In 1989 there were six types of correctional institutions: two maximum security prisons for males three medium security prisons for males one prison for females four day-release camps one reformative training center for persons between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one and seven drug treatment centers. Queenstown Remand Prison, a short-term, maximum-security facility, served two basic functions: receiving and classifying newly convicted male offenders and holding persons awaiting trial or sentence. Changi Prison, a maximum security prison for males, was used for hardened criminals considered to be unlikely candidates for rehabilitation. Political prisoners detained under the Internal Security Act usually were also placed in the Moon Crescent Center within the Changi complex. Females convicted of crimes are thought to have been sent to separate maximum and medium security complexes.

All adult prisoners spent the last six months of their sentence in day-release centers. These prisoners were allowed to spend days at work and to visit their families without supervision. The purpose of the reformative training center for young adults was to provide rehabilitation. Sentences to this facility usually were for not less than eighteen months and not more than three years. Juveniles fifteen years old and under convicted of crimes were sent either to reform homes for girls or to reform schools for boys. Whereas persons convicted of importing and selling drugs were prosecuted as criminals and served time in prison, drug abusers usually did not go to jail. Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau operated six rehabilitation centers and one anti-inhalant abuse center. Individuals who tested positive for drugs were required to spend up to six months in a rehabilitation center and possible additional time in halfway houses operated by the Central Narcotics Bureau.

In 1989 two privately operated programs attempted to assist prisoners and drug abusers find jobs and stay out of the correctional system. The Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises operated job training programs in the prisons and managed day-release programs for the prisons. The Singapore AntiNarcotics Association provided counseling for drug abusers after their release from rehabilitation centers. Although it did not have job training or placement programs, the association worked closely with the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises to find employment for drug abusers and monitored their progress after placement.

Data as of December 1989