all was fun and games. Mdm Zuraidah’s granduncle was the kampong penghulu (community leader), and the thought of him learning about the children’s shenanigans struck fear into their hearts.
“If we were climbing trees and we heard the sound of his scooter, we would scramble down,” she laughs. “If the neighbours would see us behave mischievously, they’d keep us in line by threatening to report our behaviour to my granduncle.”
While Mdm Zuraidah’s parents gave her free rein to do as she pleased, their only condition was that she conducted herself in a way that did not embarrass or disgrace the family in any way.
“My childhood taught me that you can have fun, but you must also be disciplined,” she shares. That balance between fun and responsibility would become her guiding principle all her life.
Embracing her natural leadership skills
With a childhood spent largely outdoors, Mdm Zuraidah was naturally drawn to all the co-curricular activities (CCAs) that took her out of the house – especially track and field and National Cadet Corps (NCC). Besides these, she was also involved in Photography, Mathematics, and Malay Language clubs.
While at NCC, she was chosen for the Cadet Lieutenant Course conducted by the Singapore Armed Forces in 1978, where she got to participate in a myriad of outdoor activities – camping, shooting, and abseiling – and was awarded the Sword of Honour by the then-Chairman of the NCC for being the best female cadet.
She was then selected to attend India’s Republic Day Celebration in New Delhi in January 1980 together with three fellow cadets from Singapore’s NCC and the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC).
In attendance were NCC delegates from all around the world including Singapore, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Libya. “My parents were very proud,” she beams. She even had the chance to meet the former Prime Minister of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi.
But she had the most fun commanding people. “During the Cadet Lieutenant Course passing out parade, I led the women’s marching contingent,” she recalls. “This means I was the one giving out the commands!”
This affinity for leadership, and for holding a uniformed position would serve as the crux of Mdm Zuraidah’s 34-year career with the Singapore Police Force.
Exploring her options at university
After her ‘A’ Levels, Mdm Zuraidah started considering her options for university. Since she excelled in Mathematics, she ended up in the Engineering Faculty at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
“During my first year in NUS, I was told that I had the option to choose between doing research, and participating in hands-on work,” she recalls. “I didn’t want to be stuck indoors, I wanted to go out.” So, she chose the latter at the Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI) (now known as Nanyang Technological University), where she studied Civil Engineering.
By the third year of her course, she started to experience a strange sense of inertia. “I just couldn’t see myself doing the same thing for the rest of my life,” she says.
She considered dropping out, but a friend deterred her. So, she carried on with her studies and graduated as scheduled, but into an economic downturn. She took up a teaching stint at the Ministry of Education (MOE), teaching Science and English to Express stream students. Yet this too, she began to tire of.
One day, she happened to chance upon a recruitment notice. The Singapore Police Force was hiring. “I knew what joining the Force would mean. I had seen what my granduncle experienced, and the adjustments my grandaunt had to make to accommodate his work schedule,” she reflects.
At first, her family was apprehensive about her decision. But her mother encouraged her to stand tall. The rest is history.
A formidable career with the Singapore Police Force
On the first day of training, an instructor told her that she’d effectively be spending the next couple of decades of her life in the Singapore Police Force. If she couldn’t stomach this, she was welcome to leave.
“I couldn’t fathom being at the same place for such a long time,” she mentions.
Mdm Zuraidah would spend 34 years in the Singapore Police Force. Throughout her time there, she would be rotated around more than fourteen units, in rapid succession. She has spent time at the Traffic Police, Training Command, Airport Police Division, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and headed the Jurong Police Division.
After graduating from the Academy, her first stint was as an Investigating Officer. She was posted to the former Queenstown Police Station, which later became the Clementi Police Division, also known as “D” Division.
To describe the scope of her work as an Investigating Officer as challenging is an understatement. For decades, she had a front row seat to the worst transgressions on display.
Her next stint would be in a unit with fewer tragedies to investigate, but, offered her an intellectual outlet. The Traffic Police was one of the units where she would get to put her engineering skills to the test.
She would study road traffic practices in other countries to see what could be applied locally, and ended up engineering several amendments to Singapore’s Road Traffic Act, which pedestrians and drivers may find familiar.
These included an increase in demerit points for speeding, installation of speed cameras, incorporation of child safety seats, and mandatory wearing of seat belts for rear seat passengers. Besides the public, her contributions were noticed by some of Singapore’s highest-ranked officials.
“I remember a time when I was conferred the Nanyang Distinguished Alumni Award by NTU in 2014. Then Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Heng Swee Kiat, in his speech as the Guest-of-Honour, jokingly told the audience that if they needed someone to blame for the speed cameras, they should look for me,” she chuckles.
