Singapore considering to recruit auxiliary police officers from India, China, Philippines, Myanmar

Singapore is mulling hiring auxiliary police officers (APOs) from India, China, the Philippines and Myanmar to meet the surging demand for security services, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam told parliament. Also, with the number from Taiwan falling in the recent few years, the city-state is considering to expand the jurisdictions from which it recruits APOs. “We need to allow the Auxiliary Police Forces to recruit foreign APOs, to meet the increasing demand for security services,” a report by the Today newspaper quoted the minister as saying. “(The Auxiliary Police Forces) face challenges in sustaining an adequate pool of APOs, given the shrinking local workforce, requirements such as physical fitness, and the job options Singaporeans have," the minister added. Shanmugam was responding to a parliamentary question from Sylvia Lim, a Member of Parliament and Chairman of the opposition Workers’ Party, who asked whether Singapore is still hiring APOs from Taiwan, having done so since 2017. In his response, Shanmugam also said the Auxiliary Police Forces will continue to hire Taiwanese APOs even though their numbers have continued to fall despite the generally positive working experience with them. “It has been a challenge to recruit and keep them,” he added. As of November 2023, Singaporean APOs made up about 68 per cent of the total population of these officers and the remaining 32 per cent are Malaysians and Taiwanese. This fall in Taiwanese APOs is attributed to the demanding nature of public-facing security work and improved job opportunities and prospects in Taiwan. On the risk of letting non-Singaporeans carry firearms, Shanmugam said, “The misuse of firearms by APOs is extremely rare and is not more prevalent among non-Singaporeans.” The Ministry of Home Affairs manages this risk through security screening, training, and supervising APOs, he added. “We are also careful and more restrictive where we deploy non-Singaporean APOs.” With inputs from PTI