By Khushwant Singh

UNIVERSITY students enamoured with bloodstain patterns and DNA detective work will soon get an up-close look at some of the latest investigative techniques.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) unveiled yesterday the country's first minor programme in forensic science.

Experts said the field has become phenomenally popular in recent years, in large part because of television shows like CSI, Court TV and Forensic Files.

But real forensic science isn't all exotic locations, bikini-clad witnesses and convertibles.

'Unlike what CSI's glib and gorgeous stars accomplish on a weekly basis... forensic labs can take months of laborious work to examine and interpret the physical evidence from a crime scene,' said Dr John Lim, chief executive officer of the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

HSA, which is in charge of forensic science in legal cases, will help run the new programme, which begins in January and is aimed largely at science students.

It will cover subjects like DNA profiling, narcotics manufacture and toxicology. Some 30 students will gain practical experience by processing a simulated crime scene and collecting evidence.

The programme comes amid an explosion of popularity of forensic science, a wave that began about five years ago, according to those in the field.

Ms Kee Koh Kheng, 28, who joined HSA in 2003, hardly knew what she was getting into.

'Then, forensic science was not so hot,' she said.

That changed though when shows like CSI began rocketing up ratings charts. Studded with Hollywood stars, plot twists and special effects, they turned the field from arcane to fashionable.

Forensic scientist Yu Lijie, 24, admitted to being drawn in by the shows. At the HSA, she identifies and quantifies the amount of illicit substances seized by police and drug enforcement officers.

She said: 'It appeared an exciting career and I have yet to be disappointed.'

HSA forensic science division director Michael Tay said the number of forensic scientists at the authority has more than doubled to 45 since he joined in 1989.

And while techniques have improved, criminals are getting harder to catch because they are picking up tips from the television shows.

'In a murder case some years ago, a Filipino maid killed a friend and dumped the body parts at Orchard MRT station and MacRitchie Reservoir Park,' said Dr Tay.

'She washed the blood stains off the wall of her room and then put up new wallpaper.

'But we found the evidence.'

In May 2006, the Filipino maid, Guen Garlejo Aguilar, 30, was sentenced to 10 years' jail for the September 2005 murder of fellow maid Jane Parangan La Puebla, 27.

khush@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 19 Nov, 2008.