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Last updated 16 Aug 2003

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The Singapore Traffic Police, our "smokeys" have got a new home after 72 years of service. The men in white on bikes will no longer be swarming at Maxwell Road but will go to their new home in Eunos...

The Straits Times Interactive

29 Nov 1999

After 72 years, the traffic cops get a new home

A CONVOY of 72 well-polished motorcycles from the Traffic Police vroomed their way out of the old headquarters at Maxwell Road yesterday.

There was one motorcycle to represent every year that the Traffic Police had been based in Maxwell Road.

The Traffic Police Department, which has moved to its new base in Ubi Avenue 3, must hold something of a public service record here for staying put since 1928.

Traffic Police Commander Rajoo Gopal flagged off the convoy, which was led by Officer Commanding of Patrol, Assistant Superintendent James Lim, and his deputy, Senior Station Inspector Said Nasir.

Though an opening ceremony was held at the new headquarters yesterday, it begins operations only on Dec 1.

Motorists will have to go there to pay traffic fines, renew driving licences and book Basic Theory Test dates, among other things.

The new Traffic Police hotline number is 547-1818.

The Electric New Paper

Vroom...and off they go

BY DOMINIC ONG

Nov 29, 1999

WAH, watch their smoke. Hear them roar. Get that whiff of burning rubber.

And they're off - 72 high-powered motorbikes.

Well, just in case that gives you any wrong ideas about speeding, let me tell you that riding the bikes were 72 Traffic Police officers.

That's right. There were 72 cops riding out of the Maxwell Road Traffic Police headquarters yesterday morning.

They were moving to their new building at Ubi Avenue 3, off Paya Lebar Road.

It was by far the largest formation they had ever ridden in.

When the flag waved, and the 72 bikes went roaring down Shenton Way, the whole area was throbbing.

After the vroom and a flash of white they were gone, dispersing and disappearing in seconds.

Journalists who were covering the occasion had to scramble to their cars to try and catch up.

Pedestrians and people in other vehicles stopped and watched in awe, many of them probably thinking that this must the raid to end all raids.

All the bikes were marked on the front with dates from 1928, when the office was set up at this location, to 1999, when they are moving out.

Staff Sergeant Samuwan Sharri was quite pleased to be moving to his new location.

"I have been waiting for this day for a long time," he said with a huge grin on his face.

So what is so great about this new office which has got them all so excited?

Said the 40-year-old officer, who has been on the force for about 19 years: "Better building, got air-con!"

What else?

Well, the old office had 10,043 square metres of space, but at the new one the gross floor area will go up to 21,090 square metres. The new building has four storeys and 2 basements.

That would mean climbing more stairs wouldn't it?

"NO! We've got lifts there, which would mean I don't have to go up and down the stairs so much like I've been doing here," said the staff sergeant.

Looks like this will mark a new chapter in the history of Singapore's Traffic Police.

And yes, whether they are at Maxwell Road or Ubi, we'll be seeing them a lot.

"It does not matter where we are. We patrol all over the island to keep our roads safe."