Five years later, she was transferred to one of the nation’s busiest divisions, Central Police Division. Her area of operation included Boat Quay, where she was responsible for the issuance of entertainment licenses for more than 400 entertainment outlets, and working odd hours that would start at 10pm and conclude at 4am to inspect these outlets to check if their operations were in compliance with the licensing conditions and existing laws. She was “on the ground” to observe activities, identify patterns, and work closely with her investigation teams before pursuing any course of action.
“Once, we were at this bar where no alcohol was being served, but water cost as much as a beer, and people were moving around rather strangely,” she recalls. “So, when there were signs that drug had been consumed, we took them all into custody.” Lab tests revealed that the party goers had consumed ecstasy, a Class A controlled drug in Singapore.
Work like this holds its officers to a certain level of confidentiality.
“Our spouses have to trust us. We cannot tell them where we are going, or what time we’ll be back, because our work is uncertain,” she shares. Luckily for her, her husband, who had retired from the Singapore Police Force, was on the same page about her unpredictable schedule.
“He knows not to call me, and to not expect any calls from me either,” she laughs. “But if he does hear from me or my colleague, it’s not because we have good news.”
One of Mdm Zuraidah’s final assignments was at Changi Airport, as the Domain Commander (Air), Integrated Checkpoints Command. “Whenever people praise our airport, I feel a sense of pride,” she shares. “I take pride in saying that I am involved in securing one of the best airports in the world.”
A job like this comes with great responsibility. “When things operate as usual, it’s great. But when things go wrong, it can be quite disastrous,” she mentions. She recalls two acts of terrorism taking place overseas – a series of deadly airport bombings in Brussels and Turkey in 2016.
“Prior to these incidents, I insisted we carry out frequent exercises so we know how to respond should something like this unfold on our own soil,” she shares. “Tragedies like this remind us that while the airport is a wonderful place, it remains susceptible to the actions of bad actors.”
With this mentality in mind, Mdm Zuraidah was on the ground daily, often at odd hours, to ensure that the staff were alert. Her sense of vigilance remained intact even when she travelled overseas.
“It’s an occupational hazard. When I travel overseas with my friends, I tell them to remain cautious. I tell them not to take out their phones or pictures of themselves in the immigration area,” she continues.
Mdm Zuraidah’s line of work has also made her proficient in crisis negotiations. She recalls an incident where a construction worker had barricaded himself at the top of a platform about ten-storeys high, threatening to take his own life. “The incident was reported to us at about 4AM. We talked to him until about midnight the next day,” she mentions.
“We were beyond exhausted after spending hours reasoning with him under the hot sun, and then had to accompany him to the hospital because he was dehydrated. But this was a matter of life and death, and I’m glad we saved him.”
Her team received the Commissioner of Police’s Team Commendation Award for their work on this case.
Making time for new adventures
Mdm Zuraidah retired from the Singapore Police Force in 2017 at 55. “Once you turn 55, you cannot chase after criminals,” she jokes.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli Masagos Mohamad, Minister for Social and Family Development, asked if she would like to return to Yayasan MENDAKI as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Mdm Zuraidah was not unfamiliar with MENDAKI, as she had first taken over its CEO position between 2007 and 2009. This time, she would be assuming the role under slightly different circumstances.
“I took over in April 2020, right as COVID struck Singapore,” she mentions. For the next year and a half, she worked virtually, meeting her staff in-person for the first time much later. “People often ask me, what the difference is, between working in the Force and at MENDAKI. I tell them that at MENDAKI, I cannot charge them for disobedience of an order,” she jokes.
Mdm Zuraidah was also the first woman to serve as a Council member of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, at the behest of the then Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs of Singapore, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.
“I’m glad the Council was ready to hear a woman’s voice. To me, it signals that we are equally important,” she shares. Currently, there are six women serving on the Council, all hailing from diverse backgrounds – doctors, lawyers and asatizah (Islamic religious teachers).
“It’s important for us to demonstrate that we are equally capable,” she mentions. “And to create favourable circumstances for even more women to be empowered.”
"It's important for us to demonstrate that we are equally capable and to create favourable circumstances for even more women to be empowered."
Meet Mdm Zuraidah Abdullah
Mdm Zuraidah Abdullah spent 34 years with the Singapore Police Force, before heading on to other pursuits, including Yayasan MENDAKI and the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. She was the first woman to become a Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police, and the first Malay-Muslim woman to become a Land Division Commander.
Connect with her here.
